primusmaximus:


This was actually my concern with having a high number of solar panels. I also noticed lots of installers recommend four 300/330W solar panels for 5KVA inverters (four 200Ah batteries).

But shouldn't the charge controllers regulate the amount of voltage/current assigned to charging the batteries? If not, current from PHCN should charge batteries from empty to full in less than an hour. I feel there should be a max charge rate from the charge controllers and what's left over should be sent to the Load (at least for hybrid Inverters)

It's not possible for the charge controller to know the rating of your battery ,wether it's 200ah ,400ah,or 100th system, charge controller supplies constant current (based on it capacity ) and regulated voltage, and3, 4 or 5 stage charging method to the battery, u as an engineer then need to apply the right sizing of panels for your battery,
Even most inverters, sukam ,microtek, luminous, they all have charging current selection at the back ,u select based on ur battery ratings
It will b heart breaking to replace 16 batteries in less than 4 months of installation concidering the cost, due to wrong installation
Some hubris inverters can do the load charge balancing properly,
And also there solar inverters that can work directly from sun

dreamwords:

It's not possible for the charge controller to know the rating of your battery ,wether it's 200ah ,400ah,or 100th system, charge controller supplies constant current (based on it capacity ) and regulated voltage, and3, 4 or 5 stage charging method to the battery, u as an engineer then need to apply the right sizing of panels for your battery,
Even most inverters, sukam ,microtek, luminous, they all have charging current selection at the back ,u select based on ur battery ratings
It will b heart breaking to replace 16 batteries in less than 4 months of installation concidering the cost, due to wrong installation
Some hubris inverters can do the load charge balancing properly,
And also there solar inverters that can work directly from sun

I have attached an extract from the manual of the hybrid Inverter I think I'll get. It shows the Inverter's charge controller can be programmed to deliver a charging current of 10A to 60A to the batteries. The default current to the batteries is 30A regardless of what gets to the charge controller. The excess will be sent to the load.

Also, the 3.2hrs from my previous calculation only applies if I'm using just one 200Ah battery. If using 4 batteries then it should take abt 12-13 hrs to charge from empty.

Do you know much about Mono and Poly Solar panels? All the research I've done shows that Mono is better. I'm just wondering why Poly costs more in the market.

primusmaximus:


I have attached an extract from the manual of the hybrid Inverter I think I'll get. It shows the Inverter's charge controller can be programmed to deliver a charging current of 10A to 60A to the batteries. The default current to the batteries is 30A regardless of what gets to the charge controller. The excess will be sent to the load.

Also, the 3.2hrs from my previous calculation only applies if I'm using just one 200Ah battery. If using 4 batteries then it should take abt 12-13 hrs to charge from empty.

Do you know much about Mono and Poly Solar panels? All the research I've done shows that Mono is better. I'm just wondering why Poly costs more in the market.

That's what we are saying, u set it charging rate in respect to the battery bank,
Still respect the batterit's ability to withstand the total charge rate, or else the battery will faIL in short period of time, most battery accept c10 , c9, c8,
Supplying 20a to 100ah battery , that is c5 the battery will die in no time,
Hybrid inverter are good in pv and load management, but they also have recommended solar panel ratting written on their body
Mono and poly solar panels,,,
Mono panel of 250w appear to smaller in size when compared to a poly panel of 250w
,so mono seem to be more efficient, but both do the same job

dreamwords:

Charging deep cycle battery in 3 hours is an over Killing, deep cycle battry are not designed to charge that fast, u need to respect the rule of c10 unless u plan to b replacing ur battery every now and then

That's why the charge controller is there to do its job- regulate the amount of current that gets to the battery.

primusmaximus:


I have attached an extract from the manual of the hybrid Inverter I think I'll get. It shows the Inverter's charge controller can be programmed to deliver a charging current of 10A to 60A to the batteries. The default current to the batteries is 30A regardless of what gets to the charge controller. The excess will be sent to the load.

Also, the 3.2hrs from my previous calculation only applies if I'm using just one 200Ah battery. If using 4 batteries then it should take abt 12-13 hrs to charge from empty.

Do you know much about Mono and Poly Solar panels? All the research I've done shows that Mono is better. I'm just wondering why Poly costs more in the market.

