diy solar

diy solar

Inverter/charge controller.

Clinton Earl said:
I understand that and I'm building a shed connected to my camper, so that I have a cloud in space "outside " of the camper. I also plan to put boards up around the rest of the camper to help keep out the cold but I still need to generate electricity to run the refrigerator, lights, appliances, the campers propane heater, an extra little freezer, etc! I will also have a wood stove in the shed to help with heating

My mini home was around 900 square feet, the camper is 26 × 8', and the attached shed 24 ×16', so at a rough guess it’s less than half the size of my old mini home. So assuming I would need 500 to 600kwh for the month to run everything, where does that put me?
I am trying to put my system together in the simplest possible way, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that a combined scc/inverter would be the way to go?
I am very thankful for people like you who are smarter than me and willing to help, thank you!
Click to expand...
Because I already have 6 ×100ah deep cycle marine batteries, which I can run in series to make 24v, but if it's not practical, then I need to know what is?
 
Clinton Earl said:
6 ×100ah deep cycle marine batteries
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Are these 12V or 6V each?

12V x 6 in series is 72V (6S)
6V x 6 in series is 36V (6S)
12V 2 in series, 3 of these in parallel (aka 2S3P) is 24V
6V 4 in series is 24V (4S) with 2 extra batteries
12V 4 in series is 48V (4S) with 2 extra batteries

None of these are very good for 6 batteries (4 and 8 are good numbers)
 
MisterSandals said:
Are these 12V or 6V each?

12V x 6 in series is 72V (6S)
6V x 6 in series is 36V (6S)
12V 2 in series, 3 of these in parallel (aka 2S3P) is 24V
6V 4 in series is 24V (4S) with 2 extra batteries
12V 4 in series is 48V (4S) with 2 extra batteries

None of these are very good for 6 batteries (4 and 8 are good numbers)
Click to expand...
Ok, so I was told that a 24v system would be more efficient than a 12v system, does that mean a 48v system would be more efficient than a 24v system?
I am planning to buy another two 12v 100ah deep cycle marine batteries, unless I would be better off using Lithium batteries, so I'm still looking for clarity on this issue?
 
Clinton Earl said:
Ok, so I was told that a 24v system would be more efficient than a 12v system, does that mean a 48v system would be more efficient than a 24v system?
Click to expand...
The "efficiency" differences are secondary to the considerations for providing the current for your loads.
With 6440W of solar, consider the charging amps:

6440W / 14V charging = 460A (this is totally unmanageable!)
6440W / 28V charging = 230A (requires multiple charge controllers and huge wires and fuses)

6440W / 56V charging = 115A (still a lot but manageable, maybe need 2 SCCs here too)

12x 12.8V nominal x 100Ah = 15360Wh battery capacity (50% usable = 7680Wh)

Your 6440W array will charge your batteries from empty in (7680Wh / 6440W =) 1.2hours

What is your budget for a charge controller? I think you NEED to have a 48V battery bank.
 
MisterSandals said:
The "efficiency" differences are secondary to the considerations for providing the current for your loads.
With 6440W of solar, consider the charging amps:

6440W / 14V charging = 460A (this is totally unmanageable!)
6440W / 28V charging = 230A (requires multiple charge controllers and huge wires and fuses)

6440W / 56V charging = 115A (still a lot but manageable, maybe need 2 SCCs here too)

12x 12.8V nominal x 100Ah = 15360Wh battery capacity (50% usable = 7680Wh)

Your 6440W array will charge your batteries from empty in (7680Wh / 6440W =) 1.2hours

What is your budget for a charge controller? I think you NEED to have a 48V battery bank.
Click to expand...
Now this is very useful information, thank you!
I found a Magnum PT-100 charge controller for roughly CN $ 1,400.00 that can take up to 6 500w. I wouldn't want to spend much more than that, unless I could find an inverter/charge controller combined that could carry the same load as the PT-100
 
Clinton Earl said:
Now this is very useful information, thank you!
I found a Magnum PT-100 charge controller for roughly CN $ 1,400.00 that can take up to 6 500w. I wouldn't want to spend much more than that, unless I could find an inverter/charge controller combined that could carry the same load as the PT-100
Click to expand...
that charge controller is only going to do that many watts on 48 volt system, half that at 24 volts. EG4 has a new inverter that might work for you: https://eg4electronics.com/categories/inverters/eg4-6000xp-all-in-one-off-grid-inverter it's a 48 volt system but should be able to handle all your panels.
 

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Clinton Earl said:
I just found an inverter/ charge controller for just over $1,000.00. But don't know if it's capable of handling my panels?
Click to expand...
I genuinely appreciate your responding with me and trying to help me figure all of this out, to get my system up and running! Thank you, thank you , thank you!
 
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