Catering trailer inverter

[Martin1967]

Hi peoples
I've a catering van running off a diesel generator and I want to convert to a battery power supply with a inverter.
I need around 6000w constantly.
Any advice
Many thanks
Martin Williams
bustsrwillie@gmail.com

 

[sunshine_eggo]

You will likely need many thousands of dollars worth of hardware and likely do not have enough roof space for the solar.

Recommend you record your average daily fuel burn over the course of a week. yes, top off every day and measure the amount. From this, you can estimate your total power and energy needs to see if solar makes sense.

 

[ArkCabinMan]

How would one convert gallons of diesel fuel consumed into kw of solar energy, or was it a simple cost comparison which Y'all had in mind?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

How would one convert gallons of diesel fuel consumed into kw of solar energy, or was it a simple cost comparison which Y'all had in mind?

Most generators have a fuel consumption rating at some % output, e.g., 1 gal/hour at 50% power. In the absence of that, you can use conversion efficiency estimates to equate the energy in the diesel fuel to an output kWh.

My thinking is that in a dynamic environment like that, it may be very difficult to capture actual usage data, although, now that I think about it, I'm stupified that I didn't think of this before...

Assuming split phase output:

This:

https://www.amazon.com/MICTUNING-Multimeter-Voltmeter-Frequency-Transformer/dp/B07ZHDMZJ8

One on L1, powered by L1 and L2.
One on L2, powered by L2 and N:

That would simply capture the energy used at the output of the generator.

 

[ArkCabinMan]

Very nice...!!!

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Hi, I run a catering vehicle with a generator but I want tofind out if I can run it off an inverter with batteries but don’t know how manybatteries I would require which would probably be 6 or 12v @280 ah which Iwould need to last for upto nine hours without dropping below the 80% dischargeper battery, as I work on the evenings I use 3 small strip lights which are16wtt bulbs on continuous, a kettle @1600w output use about 12 times per shift,microwave (750)1150w output, max run time per use 10 min, fridge/freezer 100wcontinuous, small bottlefridge 90w continuous, baked potato oven 1200w on forabout 3hrs a night, bain marie 1300w on about 5hrs per night, toaster 2200w onabout 20 times per night, looking at installing a 14inch flat screen tv wattsnot known, mobile phone charger and sometimes a laptop. Would be most gratefullif you could be of assistance.

Link #1 in my signature - energy audit.