Adam Meredith's posts

Posted by Adam Meredith on Nov 19, 2015 01:08 pm

#1 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: Stumped on inverter selection!
Thanx Amy!! Your knowledge and insight is most valued!!!!!!
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Nov 19, 2015 12:17 pm

#2 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: Stumped on inverter selection!
Darn! I had an itchy debit card for that big boy! Is it a fair assumption when I'm looking at idle consumption  that if the rating is say, 60 watts, will that equate into 60wh therefore equaling 1440 wh per day? I understand most inverters go into a power save mode that use considerably less current. But am I looking at the numbers correctly?
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Nov 19, 2015 11:55 am

#3 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: Stumped on inverter selection!
Am I looking at the wrong price guide? The samlex 1500. Sells for 519 an the iota sells for 257?
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Nov 19, 2015 11:52 am

#4 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: Stumped on inverter selection!
Hi Amy!! Thanx for the reply! That new samlex inverter charger is a monster!!! I like it! But the link says it's 1300 not 900? I could swing 900 for that bad boy but 1300 is a lil too far out.  The idle consumption looks great on it as well!
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Nov 19, 2015 09:54 am

#5 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: Stumped on inverter selection!
I forgot an important factor... I have a budget of around 600-800 dollars. Also, would it be feasible to buy a seperate compatable charger and a smaller, more effecient inverter?
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Nov 19, 2015 09:45 am

#6 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Stumped on inverter selection!
Hello all,  I'm finally ready to replace my unreliable, modified sine wave inverter with a quality unit and my numbers have me perplexed! I'm hoping y'all can shed some light on me and share your knowledge and maybe even make some recommendations!
I'm currently using a "royal power" 1500w msw 24v inverter... It's installed in my off grid cabin that is supplied by 800w of panels, an mppt controller and 465 ah 24v agm battery bank.
My calculated loads are very small. in fact, my estimated wattage with everything in the cabin on I only about 400 watts! That includes my water pump, freezer, tv, laptop, and lights! That is not taking into consideration surges or the occasional use of a vacuum cleaner or circular saw. (Which both act really weird with my current inverter)
My dilemma: I really like the idea of getting an inverter charger! I have a generator I can utilize for back up charging in case of sun issues. The idle consumption of the inverter chargers has me worried as well as the lack of smaller units available. I was looking at the aims 2000w pure sine inverter charger and it's idle consumption is roughly 60 watts! That's 1400ish watts in a 24 hour period!!!! My system is only designed to use roughly 13-1400 watts per day! I also looked at the magnum 1800 watt inverter charger and yes the idle consumption is lower but it is modified sine wave. I understand my wattage requirement are small but I do like the idea of having a big enough inverter to handle occasional tool and vacuum use. Can anyone shed some light on this subject? I would like to make a purchase before the end of the year to take advantage of the tax incentives.
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 28, 2015 02:33 pm

#7 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
Thank you so much for your reply, Amy!!!! After watching your tuturial vids it's a real honor to converse with u! First off thank u for clarifying the high voltage concern. I contacted the manufacturer this morning and they backed up exactly what you've stated... So no problems there.. I've kill a watted the fridge and it pulls 80 watts when running with a 160 watt surge. Not very effecient  fridge but I'm guesstimating a 10-12 hour run time. I never considered the inverter consumption!! When I got the cabin yesterday the state of charge was still at 43% at 25.04ish volts.. The display showed 0 amps going to the bank from controller even with verified pv input.. The manufacturer has emailed me a return shipping label and told me to just send the controller back to them...  I'm going to the cabin after work and I will check the voltages... If they haven't gone up with no loads today then I'm ripping the controller off the wall and stuffing it in a box. I'm going to stop by lowes on the way and see If I can pick up a cheap pwm controller to at least get my bank charged back up. It breaks my heart to see brand new batteries so deeply discharged... I prolly just cut the life of them in half!!!! Thanks again for your reply, Amy!!!! I look forward to learning so much more from you and this group!
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 27, 2015 08:35 pm

#8 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
Dang, man... Not much of a people person are you? I understand exactly what you are saying... But you haven't answered the question as to why the higher voltage is bad or not commonly used or whatever before you assume I'm a retard... If I took took that too harshly then my bad but geez!!! I came here for insight... Anyway... I got beer in my fridge that I unplugged that I gotta drink now before it goes bad lmao! Let me digress for the sake of argument .... I have pv voltage coming from the panels... Be it 99.9 volts or 24.... My controller doesn't seem to be charging my bank.... I do appreciate your input... I guess I picked a bad day to join a solar forum... Cheers!
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 27, 2015 07:41 pm

