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  • Help Review My Intended Solar Kit

    Hello folks. I would like your help to review the system I intend to purchase to power a water pump in a remote location in Nigeria. I will include what I am buying and also why I am buying to make sure I truly understand sizing a solar set up.

    What will be powered: Water pump is 70w, 1amp and will run 24/7.
    https://www.walmart.com/ip/Aquanique...-Pump/36246293

    Solar Kit Components

    300w mono panel:

    70w * 24hr =1.68kw/day * 1.2 (make up for loss) = 2.1kw/day

    I need to produce 2.1kw/day with 8hrs of sun power.
    2100w divided by 8hrs = 262.5w

    300w * 8hrs of sun power = 2.4kw/day

    I need to produce at least 263w per hour so 300w will get me what I need.

    Renogy 40amp MPPT Charge Controller:

    Max input power of 400w. I'll be pulling in below 300w.

    I'll have a mix: 24v panel and 12v battery bank. This mppt charge controller can handle the combo???

    The water pump is only 1amp. Is this overkill? I plan to get a second and third water pump in a year or 2. Since the water pump only requires 1amp, am I 39amps over what I really need?

    Pure sine inverter: I need to run 70w of continuous power so an inverter of 100w is sufficient. Correct? How do I know if I should select a 12v or 24v inverter?

    520ah Battery Bank

    1680w / 12v battery bank (the water pump is 12v) = 140ah/day.

    I want to have a 2 day reserve so... 140ah * 2 days = 280ah.

    I don't want the batteries to go below 50% charged so I double the amp hours to 560ah. Based on the rating of the deep cycle battery I decide to purchase, they need to add up to 560ah or more.

    Am I missing anything? Is anything wrong?

    Thanks for your help.
    Last edited by gbengoose; 10-09-2016, 11:31 AM.

  • #2
    forget that pump it's AC powered and requires and inefficient inverter to operate. Shop for a 12 or 24v pump with similar specs. You may have to make some modifications by adding a filter. If you do purchase an inverter a 24v plus inverter is preferable. 12v inverters are ok for very small intermittent loads on demand, not good for continuous loads.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Logan5 View Post
      forget that pump it's AC powered and requires and inefficient inverter to operate. Shop for a 12 or 24v pump with similar specs. You may have to make some modifications by adding a filter. If you do purchase an inverter a 24v plus inverter is preferable. 12v inverters are ok for very small intermittent loads on demand, not good for continuous loads.
      What do you mean by filter?

      If I go with the 24v pump below that is 65w, can I keep my other components the same?

      http://www.tbaquatics.com/simplicity...qh8aAhoL8P8HAQ

      Are my calculations and reasoning in my initial post correct?

      Thnaks

      Comment


      • #4
        Yes, That pump will need a water input filter screen to protect the pump.

        Comment


        • #5
          OK. I got you. When you said filter, I thought that was a system component that I was not aware of.

          Sounds like I did an good job sizing my system.

          Thanks!

          Comment


          • #6
            I did not do your math, but you are going to need a big ass battery to run this 24X7

            Comment


            • #7
              Yep. 24v 560ah battery bank is what I have calculated.

              Comment


              • #8
                In your OP, I notice you expect 8hrs of sun per day? where are you that get's 8hrs? that single over estimate could throw off all subsequent numbers. Unless you are installing an over sized split array facing SE and SW. don't buy anything yet, I think you need to do a little more reading, particularly about Solar insolation

                Comment


                • #9
                  For mission critical solar projects, you should base all your numbers on your winter sun.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    You should be looking for a brushless DC pump. And your battery bank is going to be fairly large. What sort of access to batteries do you have ? Car, Truck, golf cart ?
                    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
                    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
                    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

                    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
                    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Thanks for mentioning solar insolation. The system will be installed in Nigeria. During my last visit, I brought along a small PV panel and I subtracted the earliest and latest time I was able to get at least 80% of the small PV's full power. That was about 10 hours. I subtracted 2 hours just to give me a cushion.

                      I Googled solar insolation and the chart says the part of Nigeria the system will be installed gets only 4 hours. WOW!!!

                      I will recalculate and see what I get.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Mike90250 View Post
                        You should be looking for a brushless DC pump. And your battery bank is going to be fairly large. What sort of access to batteries do you have ? Car, Truck, golf cart ?
                        There are a few brands of deep cycle batteries available. I don't know of their quality, but they are available - Long, Zedix, Luminous, Su-Kam, Nexus, etc.

                        Why do you suggest a brushless water pump ?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Brushed motors wear out, and sometimes they can be rebuilt, most often, they are scrap. That's $$ down the drain.

                          Brand names of batteries don't help, but the type of battery is important, Like Golf Cart batteries are designed to be run down deeply and recharged, Any golf courses around the resorts that use batteries ? Golfers like electric carts, they don't like gasoline put-put carts, too noisy. Golf cart batteries are cheap and give good service for the price,
                          Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
                          || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
                          || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

                          solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
                          gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Excellent idea!!

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