Utility vehicle mounted system.

[AndyFraser]

Working in Saudi Arabia you would think solar advice is readily available. Well it isn’t.

I have been given a project to install a solar system on a pick up truck to power an air compressor and various cordless tool chargers.

The compressor is the biggest consumer as it will probably be fitted with a 5hp 220v 60hz motor. A rough estimate will be 4 hours running per day.

I have Odyssey 90ah deep cycle AGM batteries available, with space to fit 4 pieces.

My questions are.

1. 12/24v?
2. What size panel/s required
3. What size solar controller
4. What size inverter.
5. Is there an all in one controller/inverter available to do the job.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated

 

[gnubie]

5hp is a lot of watts if I understand things correctly, 3.7kW. If the motor is doing that sort of draw for 4 hours a day that's going to be close enough to 15kWh / day. If you plan on mounting the panels on the vehicle like a flat roof you might get 4 panels at a guess so let's say 1.2kW of panels. That equates to 12 hours at full production just to supply the energy to run the compressor flat out for 4 hours across the day.

I don't think you are going to have a lot of joy here. Could you describe how you are going to arrange the panels - as a roof, some sort of on ground arrangement?

 

[AndyFraser]

Thanks for the reply.

Having checked further at compressor options I can utilise a 3.5hp unit. I was looking at the battery bank to power the compressor and the panels to recharge. A back up charger can be utilised to recharge the batteries during none daylight hours.

The compressor would not run continuous but cycle in and out as required

I think 3 panels will be the max I can fit on the roof.

How many 90ah deep cycle AGM batteries would be required.

Andy

 

[svetz]

Sounds like you're going to need to have them unfold or tow an array on a trailer. Either that or the compressor won't be able to run much.

In order to answer how many AGM batteries you'll need to decide how much power you need (e.g., how frequently the compressor runs).
You can do this with a power meter in a typical real-world usage scenario to get a good idea. It probably also depends on how hot it is, hot air taking more energy to compress, so leave some slack for seasonal variations.

 

[victorpr]

you asking how much 90ah battery you will need. but you don't say how many cycles in and out run time do that compressor, we needed more information about how many minutes run that compressor, but let's take simple math, you're talking about 5hp compressor is like 3,600+ watts! for a run time of 5 minutes to fill the tank, every 15 minutes or so for a period of 4 hours. your AGM bank will be like (x16 90ah batts) at 24v 720ah batt bank) in order to stay in safe zone 50% discharge level, but let me remind you during this hard stress 3,000 Watts on that odyssey battery will reduce your battery life so much, remember every day is different your compressor will run more times in other days as daily use.

 

[gnubie]

I might have stated things unclearly up there. The compressor might cycle in and out over the course of the day but if it is running full tilt at those times, ie at 5hp continous, and it does that for four hours that's what matters, the cumulative run time.

 

[victorpr]

that's why I say simple math if will be using more run time is gonna required more batteries!