12v verses 48v system

[Karlos]

Hi just starting to do this off grid living and would like to know what is best 48v or 12v.Also thing about a turbine more for winter.i know they have a different charger but can this be added to my battery bank that the solar are wired too? Thanks

[chrisski]

The wind turbine can be added to the battery, but wind is usually not worth the effort, at least I gave up on it for m case.

Lots of 12 volt and 24 volt DC hardware and accessories, but going to 48 volts even less. I like to limit loads to less than 100 amps, so think of:

12 volts for 1000 watts max usage
24 volts for 2000 watts max usage
48 volts for 4000 watts max usage

So, the size of this system really depends on a reliable power audit.

[Karlos]

Thanks for your answer I'm a bit of a novice on this.the wind well I live on the side of a valley and cause we get plenty.of that and sun to.atm I have 2x355w panals and one 375w panal attached to 4x125 amp lead acid batteries with a 60amp charger and powering off that is a pure sine wave inverter 4000w/8000w. What would you thinks best keeping 12v or change to 24v/48v???thanks

[chrisski]

These are some good links to review:

Paralleling Batteries [] 12 Volt Safety Design [] Basics of OffGrid Design [] Batteries and Inverters
Same System Different Area--Huge Difference [] Mixing and Matching Solar Panels
My RV Build[] Off Grid Calculator

[Mike90250]

Thanks for your answer I'm a bit of a novice on this.the wind well I live on the side of a valley and cause we get plenty.of that and sun to.atm I have 2x355w panals and one 375w panal attached to 4x125 amp lead acid batteries with a 60amp charger and powering off that is a pure sine wave inverter 4000w/8000w. What would you thinks best keeping 12v or change to 24v/48v???thanks

If you are expecting your inverter to provide more than 2,000 watts, you should move to a 48V system to keep wires to a manageable size