Array size = inverter size?

[BrotherDixon]

I have a 4000 watt inverter. Do I need 4000 watts of solar power?

[SunEagle]

Hello BrotherDixon and welcome to Solar Panel Talk

If you are using a legal grid tie inverter then that 4000 watt unit should be able to accept at least 4000 watts of panels and sometimes more.

If you are talking about a battery system that uses the inverter to generate AC voltage then the battery system needs to be able to provide 4 to 5 times the watt hours that the inverter is sized. So think of a 48Volt 350 to 420Ah battery system.

Also remember that the inverter will draw the amount of amps that the battery can deliver. So a 48volt battery using a 4000 watt inverter can see as much as 83 amps (4000w / 48v = 83.3a). If your battery is at a lower voltage then the amount of amps increases significantly and can over heat the wires between the battery and inverter.

[BrotherDixon]

I have an incubator that is going to draw 800 watts, 24 hours a day, for 45 days straight. What do I need to make that work with solar energy? I am very rural with no hope of being on the grid.

[SunEagle]

I have an incubator that is going to draw 800 watts, 24 hours a day, for 45 days straight. What do I need to make that work with solar energy? I am very rural with no hope of being on the grid.

Without figuring any losses an 800 watt load running 24 hours a day will consume close to 20kWh (800w x 24h = 19.2kWh) . That will require a huge and very expensive solar / battery system.

Some average costs for those type of systems have been around $1000 to $1500 for each kWh it needs to produce. Seems like you could spend $20k or more.

[Mike90250]

Honda EU2000. Not solar, but you have a huge load, that only lasts 2 months

Incubators could be well insulated, with a Heat Recovery Air exchanger and you could likely drop the load down to 200w of just fan and intermittent heater usage