On the contrary monocrystalline PV panel is more costlier than the polycrystalline type. The technology between the two had so advanced that the line that divides the two are today blurry. But the only difference is that polycrystalline panels tends to perform better under higher temperature while monocrystalline tends to perform more in cooler weather. Also, if space is not an issue, a 300w monocrystalline solar panel is smaller in dimension compared to the polycrystalline.

dreamwords:

That's what we are saying, u set it charging rate in respect to the battery bank,
Still respect the batterit's ability to withstand the total charge rate, or else the battery will faIL in short period of time, most battery accept c10 , c9, c8,
Supplying 20a to 100ah battery , that is c5 the battery will die in no time,
Hybrid inverter are good in pv and load management, but they also have recommended solar panel ratting written on their body
Mono and poly solar panels,,,
Mono panel of 250w appear to smaller in size when compared to a poly panel of 250w
,so mono seem to be more efficient, but both do the same job

Thanks for the clarification. Links below were also quite helpful

https://deepcyclebatterystore.com/how-to-maintain-batteries/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6EZuY39K0A

mctfopt:


On the contrary monocrystalline PV panel is more costlier than the polycrystalline type. The technology between the two had so advanced that the line that divides the two are today blurry. But the only difference is that polycrystalline panels tends to perform better under higher temperature while monocrystalline tends to perform more in cooler weather. Also, if space is not an issue, a 300w monocrystalline solar panel is smaller in dimension compared to the polycrystalline.

Thanks boss

Link below is very useful for calculating battery bank capacity, c-rate, run-time, charge and discharge current


https://power-calculation.com/battery-storage-calculator.php

dreamwords:

It's not possible for the charge controller to know the rating of your battery ,wether it's 200ah ,400ah,or 100th system, charge controller supplies constant current (based on it capacity ) and regulated voltage, and3, 4 or 5 stage charging method to the battery, u as an engineer then need to apply the right sizing of panels for your battery,
Even most inverters, sukam ,microtek, luminous, they all have charging current selection at the back ,u select based on ur battery ratings
It will b heart breaking to replace 16 batteries in less than 4 months of installation concidering the cost, due to wrong installation
Some hubris inverters can do the load charge balancing properly,
And also there solar inverters that can work directly from sun

Have you tried a victron product before. Kindly read about them

Holumiedey:

Have you tried a victron product before. Kindly read about them

Yes I've installed victron inverters , victron blue mppt and blue solar inverters quattro, 10kva,
I've done a job that uses upto 120 solar panels (310w)per installation
You still need to configure it base on the charging current you want it to supply to the battery,

My 200kva installation coming soon...
1 pic to spice things up..

terrymason:
Welcome to a informative thread for prospective solar installers and those that already got it.
I'm Terry a Solar Expert and i will be updating most of my completed solar projects here.

This thread is to share my experience on the installation process i pass through while installing Solar.

Please take note that everything would be broken down to enable others from various field to assimilate quickly/easily.

The things that you will be seeing often are
1. Panels
2. Charge controller
3. Inverter
4. Battery

Thank you, i do hope after i read all the post on this thread so far, i will have a better understanding of the in and out of Solar, I'm very interested in This

terrymason:
That's the charge Controller below
This is the first time we used a Power Wave controller and it has proven to be working well.

The purpose of charge controller is to maintain a steady charging of the battery so it won't over charge or discharge thereby protecting the battery from failing(spoiling) quick... The battery temperature and percentage can be monitored from the charge controller..

The Charge controller is 80amps(current) 96v(volt)

Installing the Controller was pretty easy, just screw the for edges.

This Power wave Controller got just Panel input(wires coming from panels) and battery out(wire leaving charge controller to battery)

Note: Your battery determine the charge controller Voltage, while the solar panel determine the Amps(Ampere)
I can explain in details if you want..

Please kindly explain the bolded in details, I'm new to this and i will really like for you to explain it to a novice like me, abeg

terrymason:
Check the inverter below

The inverter used was a 5kva 96volts sine wave
It's a digital inverter but does not have a backlit to see the readings at night.

It was a bit stressful carrying the inverter on the battery rack..

For this inverter to be powered on we need to connect 8pcs of 12volt battery in series

8*12v=96volts

The voltage of an inverter will determine the number of battery you need..

What is the advantages of more volts e.g 96volts vs 48volts in same kva

terrymason:
Check the batteries below..

The first picture shows when the inverter was been tested to ascertain the state of the inverter before installation.

The battery were connected in series to get the required volt for power up the inverter

That last picture was after the installation at the client house..

The battery used are jell batteries, they can last for 2-8 years depends on usage..

If a battery is used flat frequently the life span of the battery are always reduce...

This 8 batteries are powdered with the 32 solar panels

What load can this setting carry and for how long, can it power AC or Just fridge with other house hold items

terrymason:
We had to used an AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator)

AVR>>> Is to balance the voltage from nepa before it goes through the inverter. The rating of the Avr is 140volts to 240volts, so if the power that phcn is providing is 140volt the Avr will boost it to 220volt.

That's the black box below.

The area the client was staying has power issues, the power is not always steady, it goes so high and very low..

The AVR had to be used for effective charging of the batteries from the main (Phcn/Nepa)

Note: Both Solar panels and Main (Phcn, Nepa) can charge the batteries too, including Generator...

