Small 12v system to power Hughesnet router and a couple other small items

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  • hammick
    Solar Fanatic
    • Jul 2015
    • 368

    Small 12v system to power Hughesnet router and a couple other small items

    I'm wanting to power a Hughesnet router and a couple other small loads during the winter months. Total draw of 60 watts or less. I currently have two 12v 100 watt panels mounted on the South facing garage wall for charging vehicle batteries. Thinking of hooking these panels in parallel to a 30a PWM charge controller to charge up a couple 6v GC2 golf cart batteries (in series) or a Trojan 12 deep cycle battery. So figure a 210ah bank. Was thinking of using a Cotek 200w pure sine wave inverter. Since the solar panels are vertical no chance of getting covered with snow. Does this sound like it will work or will I need another panel? More info below on why I want to do this.

    I already own the solar panels and the 30a charge controller. Thanks for any help. It's been a while since I've had to figure out load and panel calculations.



    www.solar-electric.com/cotek...iABEgI9t_D_BwE

    www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    www.invertersupply.com/index...SABEgJpqfD_BwE


    Our vacation place has a 48v Schnieder system that works very well. For the past four years I have always shut off the inverter and let the solar charge controller take care of the batteries. Never had any issues even if the panels were covered with snow for a while. Our place now has Hughesnet internet and I have installed security cameras. Even with no big loads my system is drawing down to 90% SOC every night. Eventually it's going to snow and my roof panels are going to get covered. I'm worried the batteries getting too low for too long. I'll have the ability to remotely shut off our 48v inverter to save the batteries. However, that will kill the internet and I won't be able to turn it back on. So looking to power the Hughesnet router off a 200w 12v Inverter connected to a couple Costco 6v GC2 batteries or a 12v Trojan battery.
    Last edited by hammick; 01-07-2020, 12:08 PM.
    Conext XW5548
    Conext MPPT60-150
  • Mike90250
    Moderator
    • May 2009
    • 16020

    #2
    > Since the solar panels are horizontal no chance of getting covered with snow.

    Uh, want to rethink that ? Horizontal = covered in snow

    60w x 24 hours = 1,440 watt hours consumed That's as much as a standard fridge !!!
    200w x 5 hours = 1,000 watt hours harvested on a good day.
    do you see the daily 440w shortfall ? 2 days and you have dead batteries.

    210ah x 12v = 2,520 wh in the battery bank, so you are OK there, taking the batteries to 50% daily, they will barely last a year.
    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

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    • hammick
      Solar Fanatic
      • Jul 2015
      • 368

      #3
      Originally posted by Mike90250
      > Since the solar panels are horizontal no chance of getting covered with snow.

      Uh, want to rethink that ? Horizontal = covered in snow

      60w x 24 hours = 1,440 watt hours consumed That's as much as a standard fridge !!!
      200w x 5 hours = 1,000 watt hours harvested on a good day.
      do you see the daily 440w shortfall ? 2 days and you have dead batteries.

      210ah x 12v = 2,520 wh in the battery bank, so you are OK there, taking the batteries to 50% daily, they will barely last a year.

      Sorry brain fart. Meant vertical (mounted on an exterior wall).

      Mike thanks for the calculations. Looks like my idea is a non-starter.

      Arizona Wind recommended that I run the Hughesnet router off a 200w 48v inverter connected to my 48v bank. I checked the power draw of that inverter and it doesn't make sense either.

      I'm now looking into setting the LBCO (low battery cut out) to the highest setting.

      Doesn't seem to be a great solution other than additional panels pole mounted or an AGS genset. Both very pricey options.
      Last edited by hammick; 01-07-2020, 12:12 PM.
      Conext XW5548
      Conext MPPT60-150

      Comment

      • qrper
        Member
        • Dec 2019
        • 38

        #4
        Frankly, I'd toss the inverter and operate on a strictly dc system. I've never seen a Hughesnet router, and I'm guessing here, but i'd bet it has a simple wall wart type of power supply that plugs into the router. That can be easily operated off your dc buss without much hassle.

        Let's say the router uses a bastard voltage of 27 V dc or something as odd. A cheap dc to dc buck/boost inverter would work then.

        There are options

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