Home CCTV on solar ?

[joey117]

Ok to start with I am very new to everything solar I have a CCTV system installed around my house and I was hoping to put it on off-grid solar now I will be drawing approximately 48w maximum for 24/7 use my problem is I have tried to buy an inverter and when I plugged it in it end up damaging some of my electrical components so my question is , what is the correct inverter to use on sensitive electronics and does anyone have any suggestions on which one to buy

Thanks u for any help

[SunEagle]

Hello joey117 and welcome to Solar Panel Talk

For some sensitive electronic equipment a Pure Sine Wave inverter is require. A cheaper mod sine wave can cause issues with both electronics and small motors.

While you did not mention your battery or inverter voltage I will assume it is 12volt and 120volt.

A 48w load running 24 hours is over 1.1 kWh which may require a battery system that can provide 4 times that amount. At 12volts you would need a battery system around 400Ah and a PV wattage system around 500 watts along with an MPPT type CC rated at least 45Amps.

So I would check out the pricing for that system and then figure if spending about $3000 is worth it or find a way to get grid power to your CCTV system.

[joey117]

Thank you very much for your information it is much appreciated this system can be 12 or 24v it does not matter and unfortunately I am in the UK so my voltage requirements will be 240 volts , to be honest this all this just to get my feet wet in solar I always find it very interesting topic and I'm just looking to implement it in and a small way if it is unaffordable that will be unfortunate

[SunEagle]

Thank you very much for your information it is much appreciated this system can be 12 or 24v it does not matter and unfortunately I am in the UK so my voltage requirements will be 240 volts , to be honest this all this just to get my feet wet in solar I always find it very interesting topic and I'm just looking to implement it in and a small way if it is unaffordable that will be unfortunate

A 24volt system is better than a 12volt. Your inverter can be rated either 12V/24V on the battery side and 240Volt on the load side. It still needs to be a Pure or True sine wave type.

As for solar being affordable. That is an open question based on everyone's priorities.

IMO any solar / battery system will never pay for itself based on current equipment prices vs what your POCO may charge you for each kWh. Maybe you have high electric rates and can purchase low cost equipment and maybe not. Most of the US customers do not have a high cost per kWh and batteries are still very expensive so for them even a small solar / battery system is not always affordable.

But equipment prices are changing so who knows what the outcome will be.

[joey117]

Just a quick question about inverters will they trigger on if you buy 1000 watt inverter and have a 50w load.

And the price of batteries and solar panels I was actually very lucky and I have got give to me a set of panels they are 250w panels and there is four of them also I am working with lead acid batteries for now I know they're the wrong type of batteries but I also got them for free so hopefully start of cost will be low to see if I can actually make it work

[SunEagle]

Just a quick question about inverters will they trigger on if you buy 1000 watt inverter and have a 50w load.

And the price of batteries and solar panels I was actually very lucky and I have got give to me a set of panels they are 250w panels and there is four of them also I am working with lead acid batteries for now I know they're the wrong type of batteries but I also got them for free so hopefully start of cost will be low to see if I can actually make it work

Most DC to AC battery inverters should work properly even with a small load. Just be aware that a big inverter tends to be less efficient and will consume battery power if they are turned on but do not have any loads connected to them.

When you determine your panel wattage you can then determine your battery Ah rating (which is actually backwards) to get a balanced system. A 1000 watt pv system will require an MPPT CC rated 45 amps for a 24volt battery but will need to be 80amps for a 12volt battery. Keep your charging rate for the battery between C/8 and C/12 of the total Ah rating (C = Ah). Too many or too few charging amps will hurt the battery system.

[Mike 90704]

If this CCTV system is unattended for long periods of time sealed AGM batteries may be more appropriate being you don't need to check electrolyte levels.