hardywaltz:
Good day house, been following this thread for close to 3 years.
I have been using inverters since 2008, and in April last year i changed to my present inverter 3.5kva Exulted (Imported from China) 48v system with 4nr 200ah batteries (Bluegate).
I also bought 12nr Solar panels 300w (24v rated) which I haven’t bothered to mount because where I live we have stable light (18-21hrs light a day).
However these past few days there seems to be issues with the light (basically transformer related issues) which has given me need to install the solar panels.

My house is a 5 bedroom Duplex.
My house is wired with the entire lighting points and some 13amps sockets points (Television sockets) only connected to the inverter via a SPN DB
All my lights are expensive LED watt efficient bulbs.
All TVs are LED watt efficient.
No heavy appliance connected to the inverter except standing fans.

I intend to connect the 12 solar panels to generate 3600w, the Vmp is 31.8v and Imp 9.43A,
I intended to buy Outback 80A MPPT but it seems a lot of people on this forum don’t like outback.

Problem:
1. What rate of charge controller will be suitable for (12panels of 300w - 3600w, the Vmp is 31.8v and Imp 9.43A) to effectively charge a sytem of 48v/400amh (19200w). The CC should have allowance for possible increase in capacity of PV and can be hocked up to the internet.
2. My inverter charges with a current of 11.4A and 53.4v and it takes it almost 16hrs to fully charge the batteries (4 x 12v x 200amps – 48v/200amh) is this normal?
3. Are there inverters with higher charging current? (Coz my older analogue inverters had 20A charging - 24v)
4. Since I have PHED light for close to 21hrs a day will the batteries be overcharged (boil) constantly when I connect it to the solar system?
5. Where I intend to mount the panels there seems to be a shadow on it from 8am – 9am and from 3.30pm – 5pm would it be wise if I changed the intended location?

Thanks for ur responses.

Hello, good morning . You are highly welcomed to the forum ! Outback is also a solid mppt cc. I have quite a number of client's using same charge controller and can give you a more in-depth explanation of how the outback operates ..

-Dunka
-Saipro etc can assist you on outback cc questions.

Must power star inverters 4-6kw 48v can basically power your off grid needs but it kinda has upto 80-130w idle consumption ..

You can also contact me for USA Magnum inverter 4348 with 50a max charge current capability at a discounted price if interested ... Cheer's

Smartcell global services
081-350-31951

JUO:

DC/AC CEILING FAN 56' 12V/30W, REGULATOR, REMOTE CONTROL INCLUDED 25k

promo loading

DC/AC CEILING FAN 56' 12V/30W, REGULATOR, REMOTE CONTROL INCLUDED 20k

My wish from the list

For the info of the house

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Dear both,

I can confirm to you that not only high end inverters are capable of 12v 50amps charging. I have personally tested the Mustpower inverters and verified 45-50amps charging current via both a battery monitor and my Fluke 376 Digital Clamp Meter and this when the battery bank was not deeply discharged (deeply discharged batteries will take more power). JUO has also confirmed the ICellPower's charging output in a seperate response.

I recommended the ICellPower 12v inverter because of the lower idle consumption vs. MustPower and price point between 80k - 100k.

had to do further research, the icellpower 12v charging current is listed as 30amps n not >50amps as u said.
i have a must power 48v 4kva inverter, with my clamp meter it clocks in at 29.5amps, while the display states 31amps.
so really interested in the icellpower 12v inverter that outputs >45amps.

https://www.icellpower.ng/product-page/1-5kva-12v-inverter-icellpower

Dam5reey:


DC/AC CEILING FAN 56' 12V/30W, REGULATOR, REMOTE CONTROL INCLUDED 20k

My wish from the list

good offer but no

earthrealm:


had to do further research, the icellpower 12v charging current is listed as 30amps n not >50amps as u said.
i have a must power 48v 4kva inverter, with my clamp meter it clocks in at 29.5amps, while the display states 31amps.
so really interested in the icellpower 12v inverter that outputs >45amps.

https://www.icellpower.ng/product-page/1-5kva-12v-inverter-icellpower

Hello, it depends on the must power you have .
Power starlight series 4kw 48v to 6kw 48v has upto 40-45amps charge current .
Power star light series ranging from 1kw to 2kva 12v has upto 50/60a charge current ..

The 12v & 24v 3kw specs have higher charge current features than the 48v units. In its manual , the above listed is stated 70amps theoretically.