#9 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
Thanx for all your input... I have mixed emotions about the pv array wiring... It I've gone over over everything else in the wiring... I'm going to contact the manufacturer in the morning an see what their take is on the pv voltage... I will definately post my findings and results here... Any and all other input or ideas would be wonderful!!! It's looking like I may have a dead controller on my hands.... Seems to be the only logical explanation at this time.... I'm perplexed about the array voltage now... It seems I've read that it's okay to run high voltages as long as you don't exceed the max input of the controller... For instance people that run long distances between their array and their controller?? Is this not common practice?
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 27, 2015 07:27 pm

#10 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
Meant to say not sure if it's safe to unhook the bank and check voltage output at the controller
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 27, 2015 07:25 pm

#11 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
I have some readings I would like to share... I just got to the cabin and state of charge is at 43 % ugghhhh... I have 42 volts coming from the pv array... My battery bank voltage at the charge controller is 25.05 volts ... It's getting dark so pv voltage is dropping fast... Should I just assume this controller is junk??? I'm sure if it's safe to disconnect the bank from the controller and check for charge voltage
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 27, 2015 06:29 pm

#12 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
no error lights or messages... I'm heading to the cabin now to do some more checking... Is there a way to check charger output without dissconnecting the back to the controller#   Also am i to assume that stepping up the pv voltage for wire effeciency is not common practice#
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 27, 2015 05:10 pm

#13 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
product code is CTRL-MPPT40 ... from renogy. I was under the impression through my research the mppt controllers were able to take the larger voltage supplied by grid tied modules and series run modules... therefore requiring smaller diameter wire... is that not the case%   The owners manual states that this controller can withstand 100v input and actually has an auto shutdown feature for over 100 volts
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 27, 2015 04:16 pm

#14 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
And i certainly agree with the statement that the charge controller may not be charging the battery bank.. Is there a method I can use to test if i actually have charge voltage coming from the charge controller to the battery bank I'm quite capable with a dvom.. I also just installed the remote mount display unit model # mt-5 which will give me very basic readings..  Of course when i probe the leads coming out of the controller it reads battery voltage because the bank is hooked up. When i probed the pv leads they range from 50-60 volts at the controller so that verifies pv voltage.
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 27, 2015 04:08 pm

#15 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > Re: newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
Thanks for the reply!!! I actually have the pv panels wired in 2 strings of 3 panels each.. optimum output is 18.9 v and 5.29 amps per panel.. That would effectively bring my array to 56.7v and 10.58 amps.. I have it wired that way to take advantage of my charge controller's 100v maximum input to keep wire size down.. Do you see a problem with this set up^^  Sorry, question mark button is broken lol
 

Posted by Adam Meredith on Sep 27, 2015 12:50 pm

#16 -  Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Solar Electric System - Photovoltaic > newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge
Hello, folks, Im new here.Let me give a complex rundown of my system first.
pv panels: 6 =100 watt renogy monocrystalyne panels
(two strings of 3 panels) roughly 60 volts @ 11 amps rated total output
6 gauge wire running 15 ft from array to charge controller

charge controller: renogy 40 amp mppt controller
4 gauge wire running 2 feet to battery bank

battery bank: 6=12v, 155 ah duracell pro-cell UPS batteries wired in 3 strings to make 24v and 465 ah.
2 gauge wire connecting each terminal no length is longer than 10 inches

inverter: el cheapo "royal power" 1500 watt rms 3000w surge 24v input (modified sine wave)
2 gauge wire connecting bank to inverter, length is 2 feet

load requirements: 1000 wh per day
location: Nashville TN
I've run through the calculators and according to my energy requirements I need 8211 wh and 343 ah from my battery bank
and 400 watts from my pv array for 3 days of reserve. According to my math my battery bank makes 11,160 wh @ 465 ah. Should be more than plenty i would figure.. Heres my dilema. I only had 4 100w panels hooked up in series while i was waiting for my 2 new panels to come in the mail... the only thing plugged in is the small 80w fridge.. I left the cabin for week.. when i returned yesterday to install the 2 new panels and my new mt-5 charge controller display panel i noticed i was only at 24.5 volts and the state of charge was at 40%!! this freaked me out! Yes it was a rainy crappy day yesterday but was bright and sunny all week long.. How in the world could my battery bank get down to 40% state of charge!!! I'm scared to death I'm going to ruin the batteries! I'm new to this but I feel that I've done enuff research to make educated decisions and changes... Any thoughts or guidance would be warmly appreciated! Thanx in advance- Adam
 

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