Do I have enough batteries

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Linuxpowered88
    Junior Member
    • Apr 2018
    • 2

    Do I have enough batteries

    Here is the setup I have. I have an issue with. I have two two hundred watt watels 12 volt in parallel. I have a 50 amp mpt charge controller and 150 ah worth of lithium ion batteries. I do not know the type they were given to me. They charge up to 13.7 and power direct DC stuff no issues. If I run a pure sine wave inverter (or modified) of 2000 watt (or 3000 watt for the modified). I can now power a 6000 btu ac unit. I have checked the draw via a kilowatt before and peak draw was 580 watts and drops to 320 after. Can you advise if I don't have enough battery power. I tried to use the battery in my car with it running (760cca 400 normal Amps) but the same result. I'm using 4/0 Gage cable on the battery to inverter. 8 guage from charge controller and 10 guage on the panel. Thank you.
  • Mike90250
    Moderator
    • May 2009
    • 16020

    #2
    What is enough battery power ? Enough to run the inverter and air conditioner for 30 minutes ? 3 hours ?
    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

    • Linuxpowered88
      Junior Member
      • Apr 2018
      • 2

      #3
      I would say run for an hour maybe 90 mins on some days. It's a solar she'd I'm not working in it every day.

      Comment

      • Sunking
        Solar Fanatic
        • Feb 2010
        • 23301

        #4
        Originally posted by Linuxpowered88
        I have two two hundred watt watels 12 volt in parallel. I have a 50 amp mpt charge controller
        Although this is not the cause of any problems, you are throwing away some of the advantages of using a MPPT Controller by wiring your panels in parallel. They should be in series. With just 400 watts of panel in series assuming the Imp current is 7 amp sonly requires 14 AWG wirie between the panels and controllers unless it is longer than 15 fee 1-way


        Originally posted by Linuxpowered88
        150 ah worth of lithium ion batteries. I do not know the type they were given to me. They charge up to 13.7 and power direct DC stuff no issues.
        Well you had better know because you are playing with fire. You do not even know what capacity they have left in them if any at all. That is $1000 worth of batteries, and if someone just gave them to you smells fishy to me. My gut instinct is whoever gave them to you, saved himself a trip to the dump. So if you are having issues, it is likely your batteries.



        Originally posted by Linuxpowered88
        If I run a pure sine wave inverter (or modified) of 2000 watt (or 3000 watt for the modified). I can now power a 6000 btu ac unit. I have checked the draw via a kilowatt before and peak draw was 580 watts and drops to 320 after. Can you advise if I don't have enough battery power. I tried to use the battery in my car with it running (760cca 400 normal Amps) but the same result.
        Huh! What result? Is there a question or problem secretly coded in? We cannot read your mind. Only thing we can tell from this comment is your Window Shaker Air Conditioner has an SEER = 10.

        Anyway yes your batteries and panel wattage are undersized to run an AC unit for any meaningful length of time.
        Last edited by Sunking; 05-01-2018, 10:43 AM.
        MSEE, PE

        Comment

        • PNjunction
          Solar Fanatic
          • Jul 2012
          • 2179

          #5
          Linuxpowered88 - STOP. You need to "grep" the difference between nominal 3.2v Lifepo4 batteries, and nominal 3.7v lithiums with are every other version of lithium chemistry.

          Please fsck your setup by knowing EXACTLY which chemistry your cells are. Even if it is some sort of plug-n-play battery, that does not mean you shouldn't know what you are using to be safe in the long run.

          Comment

          Working...