You get to see Max charge current when your batteries are depleted and in bulk charge mode .. It drops whilst charging from constant current mode to constant voltage to float charge . Cheer's

JUO:
good offer but no

No problems thanks
I will contact you... Once the promo loads...

pranil:


I have both LG Dual cool ( new 2017 launch) and Daikin FTX35A Found Daikin to be more efficient and quite but LG is 40 % in cooling.

I have not found any other brand ACsS in the market or models which are inverter based so all the marketing claims of energy efficiency is taken with a pinch of salt
http://www.lg.com/africa/split-air-conditioners/lg-BS-Q186K3A1
https://www.deluxe.com.ng/air-conditioner/daikin-split-air-conditioner-15hp-ftv-35av1


Also be aware that all that efficiency gain comes at reduced cooling performance when in Gen mode ( LG) or Eco Mode ( Daikin) and works best in enclosed spaces such as office room or bedroom and not for open parlours with lot of Air

Hello Pranil
I will appreciate if you can assist with details on where you bought the LG dual cool.
It is not readily available.

Many thanks

hardywaltz:
Good day house, been following this thread for close to 3 years.
I have been using inverters since 2008, and in April last year i changed to my present inverter 3.5kva Exulted (Imported from China) 48v system with 4nr 200ah batteries (Bluegate).
I also bought 12nr Solar panels 300w (24v rated) which I haven’t bothered to mount because where I live we have stable light (18-21hrs light a day).
However these past few days there seems to be issues with the light (basically transformer related issues) which has given me need to install the solar panels.

My house is a 5 bedroom Duplex.
My house is wired with the entire lighting points and some 13amps sockets points (Television sockets) only connected to the inverter via a SPN DB
All my lights are expensive LED watt efficient bulbs.
All TVs are LED watt efficient.
No heavy appliance connected to the inverter except standing fans.

I intend to connect the 12 solar panels to generate 3600w, the Vmp is 31.8v and Imp 9.43A,
I intended to buy Outback 80A MPPT but it seems a lot of people on this forum don’t like outback.

Problem:
1. What rate of charge controller will be suitable for (12panels of 300w - 3600w, the Vmp is 31.8v and Imp 9.43A) to effectively charge a sytem of 48v/400amh (19200w). The CC should have allowance for possible increase in capacity of PV and can be hocked up to the internet.


The outback is fine, I ll do morning star 60amps instead, or fangpusen 80amps if i were to consider price factor

2. My inverter charges with a current of 11.4A and 53.4v and it takes it almost 16hrs to fully charge the batteries (4 x 12v x 200amps – 48v/200amh) is this normal?

With such poor charging current, that result is inevitable.

3. Are there inverters with higher charging current? (Coz my older analogue inverters had 20A charging - 24v)

We have the Felicity brand with 30amps charging current and keye brand with 50amps charging current, reverse polarity protection nd inbuilt controller,both inverter brand are transformer based wch mks dem rugged for handling heavy loads.

4. Since I have PHED light for close to 21hrs a day will the batteries be overcharged (boil) constantly when I connect it to the solar system?
No it won't, they are designed to stop charging when full.

5. Where I intend to mount the panels there seems to be a shadow on it from 8am – 9am and from 3.30pm – 5pm would it be wise if I changed the intended location?

U can cal us for inspection, for a proper mounting position.

Thanks for ur responses.

My answers to your questions are in bold.
We are professional installers, call us for purchase and installation.
You can also view our neat and beautiful installation pictures on facebook.com/monzpowersolutions

Call/whatapp 08117398294

Good Day House, Has anyone ever here used a battery balancer and how effective has it been?
Regards!!

zeestone99:


My answers to your questions are in bold.
We are professional installers, call us for purchase and installation.
You can also view our neat and beautiful installation pictures on facebook.com/monzpowersolutions

Call/whatapp 08117398294

makavele:


Responses in bold above

thank you all

chris81964:


I imported them from the US. I might have a few that arrived in Nigeria last week.

Ok, how do I contact you, mail or WhatsApp(I don't have the number though)?

chris81964:


I imported them from the US. I might have a few that arrived in Nigeria last week.

Are they for sale? I'm interested

Does anybody know anything about the LPT3000-224 inverter (https://cloudenergy.com.ng/products/3kw-home-inverter) from Cloud Energy? It has the same shape and design as the MUST EP3000 series inverters, and seems to be based off CoSuper/Devel LPT3000 series inverters from china. The AIMS inverter (http://www.aimscorp.net/3000-Watt-Pure-Sine-Inverter-Charger-24-Volt.html) also seems to be based of the cosuper inverter.

It claims an idle power consumption of less than 10W

Javid4me:


Hello Pranil
I will appreciate if you can assist with details on where you bought the LG dual cool.
It is not readily available.

