all,
my tristar mppt solar harvest data for november is ready. see below for details:

DATE ALARMS/STATUS V/MAX V/MIN AH KWH

2012-11-01 float entered 51 80.93 144.8 7.990
2012-11-02 float entered 50.82 82.18 156.3 8.510
2012-11-03 float entered 50.86 80.48 138.4 7.570
2012-11-04 float entered 50.28 83.29 135.9 7.450
2012-11-05 no flags 50.27 81.49 218.1 11.540
2012-11-06 no flags 50.91 80.38 134.8 7.330
2012-11-07 no flags 50.7 80.45 147 8.090
2012-11-08 no flags 50.86 81.05 126.2 6.700
2012-11-09 float entered 50.23 79.99 155.9 8.540
2012-11-10 no flags 50.23 81.89 157.6 8.330
2012-11-11 no flags 50.41 80.88 218.5 11.840
2012-11-12 float entered 50.72 83.14 65.8 3.580
2012-11-13 no flags 50.32 79.95 91.2 4.740
2012-11-14 no flags 50.83 79.92 156.5 8.510
2012-11-15 no flags 50.94 80.45 150.3 8.200
2012-11-16 float entered 50.97 80.39 189.9 10.360
2012-11-17 float entered 51.02 79.32 136.2 7.460
2012-11-18 float entered 50.84 80.56 129.9 7.090
2012-11-19 float entered 50.9 79.41 88.2 4.810
2012-11-20 no flags 51 80.36 131.4 7.180
2012-11-21 float entered 50.75 81.58 149.8 8.180
2012-11-21 float entered, 51.21 80.66 128.6 7.040
2012-11-22 float entered, 50.58 80.66 128.6 7.040
2012-11-23 no flags 51.08 80.55 198.7 10.660
2012-11-24 float entered 50.66 79.02 67.7 3.770
2012-11-25 no flags 50.59 82.59 151.4 7.960
2012-11-26 no flags 51.12 79.8 99.8 5.470
2012-11-27 no flags 50.86 79.15 99.9 5.480
2012-11-28 no flags 50.8 81.3 102.5 5.600
2012-11-29 no flags 50.49 81.08 137.1 7.510
2012-11-30 no flags 49.98 80.22 214.1 11.360



TOTAL Amp- Hours for Nov. 2012 = 4351.1ah
TOTAL Kilowatt-hours for NOV 2012 = 235.890kwh

Oga George D pls gimme your number .i need to talk with uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

hello jayboskie7,
you can call me on 08070228050. try as from 12pm today.
thanks.

Just registered so that I can ask some questions. I have four 150AH batteries...and I'm planning on getting a Sukam 2.5KVA 48 V inverter...now my problem is that I want to get also a Sharp solar modules...now how many panels should I get that can comfortably handle the four 150AH batteries without breaking my fragile account?

George_D: hello jayboskie7,
you can call me on 08070228050. try as from 12pm today.
thanks.

can i have your e-mail address oga? needs to ask some more questions

FGKelechi,
you can always start with a minimum of two solar panels and expand as you go.

in the long run you'll need a minimum of 6 to 8 solar panels to comfortably charge
your 150ah battery bank. however, i must be quick to add that this will also depend on usage.

i already sent you a message through nairaland contact. just reply and we'll take it up
from there.

meanwhile, do have yourself a very merry christmas!

Hi George, I plan on getting a 5KVA Cyberpower inverter (with 12 batteries) and 10KVA Prag Stabilizer for my house. Some of my equipment, TV, computer, network equipment, desktop already have individual UPSs. Will I retire these from the system once I deploy the inverter? or will the UPS still be needed maybe for the sensitive equipment since the inverter may not switch fast enough? what do you think?. Thanks.

fikfik: Hi George, I plan on getting a 5KVA Cyberpower inverter (with 12 batteries) and 10KVA Prag Stabilizer for my house. Some of my equipment, TV, computer, network equipment, desktop already have individual UPSs. Will I retire these from the system once I deploy the inverter? or will the UPS still be needed maybe for the sensitive equipment since the inverter may not switch fast enough? what do you think?. Thanks.

Depending on the inverter you get, there are some inverters with UPS functions.
You will not even know when it switches between one source of power and another.
I suppose a 5KVA cyberpower inverter should have the UPS feature, so you will most likely have to return your smaller ups to the store.

