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Powering a 5000 Square Foot 6 Bedroom Lighthouse 15 Miles From the Nearest Shore

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  • Powering a 5000 Square Foot 6 Bedroom Lighthouse 15 Miles From the Nearest Shore

    Hello folks. I'm new here and I will be asking many questions as we restore a 1909 light station. A major part of the restoration will be energy storage and solar.

    We have a Facebook and official web site.

    Anyone interested in contributing is welcome to contact me or the sites.

    www.preservewhiteshoal.org


    My first question involves running a 3/4 HP well pump off an inverter. I am considering 48 volt DC storage system using eight 12V AGM batteries of a little over 210 amp hrs. (each battery)

    The total system will include some wind and a diesel generator.

    Thanks in advance for any and all help.

  • #2
    Best advice I can give you right now will save you thousands of dollars. Get out of that 12 volt box you are are stuck inside of, and forget AGM unless you can justify the expense.

    Let's start off with the No-Brainer choice of AGM or FLA. Pretty easy to figure out. AGM cost twice as much as FLA and last half as long making them 400% higher cost. See that was easy. Forget AGM. I just saved you a ton of cash

    Next item is the big money saver long term. You are stuck inside a a12 volt box. You never ever want to parallel batteries, if you need 400 AH batteries buy 400 AH batteries. They will not be 12 volt batteries, they will be 6-volt L16 batteries. If you parallel batteries, you just cut cycle life in half. You will want to use 8 x 6-Volt 400 AH batteries wired in series to make 48 volts.

    L16 Battery. Treat them nicely and you might get 5 years out of them. They will more than handle a 3/4 hp pump.

    Last edited by Sunking; 09-19-2018, 08:39 PM.
    MSEE, PE

    Comment


    • #3
      Thank you. This is why I joined. When we purchase I will consider these highly. We have a donor who is willing to supply the other batteries to get us going. Long term we need the best solution.

      Comment


      • #4
        1) don't waste the $ on the wrong batteries..
        2) If there is much length to the wiring on the well pump, use a 240V pump. Use a 3 wire pump, not a 2 wire. 3 wire is easier starting and has the capacitor on top, not down the well
        3) what other loads do you have besides the well pump ?
        4) notify your webmaster, your site is totally broken without javascript, just a plain white page. fix the site or get your web design fee refunded.
        5) Well Pump ?? What about a sump pump, will one be needed?
        6) What sort of cycle do you expect on the pump, 20 min per day? 6 hrs per day ? Big factor designing the PV array to match the load. Wind turd to match the dump load
        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


        • #5
          Thanks Mike. The pump is installed and we only run it when the 6kW diesel 220V is operational. I forget the brand but it is a 3-wire submersible well pump. I have a 3500W gasoline that runs my 1/2 horse well pump at home.

          We installed a 115 gallon Waterworker well/bladder tank so we plan on running the well pump 2-to-3 times a day for about 10 minutes. When pressure washing the cormorant poop off the deck the well runs more but then we fire up the 6kW diesel.

          Other loads will be 5 cu ft chest freezer, small referigerator, washing machine and propane dryer.

          I was originally planning on two Tesla Power Walls for the final long term with a 15-to-25 kW Marine diesel generator to charge them. PV will not be a primary source. We have room for maybe 20 panels maximum. PV will however hopefully keep up with intermitant light loads and small appliance use since we hope to run diesel generators 4 hours or less per day.

          The marine diesel with water cooled exhaust will be a primary stored hot water source as well. On a 72 foot by 72 foot block of concrete, you can't get far from the sound or smells.


          Considering that a donor has a source for the http://lifelinebatteries.com/product...eries/gpl-4dl/ batteries FREE, I was hoping to get going there and a sufficient inverter to run that installed 220V single phase 3-wire pump.

          Comment


          • #6
            What a cool restoration project! With your limited space for solar panels you have a perfect situation for using the high efficiency premium brand panels.
            2.2kw Suntech mono, Classic 200, NEW Trace SW4024

            Comment


            • #7
              Yes that is the plan. The inverter you cited, will it start and run our traditional 3/4 HP well pump? The second floor bexterior balcony has two horizontal 2" pipe railings. My plan is to put hook hanging mounting brackets on all the panels and hang them from the lower pipe on the south side of the round lighthouse. Beyond 12 panels and they will be maybe a little too far east and west facing.

              We will not leave them out after the season. That lake, wind, and ice are brutal.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Lighthouseroz View Post
                Yes that is the plan. The inverter you cited, will it start and run our traditional 3/4 HP well pump? The second floor bexterior balcony has two horizontal 2" pipe railings. My plan is to put hook hanging mounting brackets on all the panels and hang them from the lower pipe on the south side of the round lighthouse. Beyond 12 panels and they will be maybe a little too far east and west facing.

                We will not leave them out after the season. That lake, wind, and ice are brutal.
                You could easily handle the load with an OutBack Flexpower 1 system (120V) and use the PSX-240 transformer for the well pump. This is what I do for my well pump. The manual specifically mentions this use and wiring diagram for pump setup.

                http://www.outbackpower.com/products...xpower-one-fxr
                http://www.outbackpower.com/products...to-transformer


                I suspect that hanging the solar panels from a railing is a good way to lose them. You likely would get better results more permanently attaching them.
                OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNH

                Comment


                • #9
                  wow, those lifelines are heavy !! Will the battery room be at ground level ?

                  if you plan the engine running, you might not need a lot of solar power, 15 min 3 times a day could put a lot of charge back into the 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


                  • #10
                    The Lifelines if we get them will be delivered as a donation. Then we will load them in my 22 foot Sea Ray to make the 14 mile trip out. We have a Harbor Freight 650 pound winch on a crane to unload. We can lift them up to the second floor where the old battery room was,

                    Or maybe an mezzanine on the 15 foot tall first floor.


                    We run the 6kW diesel now for well pump and big chop saw power. And yes we can top off batteries while that noisy smelly diesel.

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