Will I loose power with an inverter

[Mike90250]

Id say start with 2 batteries (total 12v 200ah) and see if they hold up their charge. If they get charged up enough in the day, but your inverter shuts down late night, then you need more battery.
Adding 2 more batteries ( 12v 400ah) may need more solar to keep it healthy. So dpon't spend all that money yet.
While you are technically "over paneled" I don't think it will be an issue, as golf cart batteries are pretty rugged, and often folks overestimate their harvest potential.

[dinows]

OK Thanks Mike so you are suggesting 4 6 volt batteries with my 400 watt panels ?? Thanks

[Mike90250]

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.

[Dayrobber]

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.

[dinows]

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

[Mike90250]

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

[dinows]

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

[PNPmacnab]

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.

[Dayrobber]

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...

[PNPmacnab]

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.

[Dayrobber]

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.

[Mike90250]

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/

[PNPmacnab]

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.

[dinows]

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

[Mike90250]

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.