Noob from Las Vegas ~ NV ~ Love DIY

[AresROC]

I have a PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) with Solar City, and thanks to NV Energy's new TOU, my panels are about to become useless!

Looking to build a 5K ~ 15K "PowerWall" with Hybrid Split phase inverters to power my central AC (5+3 ton) for 3 hours.

Would it make sense? I am about to find out! In any case I think it will be a fun project. ^_^

 

[sunshine_eggo]

I have a PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) with Solar City, and thanks to NV Energy's new TOU, my panels are about to become useless!

Looking to build a 5K ~ 15K "PowerWall" with Hybrid Split phase inverters to power my central AC (5+3 ton) for 3 hours.

Would it make sense? I am about to find out! In any case I think it will be a fun project. ^_^

Probably won't do it. Compressor surge is MASSIVE UNLESS you have the really high SEER models (17+) with "inverter" compressors.

Look for the LRA rating of your A/C units. Multiply that by 240V. That's how much power your inverter will have to deliver at startup.

Probably also worth measuring the actual run current.

 

[AresROC]

Probably won't do it. Compressor surge is MASSIVE UNLESS you have the really high SEER models (17+) with "inverter" compressors.

Look for the LRA rating of your A/C units. Multiply that by 240V. That's how much power your inverter will have to deliver at startup.

Probably also worth measuring the actual run current.

Welp, I have a grid tie system and I am looking at PowMr Split inverters that can do 10k watt. My AC is 4+3 ton and sadly house was build in 2005 so I got the 10 SEER model . LRA is 110 for 4 ton and 82 for the 3 ton, so that is 26.4k + 19.7k watt = 46k Watt! I am not looking for continuous operation for 3 hours and am thinking the PowMr inverters will simply supplement the grid usage after startup. Thanks that was fast I learned something already! :D

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Welp, I have a grid tie system and I am looking at PowMr Split inverters that can do 10k watt. My AC is 4+3 ton and sadly house was build in 2005 so I got the 10 SEER model . LRA is 110 for 4 ton and 82 for the 3 ton, so that is 26.4k + 19.7k watt = 46k Watt! I am not looking for continuous operation for 3 hours and am thinking the PowMr inverters will simply supplement the grid usage after startup. Thanks that was fast I learned something already! :D

Ah... so you're connecting them "behind" the units, i.e., they will only run when the compressor circuit is active? I've contemplated this myself, and other folks do it I believe.

You also might be able to get away with a pure 230V unit that can operate at 240V/60Hz (almost all 230/50Hz units can be set for 240/60Hz). The PowMr line seems to be MUCH cheaper for their 230V units.