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  • Will I loose power with an inverter

    I am setting up an off grid 200 watt system. I can run LED 12 volts from the batteries, or LED 120 volts with an inverter, If I use an inverter will I get the same bang for my buck from the batteries / Thanks

  • #2
    Originally posted by dinows View Post
    I am setting up an off grid 200 watt system. I can run LED 12 volts from the batteries, or LED 120 volts with an inverter, If I use an inverter will I get the same bang for my buck from the batteries / Thanks
    you have to consider the distances for the low voltage. if it is a short distance and not many lights 12V might be the way to go. 12V LEDs are more costly than 120V AC LEDs.
    You should also consider the lumens of the two lights.
    OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNH

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    • #3
      Under 15' for the wire runs, you can likely get away with 12VDC Start going beyond that distance and your cable requirements start getting larger and larger, and a small miserly inverter in the 300w range will have some losses, but not too much.
      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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      • #4
        Well I am running about 50 feet of 12 wire for some ground lights , total wattage about 25. THEN I have a 190 ft driveway with pole lights that run on 120, I was going to put about 10 watts in each lamp total of 40 watts and run that string off the inverter.. The panel is 200 watts and I figure I will use 2 or 3 big batteries. Solar gets light 12 hours a day. What do you think ? and what size inverter should I buy ?? Thanks

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        • #5
          Does it really matter if your lights are just a little dim? I doubt you would even notice it. Compare that with inverter losses and do you have a way to switch inverter on and off. Running all day will consume power.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by dinows View Post
            Well I am running about 50 feet of 12 wire for some ground lights , total wattage about 25. THEN I have a 190 ft driveway with pole lights that run on 120, I was going to put about 10 watts in each lamp total of 40 watts and run that string off the inverter.. The panel is 200 watts and I figure I will use 2 or 3 big batteries. Solar gets light 12 hours a day. What do you think ? and what size inverter should I buy ?? Thanks
            Nobody gets 12 usable PV solar hours of sunlight daily. 5 hours is normal. 6 is good, 7 in summer is doing great. Look up the PV Watts site for your location.
            https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/
            For batteries, I'd suggest a pair of 6v, 200ah golf cart batteries wired in series, to give 12V That's all a 200w panel can service.
            If your panel Vmp is over 20VDC, you will need a MPPT controller to downconvert the voltage so you will harvest the max power. Because of ordinary losses, that 200w panel can only be expected to produce 160W solar noon on a great day. At 14V, that gives you about 11amps of charging, which is marginal for 200ah of battery, but if you are not draining the batteries deeply, it could work OK. Better if you had a 300w panel,would give about 15 - 16A charging but you already bought a 200w
            Inverter, you want an efficient inverter in the 200w range. Most $40 mod sine 150w inverters are not efficient and could self-consume more power internally than your lighting.

            https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/suresine/
            https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/sunsaver-mppt/


            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


            • #7
              I was wondering why my new reliable 12v 2000w 4000 surge PSW Inverter shuts down when the fridge or box fan are turned off. Seens like a surge. The a/c output goes off. Have to shut the fan and fridge off reset yada yada yada. Anyone help before I suffer another Amazon return.
              Last edited by Dayrobber; 08-13-2019, 11:20 PM. Reason: Spelling

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              • #8
                Off topic. It could be your charge controller. Some when a heavy load is instantly removed go into over voltage. Your inverter may be going into over voltage shutdown.

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                • #9
                  What scenario from 3 12v 100w panels,Tracer 4210 40 amp CC MPPT. 4 12V 101ah batts. This inverter 12v 2000/4000 PSW by Reliable (no pun intended).Thanks ahead of time. I'm waiting on Amazon for my RMS Meter so...

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                  • #10
                    Sorry Charlie, I have one of those and it does the same thing sometimes when my inverter shuts off. I've seen the voltage go high just after the inverter shuts off when there is no other load on the battery. I ended up putting it on an auxiliary set of panels that can't supply enough current to overload the batteries.

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                    • #11
                      Thanks for the help, could someone suggest a good 2 or 3 hundred watt efficient inverter ? Thanks

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by dinows View Post
                        Thanks for the help, could someone suggest a good 2 or 3 hundred watt efficient inverter ? Thanks
                        https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/suresine/
                        300w cont, 600w surge for 10 min
                        Not cheap, not lightweight

                        Idle : 450mA (about 6 watts )
                        Standby 55mA
                        Off 25mA
                        92% efficient

                        Data Sheet

                        I have one and it's just simply solid. I have not looked for others

                        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


                        • #13
                          Couple more questions... I decided to go with an additional 200 watt panel (total 400 watts) Should I increase the 6 volt batteries two 3 instead of two and a friend gave me two huge starting batteries from a bulldozer, could I use them in conjunction with the 6 volt batteries. They were free !! Thanks for your help

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                          • #14
                            One thing I have learned throughout my adventures in Solar World is.
                            NEVER MIX BATTERIES. If you have only used batteries then charge each one separately. Test them after they sit the night. Then if you can do a load test. If you have any new batteries keep them on their own batt bank. I'm looking for receipts for 4 batteries I killed. If you can buy your batteries at the same time. I know that is almost impossible. But the same Manufacturers date if you can. Same aHs,same voltage.
                            3 x 6v batteries in parallel is 6vs. In series it's 18v. 400 watts is a lot, so charging isn't going to be a problem unless your loads are large.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by dinows View Post
                              Couple more questions... I decided to go with an additional 200 watt panel (total 400 watts) Should I increase the 6 volt batteries two 3 instead of two and a friend gave me two huge starting batteries from a bulldozer, could I use them in conjunction with the 6 volt batteries. They were free !! Thanks for your help
                              How would you connect 3 batteries ? NO.

                              2, 6 v batteries in series gives you a 12V 200ah battery.

                              Forget the bulldozer batteries, they wont last, but you could use them for the $15 core charge for the new batteries.



                              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

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