mjay:


Very nice setup. I have 1200watts of solar panels ( 4x 300 watts mono) plus 24v 1.5kv inverter, and 2 200 battery, does it mean i will be able to use freezer?

depends on the starting and rated load of your freezer. My freezer is about 150w on running. Load. Starting load is about x 5 of that. Once it's kicking the running load reduces to 120w or there about.

Barezzi:

Absolutely nothing bruv... You can put any load on your inverter as long as it's properly rated for it, and you've got the benjamins for a huge battery bank!
With an inadequate battery bank, your back-up will be in seconds

If you use invert AC ( daikin and LG sell such models in Nigeria) you can easily run ac on normal 3.5 KVA inverter with 10 KWH battery bank. I run two such AC's on my 2 x 200 Ah x 4 battery bank with 2 KWP panels on 5 KVA inverter without ever reaching 50 % DOD .\The AC's have a power saver mode wihc take as low as as 300 watt in the night

pranil:


If you use invert AC ( daikin and LG sell such models in Nigeria) you can easily run ac on normal 3.5 KVA inverter with 10 KWH battery bank. I run two such AC's on my 2 x 200 Ah x 4 battery bank with 2 KWP panels on 5 KVA inverter without ever reaching 50 % DOD .\The AC's have a power saver mode wihc take as low as as 300 watt in the night

please bro explain more I'm interested

pranil:


If you use invert AC ( daikin and LG sell such models in Nigeria) you can easily run ac on normal 3.5 KVA inverter with 10 KWH battery bank. I run two such AC's on my 2 x 200 Ah x 4 battery bank with 2 KWP panels on 5 KVA inverter without ever reaching 50 % DOD .\The AC's have a power saver mode wihc take as low as as 300 watt in the night

say more abeg. intested too. Can't wait for your reply sir

pranil:


If you use invert AC ( daikin and LG sell such models in Nigeria) you can easily run ac on normal 3.5 KVA inverter with 10 KWH battery bank. I run two such AC's on my 2 x 200 Ah x 4 battery bank with 2 KWP panels on 5 KVA inverter without ever reaching 50 % DOD .\The AC's have a power saver mode wihc take as low as as 300 watt in the night

Does it cool like a normal ac or turns to a glorified fan?

pranil:


If you use invert AC ( daikin and LG sell such models in Nigeria) you can easily run ac on normal 3.5 KVA inverter with 10 KWH battery bank. I run two such AC's on my 2 x 200 Ah x 4 battery bank with 2 KWP panels on 5 KVA inverter without ever reaching 50 % DOD .\The AC's have a power saver mode wihc take as low as as 300 watt in the night

300*10hrs=3000w. This means there is hope. Please explain. Thanks

abunafiu:

say more abeg. intested too. Can't wait for your reply sir

Me too ,and please what is the minimum requirement to run such equipment ,the inverter ac? And do you say Lg sell such ? How much?

bigrovar:


I think it is just apt to show guys here the update. This project is now live and has been a resounding success. Of cause some adjustments were made mainly increasing the size of the inverter and making the whole system 24v. 24v is more efficient across the board. On inverter side easier to convert 24 - 220v than 12 - 220v, on cc less work on the cc and I can use it optimally, it is also more efficient has mppt work best when battery voltage is about twice the total voltage from the PV.

On the consumption side. I have done a lot to trim down my load considerably. Use of Led >=5w goes a long way. My average current load is about 120w (Including 43inch led, laptop powered home theater PC, 1200w 5.1 Home theater sound system, ceiling fan and couple of light bulb 8-5w which come on demand) this when u include an inverter efficiency of 85% puts my current draw from the battery system at 6amps/h putting me very close to achieving a C40 discharge rate from my 220ah battery. (this reading was done with a watt meter)

My daily consumption stands at 1600w (Including the Freezer running for 4 hours daily) which is about 30% dod. the whole 1600w is put back into the battery the next day. By noon my batteries are in float. On afternoons on weekends, generate enough from the 480w panels to run the house while keeping the batteries at float. (TV-Home theater, Fan or Just powering the freezer - not both at once)

Gen has been totally and resoundingly deprecated.