Many thanks

LG showroom Amino Kano crescent - Abuja

The Lithium invasion has started

I fixed one in India at home when on vacation and it' superb - Touch control, Phone interface and charging time of 2 hours with Built in 800 Watt MPPT .

The lithium battery is small though 20 AH 50 V ( 1 WKH) designed for indian situations . Only 1 KVA for now 2 KVA coming in June with larger battery and add-on unit for longer storage. Mine was one of the first 4 pieces in India

Looks fabulous tough on the wall

https://www.luminousindia.com/regalia/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN_pXvpqrWs

Boss!

See below my exact words - I bolded the relevant portions.

I reconfirm the charging amp measurements for the MustPower

I checked out your link for the ICellPower 1.5kva 12v and it lists 30amps. There is a 2kva version which is rated at 40amps but sadly I could not find a link to post Perhaps it is out of stock.

I reiterate that budget permitting, the OP can easily combine two ICellPower units (1.5kva 12v costs ~70k/unit per the website) to get more amps or combine 1unit of ICellPower with a Soeur Smart Charger if his battery chemistry tolerates a 14.8volt absorb setpoint or he is unwilling/unable to mod the Souer.

earthrealm:


had to do further research, the icellpower 12v charging current is listed as 30amps n not >50amps as u said.
i have a must power 48v 4kva inverter, with my clamp meter it clocks in at 29.5amps, while the display states 31amps.
so really interested in the icellpower 12v inverter that outputs >45amps.

https://www.icellpower.ng/product-page/1-5kva-12v-inverter-icellpower

NiyiOmoIyunade:


Dear both,

I can confirm to you that not only high end inverters are capable of 12v 50amps charging. I have personally tested the Mustpower inverters and verified 45-50amps charging current via both a battery monitor and my Fluke 376 Digital Clamp Meter and this when the battery bank was not deeply discharged (deeply discharged batteries will take more power). JUO has also confirmed the ICellPower's charging output in a seperate response.

I recommended the ICellPower 12v inverter because of the lower idle consumption vs. MustPower and price point between 80k - 100k.

If Mr RYusufu needs more power per unit of time he can purchase two inverter units and set the charging amps (user adjustable) to achieve his goal - let me muddy the water by saying I know of a chinco smart charger called Souer which costs less than 20k and can also output 25 - 30amps charging current . The charger has a reliable cutoff to float mode and the default absorb voltage is 14.8volts ...


...So I would say stick with your 12v 500ah bank for now and buy the ICellPower inverters to keep your battery bank happy - ensure a daily full charge and consume no more than 50% of your battery AH Capacity and you should be good.

There, now you both owe me consultancy fee

I tried the Su-Kam 24v version once and sorry to say they did nothing to balance my battery voltage.

Victron has a balancer which has good reviews but I am discouraged by the wiring complexity required to install them especially in a 48v battery bank or if you use a 6v in series battery setup. The victron battery balancer is also pretty pricey in my opinion. I posted a link below as a starting point...

https://www.victronenergy.com/batteries/battery-balancer

Here is another bonus link for a battery balancer of unknown provenance which I am by no means recommending

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=zhc+battery+balancer


If one battery in your bank tests consistently lower than the others in voltage, you might want to isolate it and charge it properly and if the chemistry permits do an equalization then put it back in service together with the good batteries after all of them are fully charged.

Feshizzy:
Good Day House,
Has anyone ever here used a battery balancer and how effective has it been?

Regards!!

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Boss!

See below my exact words - I bolded the relevant portions.

I reconfirm the charging amp measurements for the MustPower

I checked out your link for the ICellPower 1.5kva 12v and it lists 30amps. There is a 2kva version which is rated at 40amps but sadly I could not find a link to post Perhaps it is out of stock.

I reiterate that budget permitting, the OP can easily combine two ICellPower units (1.5kva 12v costs ~70k/unit per the website) to get more amps or combine 1unit of ICellPower with a Soeur Smart Charger if his battery chemistry tolerates a 14.8volt absorb setpoint or he is unwilling/unable to mod the Souer.

do u mean i can combine two inverters to achieve higher current for charging the battery?? If it so, then i have a another 700watt inverter which i can connect in parallel to achieve higher current

pranil:


LG showroom Amino Kano crescent - Abuja

Bless you Bro. Many thanks

NiyiOmoIyunade:
I tried the Su-Kam 24v version once and sorry to say they did nothing to balance my battery voltage.