Feel free to ask any questions
Abeg i nor be island oh, i don't know everything, am still learning every day on every project

Other Expert can add to this thread.

Thanks

Can't the 32 solar panels charges the battery alone?

terrymason:
Panels unboxing,
The panels ratings are 250w 30v 9A
Total wattage is 5500.
6mm wire was used to link panels in series and parallel
Total panels installed was 22..
Panels have high efficiency, cause of the 3 tabbing wires on panel surface.

Normal installation challenges are hotness of roof and the right place to step on..

Check Pictures below.

How do one figure the right place to install panels for proper sun light reception

terrymason:
My 200kva installation coming soon...
1 pic to spice things up..

This is massive, when are you updating

spartacus11:


Thank you, i do hope after i read all the post on this thread so far, i will have a better understanding of the in and out of Solar, I'm very interested in This

will answer all your questions later in the evening... thanks for stopping by...

terrymason:
will answer all your questions later in the evening... thanks for stopping by...

Ok Boss

This is the only solar thread I did not abandon bcus many of those thread just dey confused my head, but you're doing a good job hear especially the diagram and pics with simple terms u use to explain. Well done sir

Hello everyone

I'm updating on 200kva ups system
The system was broken down to 40kva, 40kva and 120kva.

Instead of a single 200kva ups we had to break it down, this is neccessary for avoidance of total lost of power if it was a single unit... hope you grab?

Each of the inverter is a 3 phase k-star Ups with 384volt(32 batteries in series)

first pix is 40kva
Second is 120kva

The batteries been used are tubular batteries (batteries using electrolyte)

Note: we are starting production of clean, safe, no elements electrolyte April 20th...

Tubular batteries has lot of advantages than Gell batteries...

Good morning @ terrymason I will like to seek your opinion and expertise.
I want an installation of 500watts package

Estimated loads are within 200 watts.

Kindly advice

Malawii:
Good morning @ terrymason I will like to seek your opinion and expertise.
I want an installation of 500watts package

Estimated loads are within 200 watts.

Kindly advice

when i get back from church i will reply you?
Nor vex sir.

Malawii:
Good morning @ terrymason I will like to seek your opinion and expertise.
I want an installation of 500watts package

Estimated loads are within 200 watts.

Kindly advice

it good installation, please be specific on the advise you need sir.. Thanks.

terrymason:
it good installation, please be specific on the advise you need sir.. Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback.


I intended to get a
1. Solar panel because the area I am currently doest not have adequate supply of city light
2 . An inverter
3. A battery (65ah to 100ah)

Just to power my led tv, Gotv and 12v fan and 4-6watt bulbs (2).
From 7pm to10pm to watch program and news
Then I will to use the fan and a bulb till 5am

Malawii:



Thanks for the feedback.


I intended to get a
1. Solar panel because the area I am currently doest not have adequate supply of city light
2 . An inverter
3. A battery (65ah to 100ah)

Just to power my led tv, Gotv and 12v fan and 4-6watt bulbs (2).
From 7pm to10pm to watch program and news
Then I will to use the fan and a bulb till 5am

Using what you wrote

**12v inverter/500 watt

**You need a charge controller since you putting a panel

**Assuming you using 12v/100Ah battery for 200watt of load, it will take you for 6 hours, but it will extend when load is reduced..

**It will take 2.4hours for 100ah battery to attain full charge when using 500watt panel(2.4 hours is when sun it at is peak)

terrymason:

Using what you wrote

**12v inverter/500 watt

**You need a charge controller since you putting a panel

**Assuming you using 12v/100Ah battery for 200watt of load, it will take you for 6 hours, but it will extend when load is reduced..

**It will take 2.4hours for 100ah battery to attain full charge when using 500watt panel(2.4 hours is when sun it at is peak)

Thanks.

I will contact soon.

Malawii:

Thanks.

I will contact soon.

alright

primusmaximus:


This was actually my concern with having a high number of solar panels. I also noticed lots of installers recommend four 300/330W solar panels for 5KVA inverters (four 200Ah batteries).

But shouldn't the charge controllers regulate the amount of voltage/current assigned to charging the batteries? If not, current from PHCN should charge batteries from empty to full in less than an hour. I feel there should be a max charge rate from the charge controllers and what's left over should be sent to the Load (at least for hybrid Inverters)

Try a victron charge controller, u can configure the charge current even when your battery is on float,it knows what to do.
PS: you will need a battery monitor.

How did you lay with pictorial evidence the solar panels on the roof!?

dreamwords:

Charging deep cycle battery in 3 hours is an over Killing, deep cycle battry are not designed to charge that fast, u need to respect the rule of c10 unless u plan to b replacing ur battery every now and then

What's this rule you're referring to!?