antrax 60 amp controler and for 6 volt225ah batteries for two 12 volt solar panels?

[Jaytow]

I have a antrax 60 amp controler and four 6 volt 225ah batteries wired for two 12 volt batteries and not sure what to get for solar panels. should i go with one 400 watt or four 100 watt 12 volt panels. just want to run a small freezer and fridge and some led lights. also have a 2500 watt cobra inverter. need help. thanks

[Sunking]

I have a antrax 60 amp controler and four 6 volt 225ah batteries wired for two 12 volt batteries and not sure what to get for solar panels. should i go with one 400 watt or four 100 watt 12 volt panels. just want to run a small freezer and fridge and some led lights. also have a 2500 watt cobra inverter. need help. thanks

Well let's break it down.

What you have is a 12 volt 450 amp hour battery when said and done. That will require around 45 amps minimum charge current so a 60 amp charge controller might work depending on if it is a MPPT or PWM. I have never heard of an antrax 60 amp controler before. Could you mean a Xantrex 60 Amp PWM Charge Controller? If so with properly configured 12 volt battery panels at 400 watts input will at best generate only about 22 amps (270 watts output), or about half of what you need to properly charge your batteries.

But that is pretty much irrelevant because the batteries panel wattage, and charge controller size is all dependent on:

• How much energy you use in a day.
• Location
• Time of year use.

[Jaytow]

thank you sunking

Well let's break it down.

What you have is a 12 volt 450 amp hour battery when said and done. That will require around 45 amps minimum charge current so a 60 amp charge controller might work depending on if it is a MPPT or PWM. I have never heard of an antrax 60 amp controler before. Could you mean a Xantrex 60 Amp PWM Charge Controller? If so with properly configured 12 volt battery panels at 400 watts input will at best generate only about 22 amps (270 watts output), or about half of what you need to properly charge your batteries.

But that is pretty much irrelevant because the batteries panel wattage, and charge controller size is all depen

• How much energy you use i
• Location
• Time of year use.

a Xantrex 60 Amp PWM Charge Controller is what I have! Now my question is, will a 400 Watt panel with higher voltage work with a 12 volt system? Thinking about Helios 1 415W Mono Crystalline 60 Cell Solar Panel 400 Watt 30V Solar Cells. Would this work? I'm new at thoe forum, so not sure if I'm doing thoe right.LOL.

[Sunking]

a Xantrex 60 Amp PWM Charge Controller is what I have! Now my question is, will a 400 Watt panel with higher voltage work with a 12 volt system? Thinking about Helios 1 415W Mono Crystalline 60 Cell Solar Panel 400 Watt 30V Solar Cells. Would this work? I'm new at thoe forum, so not sure if I'm doing thoe right.LOL.

Absolutely not, they must be panels made for 12 volt battery systems. You are Hog Tied with a PWM controller because Input Current = Output Current.

Allow me to demonstrate real examples, one with a 100 watt standard 12 volt battery panel, and another with a 100 watt 60 cell panel.

The standard 100 watt 12 volt battery power has a Vmp of roughly 18 volts, and a Imp of 5.5 amps. So assuming your battery and load is demanding full power from the panels the output current is Isc of 5.5 amps. 5.5 amps x 12 volts battery = 66 watts from your standard 100 watt 12 volt panel a loss of 33% which is as good as it gets with a PWM controller.

Now for the 60 cell 100 watt GTI panel has a Vmp of 30 volts and a Imp of 3.33 amps. So out to the battery is 3.33 amps x 12 volts = 40 watts from a 100 watt panel.

This will frost your pumpkin. If you had used a MPPT controller either panel will output 7.91 amps to the battery at 12 volts or 95 watts, and with th eright MPPT controller you can run the input voltage up to as high as 150 to 250 volts using cheaper Grid Tied panels and the whole system initial cost would be much lower.

[Jaytow]

thanks again sunking

Absolutely not, they must be panels made for 12 volt battery systems. You are Hog Tied with a PWM controller because Input Current = Output Current.

Allow me to demonstrate real examples, one with a 100 watt standard 12 volt battery panel, and another with a 100 watt 60 cell panel.

The standard 100 watt 12 volt battery power has a Vmp of roughly 18 volts, and a Imp of 5.5 amps. So assuming your battery and load is demanding full power from the panels the output current is Isc of 5.5 amps. 5.5 amps x 12 volts battery = 66 watts from your standard 100 watt 12 volt panel a loss of 33% which is as good as it gets with a PWM controller.

Now for the 60 cell 100 watt GTI panel has a Vmp of 30 volts and a Imp of 3.33 amps. So out to the battery is 3.33 amps x 12 volts = 40 watts from a 100 watt panel.

This will frost your pumpkin. If you had used a MPPT controller either panel will output 7.91 amps to the battery at 12 volts or 95 watts, and with th eright MPPT controller you can run the input voltage up to as high as 150 to 250 volts using cheaper Grid Tied panels and the whole system initial cost would be much lower.

This is much more confusing than I expected! LOL. All I want to do is run all my camper with solar. With my DC generator pumping my camper with the juice I needed the Watts on my inverter was reading around 500 or so. Now I just want to go out and buy what I need to do that with solar instead of the DC Gen. With the inverter. Hmmm. What do I buy?