Victron has a balancer which has good reviews but I am discouraged by the wiring complexity required to install them especially in a 48v battery bank or if you use a 6v in series battery setup. The victron battery balancer is also pretty pricey in my opinion. I posted a link below as a starting point...

https://www.victronenergy.com/batteries/battery-balancer

Here is another bonus link for a battery balancer of unknown provenance which I am by no means recommending

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=zhc+battery+balancer


If one battery in your bank tests consistently lower than the others in voltage, you might want to isolate it and charge it properly and if the chemistry permits do an equalization then put it back in service together with the good batteries after all of them are fully charged.

Thank you very much for your time in replying,
Actually,
I have fully charge them individually to balance them before putting them in a pack,
One of the battery seems to have a higher voltage during float charge.

Yes! Most definitely you can combine two inverters or charge sources on one battery bank to increase the net charging amps going into the battery bank.

At any point in time one inverter will both power your house loads and charge the battery bank while the other one will only be dedicated to charging the battery bank. - the AC output side to your house loads will not be used at all for that second inverter but/or if you want to switch your house loads between the inverters you use a changeover/knife switch between the two inverters' AC outputs to keep them electrically isolated from each other.

Please note you cannot combine/parallel the AC output of two inverters except the manufacturer specifically says so but you can easily parallel the DC/battery side without issues.

In your case simply disconnect all power sources, switch off DC breakers, then connect the positive battery cable of both inverters to the positive battery post or busbar and then the negative battery cable of both inverters to the negative battery post or bus bar of your battery bank - basically thesame way you would set up one inverter only but now you simply connect both inverters to thesame point/post on the battery terminals

ryusufu:
do u mean i can combine two inverters to achieve higher current for charging the battery?? If it so, then i have a another 700watt inverter which i can connect in parallel to achieve higher current

You are welcome Sir.

How large is the voltage difference between the batteries? if one is reading say 13.1v and the other 13.0v when fully charged and when discharged to your DoD cutoff point e g 50% discharge, you have one reading 12.2v and the other 12.1v under load, then there is obviously some capacity or State of Charge difference but you really shouldn't be bothered.

In my experience, one may never get battery voltage to converge exactly despite all measures taken.

You should only be worried if say for example one battery reads 12.2v and the other 11.5v under load at around the 50% discharge point - that kind of voltage difference is the only one worth bothering over.

Feshizzy:


Thank you very much for your time in replying,
Actually,
I have fully charge them individually to balance them before putting them in a pack,
One of the battery seems to have a higher voltage during float charge.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
You are welcome Sir.

How large is the voltage difference between the batteries? if one is reading say 13.1v and the other 13.0v when fully charged and when discharged to your DoD cutoff point e g 50% discharge, you have one reading 12.2v and the other 12.1v under load, then there is obviously some capacity or State of Charge difference but you really shouldn't be bothered.

In my experience, one may never get battery voltage to converge exactly despite all measures taken.

You should only be worried if say for example one battery reads 12.2v and the other 11.5v under load at around the 50% discharge point - that kind of voltage difference is the only one worth bothering over.

At float,
Three batteries reads 13.3v while the last one reads 14.1v.
At DoD is quite the same,
I have tried manually balancing like a said before by charging them individually to full. But after a while it becomes unbalanced after few usage!!

Feshizzy:


Thank you very much for your time in replying,
Actually,
I have fully charge them individually to balance them before putting them in a pack,
One of the battery seems to have a higher voltage during float charge.

You should be worried if the difference in the voltages is more than 0.3V.
You may not notice the effect now. One battery is overcharging while the other is undercharging. Overtime, one of the batteries will fail. The higher your charging current the faster this will happen, especially, if your setup doesn't equalize in more than a month.

It happen to me once. While one battery was very strong, a cell in the one that was undercharging died. Before then during equalization stage when voltage to both batteries was 28.8V, one used to read like 16.2 while the other read like 12.6.

You'll also get a slightly better AH from a well balanced battery bank than from one that is out of balance.

Get Victron battery balancer.

mank1234:


You should be worried if the difference in the voltages is more than 0.3V.
You may not notice the effect now. One battery is overcharging while the other is undercharging. Overtime, one of the batteries will fail. The higher your charging current the faster this will happen, especially, if your setup doesn't equalize in more than a month.

It happen to me once. While one battery was very strong, a cell in the one that was undercharging died. Before then during equalization stage when voltage to both batteries was 28.8V, one used to read like 16.2 while the other read like 12.6.

You'll also get a slightly better AH from a well balanced battery bank than from one that is out of balance.

Get Victron battery balancer.

