Tweet
I have a question relating to the total output for a battery bank and appliances that would use that power. I'm planning on running a 12 volt system for appliances. I'm setting my battery bank to give me 12 volts. If the total output from my batter bank in power (WATTS, AMPS) is greater than the appliances using this battery bank capacity/output, is there a device I have to purchase to regulate that total battery bank output. I plan on purchasing enough GRAPE Solar Panels 250W and a battery bank to run some basic appliances. I'm just not sure if the appliances are not requiring all that power, will they be damaged?
-
-
John-o, step back. Are the appliances you are powering 12VDC appliances, like you can get for an RV? Or are they household appliances that you plug into the wall for AC?
You need to carefully calculate how much power they use and size the battery bank right. If it is DC, the appliances will only draw as much power off the battery bank as they need. The battery does not push power, the appliance pulls what it needs. If it is AC appliances, you need an inverter to convert the DC from the battery to AC for the appliance.
Depending on the size of the system, you may need more than 12V battery bank.
Don't buy anything yet until you fully understand your needs. Start out with a loads list and enter it into a solar loads calculator. You can Google "solar loads calculator" to find one online.Solar Queen
altE Store -
Another person stuck inside a 12 volt box and clueless.
Here is what you need to know and should end your solar journey.
Anything you take off grid and put on solar battery is going to cost you 5 to 10 more than buying it from the Power Company for the rest of your life in endless battery replacement cost. So ask yourself why on earth you want to pay 5 to 10 more for power the rest of your life?
FWIW no one in their right mind would use 12 volt battery in a home system. 12 volt systems are for RV's, Marine, and TOYS. Home systems are a minimum of 24 volts for small stuff and most are 48 volts.MSEE, PEComment
-
I am not sure he is stuck in a 12V box. It isn't clear if he has 12V appliances, or wants a 12V bank to run 115V AC appliances. Your comment applies to the latter, but it still doesn't mean he is stuck in a box yet - just what he may be considering.
He'll be stuck if he gets as far as the guy whose neighbors went out and bought a huge spool of 12 AWG wire, and he got some "really good" batteries, and none of the stuff could be returned and he didn't want to buy anything online. THAT guy was stuck. This chap needs to tell us more about his application - including why he would go solar and pay a lot more for energy.Comment
-
We did everything we could to save him....Solar Queen
altE StoreComment
-
A neighbor of mine is like myself – he’s retired and like me he lost his wife about two years ago. He has a real nice arangement with a greenhouse and he decided to enhance his hobby by learning about solar energy. So he got a few solar panels from Grape Solar, added a few 6volt battery banks and just for the hobby experience, powers his greenhouse lights, growing lights, a small frig, a coffee pot and other odds-n-ends, all 12 volts. He’s made a few mistakes along the way, as he told me, but the learning experience was well worth it he tells me.
Now he’s not an off-the-grid kind of guy, in fact neither am I. But the energy solar thing is an excellent learning curve to the future. I’m sure solar products and their related science will come around to be more efficient and productive in the near future – heck look at the strides that’s been made so far.
In addition to what I’ve learned form my neighbor, I thought I test the waters on a forum or two to see how well my education on solar energy would be received and how digestible the responses where to my uneducated questions. As I mentioned earlier in my opening remarks, this learning curve about solar energy can be a steep one one, for me anyway.
I’ve got a lot to learn about the science and who and where to get my answers from. A lot to learn. What I wasn’t prepared for was one response that told me my question was, “ His whole question is nonsense.” Granted, from one with more experience and knowledge about the science and practicality of solar science and its use – yes that question would seem “His whole question is nonsense”, but it was the best way that I could word my question at the time.
Thanks for the responses. Good web site.Comment
-
Hi John - Not to worry and put on a thick skin. If people were to comment about your specialty most likely many of the coments made would also be classified as nonsense. For example, I know nothing about brain surgery - and 10,000 other thinfs!
Again, welcome and chip in - just wear a BS deflector suit please.[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Comment
-
John-o, welcome, and thanks for the updated info. That helps. You still need to decide what you want to power with your system. It sounds like your neighbor used everything from the RV world to not need an inverter by staying with 12V. If you do the same, it simplifies the system for now, but if you want to expand it in the future, you may need to replace some equipment, thus someone else's comment about "being stuck in a 12V box". If you list out what you want to power, how many watts it uses, what voltage it runs on, and how many hours a day, we can walk you through building a loads list to determine what you need.
Welcome to solar!!!Solar Queen
altE StoreComment
Comment