[Jaytow]

Was wondering if the packages from northern tool were worth buying?

[Jaytow]

28 ft camper sitting on land with no utilities set up as a camp.

I just want to run a small freezer and fridge and led lighting only when im there. Could some one just maybe give me a list of what I might need? Ive been doing this for a while now with a homemade dc generator hooked up to a bank of batteries and an inverter. The watts on the inverter on average have been around 500. The fridge take about 700 watts to start then comes down to 90. I did read a post that recommended a freezer as a fridge. I like that. I do stay weeks at a time here so I would like to run everything the week with out having to run the generator. For a generator I used a pma for a wind turbine hooked up to a 6.5 hp engine. Worked fine. Used a Xantrex 60 Amp PWM Charge Controller to regulate the amps into the battery. At the time only had a 100 ah deep cycle battery used for a boat. what do i do from here to go total pv? thanks

[Sunking]

At the time only had a 100 ah deep cycle battery used for a boat. what do i do from here to go total pv? thanks

Spend a boat load of money. No one is answering because you have not provided enough information. What we need to know is:

• How many watt hours per day will you need.
• Location
• Time of year use.

You need all that info to design a system properly so it will actually work. For example lets say you need 1000 watt hours per day which is about what a standard refrigerator uses, you live in Kansas City, and use it year round for a week at a time every other week.

Going the cheap route with a PWM controller will require:

• Solar Panel Wattage = 700 watts.
• PWM CC = 40 amps
• Battery = 400 AH @ 12 volts AGM
• Inverter = 1000 watts

To use a MPPT controller:

• Solar Panel Wattage = 500 watts
• MPPT CC = 40 amps.
• Battery = 400 AH @ 12 volts AGM
• Inverter = 1000 watts

[Jaytow]

sunking, thank you again.

Spend a boat load of money. No one is answering because you have not provided enough information. What we need to know is:

• How many watt hours per day will you need.
• Location
• Time of year use.

You need all that info to design a system properly so it will actually work. For example lets say you need 1000 watt hours per day which is about what a standard refrigerator uses, you live in Kansas City, and use it year round for a week at a time every other week.

Going the cheap route with a PWM controller will require:

• Solar Panel Wattage = 700 watts.
• PWM CC = 40 amps
• Battery = 400 AH @ 12 volts AGM
• Inverter = 1000 watts

To use a MPPT controller:

• Solar Panel Wattage = 500 watts
• MPPT CC = 40 amps.
• Battery = 400 AH @ 12 volts AGM
• Inverter = 1000 watts

I will have to get back to you for I do not know the information you want yet! I thank you for your knowledge. From the sound of it,it may not be worth the money to do this!

[Sunking]

I will have to get back to you for I do not know the information you want yet! I thank you for your knowledge. From the sound of it,it may not be worth the money to do this!

Well you have to decide if it is worth it or not, and you will never know unless you run the numbers. Invest $30 for a Kill-A-Watt meter. Plug your refrigerator into it and let it run a full week with normal use. From that you can get accurate data. So if you plug it in Sat Morning at 7 am and unplug it the following Friday at 7 am and it reads 7 Kwh you know you averaged 1 Kwh/day.

With solar systems especially off-grid battery systems location is the most important factor and will make or break the system. For a given energy requirement like 1 Kwh/day the battery is constant, but as location changes panel wattage and controller sizes vary widely. For example lets say you need 1 Kwh/day in two locations of Seattle WA, and Tuscon AZ.

In Seattle you will need 1350 watt solar panel and two 60 amp MPPT charge controllers. That will cost you about $3600 just for the panels and controllers. Batteries and inverters are extra.

That same requirement in Tuscon is a 275 watt solar panel and a single 25 amp MPPT charge controller. That will cost you about $850. Batteries and inverters are extra.

So as you can see location matters a whole lot.

What I can tell you solar is less expensive than a motor/generator plus fuel cost.

[Jaytow]

Off-Grid Weekender RV Solar Kit

I don’t know, after a little research I think I am going to go with something like
this set up and tailor my energy demands to what I can do with it! Any comments
about the equipment I am looking into? Just have to look into a
battery bank to match. I’m open to suggestions or criticism!


2 Kyocera KD140SX-UFBS 140 watt solar module
1 Morningstar Prostar PS-30M Charge Controller
1 MidNite MNPV-3, 3 Position Combiner Box 150V
2 MNEPV-15 15 amp DC Breaker 150VDC DIN, 13mm
1 30' extension cable
Price: $1,025.00

[epsgunner]

With only 1 wire this sounds like the 2 panels are to be wired in series.. running that controller you will be at 24v and need a 24v battery bank and 24v inverter..

The combiner box is a nice feature to have if you plan on growing your system..

The 140w panels should yield you about 105-108 watts EACH..

My 145w panels were getting me 110-112 on the MorningStar TS-45 (PWM controller)..

Pending on location and how you plan to grow you may want to get an MPPT controller right off the bat..

Even though I'm Southern TX I had 6 panels and then had to sell the TS-45 (PWM) and go with the Midnite Classic 150 (MPPT) as I want as much as I can year round for my cabin..

For 2 panels the MS-30M is probably fine.. (other will disagree).. we need some info on the intended usage and watts that you need to POWER..