Thank you very much for your insight,
Same unbalanced state is where i find my batteries currently,
Do you know where I could get the battery balancer and at what rate did you also get yours?
My System is 48v

Thank you in advance

Feshizzy:

Thank you very much for your insight,
Same unbalanced state is where i find my batteries currently,
Do you know where I could get the battery balancer and at what rate did you also get yours?
My System is 48v

Thank you in advance

Got one at 72.25USD from Amazon. It's currently out of stock. Check eBay if you can get it there. Because your system is 48V, you'll need 3 of it.

Alternatively, you can get other brand from aliexpress. The one I got from Aliexpress didn't last up to 6months.

mank1234:


Got one at 72.25USD from Amazon. It's currently out of stock. Check eBay if you can get it there. Because your system is 48V, you'll need 3 of it.

Alternatively, you can get other brand from aliexpress. The one I got from Aliexpress didn't last up to 6months.

I won't really advice him to use the Victron brand or any balancer on those set of mixed batteries which we do not really know their history ... If he newly bought and installed 4 sets altogether , I would have seconded the motion of the battery balancers performing tremendously well ! Cheer's

Good afternoon my ogas, pls I need a used solar panel of maybe 12v/150watts or 200watts. Anyone that has for sale can contact me. I am tired of using generator to charge my battery.

Mank1234 is on point on all counts.

You either identify and fix or replace the one bad battery in your bank or you buy a balancer.

The Victron battery balancer is probably the best name brand out there but by jove is it pricey! . You are looking at 70pounds (35thousand naira) apiece and you will need 3 pieces for a 48v bank and I do hate the wiring complexity it brings.

Find it here on Amazon UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01DH6B2D2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516366319&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=victron+battery+balancer&dpPl=1&dpID=51uMlarppnL&ref=plSrch

3 pieces Victron balancer is already the cost of a new 12v 200ah battery so you choose...

If you were a betting man I would ask you to go with the ZHC version on Amazon US

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=zhc+battery+balancer

You need only one unit for a 48v system and it is much simpler to wire and nothing much to lose at around 70USD total landed cost.

See the link below for youtube reviews of the ZHC from offgriders so you can gain some confidence


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaLGR_XF9ek


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMOz-5JeAy0

I have been in bad battery scenarios both for myself and for clients a few times so I know how it feels.

All the best bro and hope to hear that you are all good in a few weeks

mank1234:


Got one at 72.25USD from Amazon. It's currently out of stock. Check eBay if you can get it there. Because your system is 48V, you'll need 3 of it.

Alternatively, you can get other brand from aliexpress. The one I got from Aliexpress didn't last up to 6months.

mank1234:


You should be worried if the difference in the voltages is more than 0.3V.
You may not notice the effect now. One battery is overcharging while the other is undercharging. Overtime, one of the batteries will fail. The higher your charging current the faster this will happen, especially, if your setup doesn't equalize in more than a month.

It happen to me once. While one battery was very strong, a cell in the one that was undercharging died. Before then during equalization stage when voltage to both batteries was 28.8V, one used to read like 16.2 while the other read like 12.6.

You'll also get a slightly better AH from a well balanced battery bank than from one that is out of balance.

Get Victron battery balancer.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Mank1234 is on point on all counts.

You either identify and fix or replace the one bad battery in your bank or you buy a balancer.

The Victron battery balancer is probably the best name brand out there but by jove is it pricey! . You are looking at 70pounds (35thousand naira) apiece and you will need 3 pieces for a 48v bank and I do hate the wiring complexity it brings.

Find it here on Amazon UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01DH6B2D2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516366319&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=victron+battery+balancer&dpPl=1&dpID=51uMlarppnL&ref=plSrch

3 pieces Victron balancer is already the cost of a new 12v 200ah battery so you choose...

If you were a betting man I would ask you to go with the ZHC version on Amazon US

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=zhc+battery+balancer

You need only one unit for a 48v system and it is much simpler to wire and nothing much to lose at around 70USD total landed cost.

See the link below for youtube reviews of the ZHC from offgriders so you can gain some confidence


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaLGR_XF9ek


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMOz-5JeAy0

I have been in bad battery scenarios both for myself and for clients a few times so I know how it feels.

All the best bro and hope to hear that you are all good in a few weeks

Thank you very much for your contribution Mr Niyi,
I have been eyeing that chinese balancer for a while,
Just wondering if anyone has had some experience with them,
So far so good the only known issue is the low pitch noise it produce after a while.

I have also seen those videos and many others that shows the stuff really works even with different battery age and size.

Cheers!
Regards!!

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