Here is the mandatory Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlkYU02g-HE

You nailed it man,this video is da bomb.Green for life.Atleast it will go a long way to encourage starters,even for a mini setup.One love

mjay:

Me too ,and please what is the minimum requirement to run such equipment ,the inverter ac? And do you say Lg sell such ? How much?

http://www.fouanistore.com/lg-appliances/lg-air-conditioners/split-ac/gen-cool-inverter-air-conditioner-1.0hp/

The startup allows it to run with a 1kva generator

guys i have reading people comments about effiency and all that. and am wondering well am in lagos the rains the cloudy wheather as been affecting my harvest. abi na my system get fault. becos nobody really talking about the reduced sunshine and reduced charging of system

reason i am asking is during this cloudy and rainy period. can someone add wind energy to the solar system to augment the low power from the sun . if so where can one get wind turbines in lagos because it is very windy .

U can order from aliexpress....cost is about 100k for 400w minus shipping

samnaija:
reason i am asking is during this cloudy and rainy period. can someone add wind energy to the solar system to augment the low power from the sun . if so where can one get wind turbines in lagos because it is very windy .

samnaija:
reason i am asking is during this cloudy and rainy period. can someone add wind energy to the solar system to augment the low power from the sun . if so where can one get wind turbines in lagos because it is very windy .

i think ur system is improperly sized.
a good setup has 3 to 5 days redundancy built into the batt bank.
i would prefer that to messing with and installing a wind turbine.

earthrealm:


i think ur system is improperly sized.
a good setup has 3 to 5 days redundancy built into the batt bank.
i would prefer that to messing with and installing a wind turbine.

a lot of people on this forum always say the exact thing u stated. you cant tell me if your system carries daily a fridge, tv ,washing machine etc . not changing your daily pattern of consumption of energy as if it is a bright sunny day as usual. you will still have 3-5 days redundancy.. i would so much like to be enlightened on such a system. i taught you reduce your load especially if 3 -4 days consectively bad wheather and no nepa.

samnaija:


a lot of people on this forum always say the exact thing u stated. you cant tell me if your system carries daily a fridge, tv ,washing machine etc . not changing your daily pattern of consumption of energy as if it is a bright sunny day as usual. you will still have 3-5 days redundancy.. i would so much like to be enlightened on such a system. i taught you reduce your load especially if 3 -4 days consectively bad wheather and no nepa.

yeah, cost is a big determinant of not building in 3 to 5 days redundancy as required, i hv a 24v 200ah batt bank in the villa, due to cost...i only hv half day redundancy .... only way i instructed them to stretch the run time of inverter on rainy days is to turn off the fridge/tv/fan....n use only lights....
in naija its difficult to have 4days non stop of badweather/continous rain...........even on cloudy days..the panels generate small power still
energy is finite, cant be created from nothing, apart from turning off heavy loads, there is no way to increase ur runtime...unless u want to invest in a device called sunforce...this monitors the irridance and lets u programme the load attached to it to run on sunny days/periods etc........
some high tech inverters might hv this as a built in function.

What is the best direction to face the solar panels. I mean, is it East or west. Thanks

Slightly south or if its not installed on the roof and easily assessible make it flat. We are about 7.5 degrees towards d north however the sun moves from 23degrees south to 23degrees north on a biannual basis.

bisi12004:
What is the best direction to face the solar panels. I mean, is it East or west. Thanks

JUO:
is not your fault. For challenging my bros after seeing his log, I will blame your lecturer, the University/ the school you attended, Nigeria system and especially you for refusing to learn. I suspect this is what you are referring to?

Lol. True ignorance is expensive. I guess you're next in line to be schooled as your friend has now admitted that he never claimed that MPPT charge controller can add power to what is sent out from the solar panels.

Please be more open as him to admit the truth whenever you realise your mistake, that's if you will.

bodejohn:


First...there wasn't any 10v battery difference...what you are referring to is the period the controller was doing a sweep of the power curve to determine the maximum power point...you can set the frequency of this sweep with some controllers. You should that the corresponding input and output power at that instance were zero.

I did the installation of the controllers myself using the recormended sense wire gauge.

One fundamental point you guys are missing is that the input power you see on the controller is not the maximum the panels can deliver...solar panels are dummies and batteries are even dummier, the more reason why a controller is needed to match the batteries to the panels.

I'll give this example....I came home one day and saw about 300watts max generation on my CC, I went in and then switched on one of the fridges...the power jumped to about 500watts...where did the extra power come from? Of course from the same panels.

When the load, that is, the batteries are not optimised or matched with the panels, the power will be will be generated by the panels but will not be transmitted to the batteries.

Dear TriStar tracking is in milliseconds and will not for once show in any log.

bodejohn:


Your CC can deliver more power than it 'says' it has received from the panels.

This is because what you see on the input of the controller is not the maximum the panel is producing at that moment especially in the morning at cold temperatures and because your batteries are at a lower voltage in the morning.

If you're saying that what u see at the input of the controller is not what comes from the panel, it therefore means that the reading at the controller is wrong, which is shouldn't be the case. I maintain that cc does not add to the power from the panel, it only ensure that the panel operates at a voltage/current combination that will guarantee maximum power and in so doing it uses little energy from the panel itself.

samnaija:
reason i am asking is during this cloudy and rainy period. can someone add wind energy to the solar system to augment the low power from the sun . if so where can one get wind turbines in lagos because it is very windy .

You'll need a separate controller for the wind setup (not MPPT controller). You can't combine both solar and wind on same charge controller.

mank1234:


If you're saying that what u see at the input of the controller is not what comes from the panel, it therefore means that the reading at the controller is wrong, which is shouldn't be the case. I maintain that cc does not add to the power from the panel, it only ensure that the panel operates at a voltage/current combination that will guarantee maximum power and in so doing it uses little energy from the panel itself.

The reading at the controller is not wrong, just as the reading of about 200 or 300 watts shown by the CC on absorption is not wrong until you kick in a power load and the production jumps to about 500watts or more as the case maybe. The work of your controller is to optimize the power delivery to your batteries.

Ok...assuming my controller is misfiring....how do you explain the later part of the day on the log when power output falls below the power input? Are you saying the controller corrects itself in the afternoon only to misfire the following morning?

I will log one of the controllers again tomorrow and will upload for you to analyse. If you have a similar controller I will encourage you to log yours and share the file.

bodejohn:


The reading at the controller is not wrong, just as the reading of about 200 or 300 watts shown by the CC on absorption is not wrong until you kick in a power load and the production jumps to about 500watts or more as the case maybe. The work of your controller is to optimize the power delivery to your batteries.

Very correct. It shows the power from the panel that's in use

Ok...assuming my controller is misfiring....how do you explain the later part of the day on the log when power output falls below the power input? Are you saying the controller corrects itself in the afternoon only to misfire the following morning?

I didn't say your controller is misfiring but rather that the values are inaccurate. Power output shouldn't be more than the input

I will log one of the controllers again tomorrow and will upload for you to analyse. If you have a similar controller I will encourage you to log yours and share the file.

Uploading your log does not change the fundamental thing stated above: log figures is inaccurate so long as output power is greater than input Power.

I'm done on this. No more response from me cos it's obvious that we'll only be going back and forth without any success nor agreement.

mank1234:

Very correct. It shows the power from the panel that's in use

I didn't say your controller is misfiring but rather that the values are inaccurate. Power output shouldn't be more than the input

Uploading your log does not change the fundamental thing stated above: log figures is inaccurate so long as output power is greater than input Power.

I'm done on this. No more response from me cos it's obvious that we'll only be going back and forth without any success nor agreement.

I am also not interested in the long dialogue since you or any other person has not uploaded another log to proof that the one I uploaded is incorrect or inaccurate.

You also obviously overlooked the part of the log where the output becomes less than the input. I suppose the controller chooses when to work accurately and when not to.

samnaija:
reason i am asking is during this cloudy and rainy period. can someone add wind energy to the solar system to augment the low power from the sun . if so where can one get wind turbines in lagos because it is very windy .

rather than do that, why not invest in more panels? Nigeria is not in the path that makes wind energy very lucrative atm. Your turbines would need to be very high up and it's might lead to voltage loss or high cost of wire and mount. Unless u live in a sky scraper.

bisi12004:
What is the best direction to face the solar panels. I mean, is it East or west. Thanks

. Best direction to place panel in Nigeria is to face directly, true south ( different from compass or magnetic south) at a 81 degree critical tilt

bodejohn:


I am also not interested in the long dialogue since you or any other person has not uploaded another log to proof that the one I uploaded is incorrect or inaccurate.

You also obviously overlooked the part of the log where the output becomes less than the input. I suppose the controller chooses when to work accurately and when not to.

bros free this boy, if he wants to learn work that is, if he will learn let him contact Richmond or abunafiu

You were patient with him...you tried. I was through with him when he started arguing about fundamental physics. I use epever and when I read the voltage readings from the panel view and using a digital multimeter, I get different readings. There is a forum where someone even complained that the readings esp the SOC is inaccurate and wrote to epsolar, they told me to ignore the reading that it depends on several factors including temperature sensor. But what baffles me is how someone could argue about fundamental efficiency equation just to appear right!

mank1234:

Very correct. It shows the power from the panel that's in use

I didn't say your controller is misfiring but rather that the values are inaccurate. Power output shouldn't be more than the input

Uploading your log does not change the fundamental thing stated above: log figures is inaccurate so long as output power is greater than input Power.

I'm done on this. No more response from me cos it's obvious that we'll only be going back and forth without any success nor agreement.

DMerciful:
You were patient with him...you tried. I was through with him when he started arguing about fundamental physics. I use epever and when I read the voltage readings from the panel view and using a digital multimeter, I get different readings. There is a forum where someone even complained that the readings esp the SOC is inaccurate and wrote to epsolar, they told me to ignore the reading that it depends on several factors including temperature sensor. But what baffles me is how someone could argue about fundamental efficiency equation just to appear right!

Truly so. The meter supplied with Epsolar can't always be relied on. This is why I plan to install inline meters at different points of my installation. One between PV and CC to give me reading of what is coming directly from PV. One between cc and batter to give me figures on what is going to battery. And one between battery and Inverter to monitor what goes into and comes out of the battery. This would be a better way to have situation report and status of an installation.

Gennex inverters will be just fine, we have one year warranty and they are axpert inverters

xreakz:
Hello gurus, what solar inverter brand would you advice one to get. I am looking to upgrade my current battery-only setup to a solar + battery + AC setup.

Thanks in advance

GENNEX INVERTERS ARE AXPERT INVERTERS, WE DID LOTS OF TESTING BEFORE BRINGING THEM INTO THE COUNTRY AND YES THEY ARE VERY POPULAR IN SOUTH AFRICA AND AUSTRALIA

bigrovar:


I would avoid MPP solar Inverters. There are known to break down after less than a year of use. Video is all over YouTube. I would recommend Axpert solar Inverters which is actually what zinox rebrand as Ipowerplus. It is very popular in Australia and south Africa

WE HAVE HAD TWO CLIENTS FROM THIS FORUM WHO HAVE INSTALLED OUR GENNEX 5KVA 8V (3000W)MPPT INVERTER, ALSO NOTE THAT OUR INVERTERS ARE THE AXPERT BRAND THAT ARE FAVORITES IN AUSTRALIA AND SOUTH AFRICA