But on a lighter note, bros, 5kva cyberpower inverter, 12 batteries and 10kva prag stabilizer, you be big man o.
I beg no forget me for your kingdom o.

George_D: hello bodejohn,
its so nice to know you been reading all the posts here.

to your question, most standard 200w panels available in the market today have vmp greater than 30v.
therefore if you're using a 24v system you can safely connect both panels in parallel and your battery
bank will be well charged. however, if you have an mppt solar charge controller, it is best to connect
the panels in series (not more than 2 in series pls) as this will help boost output.

finally, please go for original sharp solar panels or suntech - if sharp is not available.

Oga George, I had to change my plans when I saw the size of the 250watt panels.
I would need a truck or a bus at the minimum to transport it, unfortunately I went in a small car.
I had to buy 4 pieces of 100watt panels.

Now to my question, I plan to connect two panels each in series and then connect the strings in parallel to get a 36V/11A system, what do you think about this setup?

Some couple of links for the newbies:

http://www.mysolarshop.co.uk/info_products.php?info_id=168

http://www.mysolarshop.co.uk/info_products.php?info_id=169

http://www.mysolarshop.co.uk/info_products.php?info_id=170

http://www.mysolarshop.co.uk/info_products.php?info_id=172

http://www.mysolarshop.co.uk/info_products.php?info_id=175

http://www.mysolarshop.co.uk/info_products.php?info_id=177

Hope it helps, please ignore the advertised brands.

hello fikfik,
bodejohn is right. with the 5kva cyberpower you don't need any other stand alone ups.
most modern inverters are really oversized ups bundled with external batteries (never mind that i'm being over-simplistic.
the cyberpower is a good brand inverter and it should more than meet your ups demands and much more.

ps: i got your nairaland pm and have since replied.

bodejohn,
you shouldn't have settled for the lesser wattage panels. overtime you will realise that the bigger panels give you more
value for your money.

what is the specs, i.e vmp, vmax, voc, isc, ioc, etc?

i need those details to be better able to give you an informed opinion on installation.

fikfik: Hi George, I plan on getting a 5KVA Cyberpower inverter (with 12 batteries) and 10KVA Prag Stabilizer for my house. Some of my equipment, TV, computer, network equipment, desktop already have individual UPSs. Will I retire these from the system once I deploy the inverter? or will the UPS still be needed maybe for the sensitive equipment since the inverter may not switch fast enough? what do you think?. Thanks.

i have a birla ecogen inverter with ups function..its quite ok with switching over time of abt 5ms.......my homw theater and tv dont go off when phcn restores power...but the dstv decoder always reboots.........thus implying that some equipment are more sensitive than others......i believe a computer wud also be that sensitive

George_D: bodejohn,
you shouldn't have settled for the lesser wattage panels. overtime you will realise that the bigger panels give you more
value for your money.

what is the specs, i.e vmp, vmax, voc, isc, ioc, etc?

i need those details to be better able to give you an informed opinion on installation.

I tried the number you provided on the forum yesterday afternoon but I couldn't reach you before I made the purchase.
I had already made up my mind to buy the panels and didn't want to take the money back to my base.
The 230watts I found at vitus' was quite huge, I wouldn't have been able to transport it to my base without the risk of breaking them.

See below the parameters on the panel, there are 40cells on each of the panels.

Rated maximum power: 100watts
Maximum system voltage: 715volts
Rated voltage: 17.82v
Rated current: 5.62A
Open circuit voltage: 21.6v
Short circuit current: 6.35A

earthrealm:

i have a birla ecogen inverter with ups function..its quite ok with switching over time of abt 5ms.......my homw theater and tv dont go off when phcn restores power...but the dstv decoder always reboots.........thus implying that some equipment are more sensitive than others......i believe a computer wud also be that sensitive

earthrealm,
for most good quality oem inverters in the market these days, even your computer will not know that there is power failure and neither
will there be any sign when changing over from inverter to phcn. cyberpower, sukam, nexus, etc happen to fall into this category.

bodejohn,
from your specs, what you have are essentially 12v solar panels - never mind the nominal 17.82v stamped on them.

therefore you will need more than 2 pieces if you want to effectively charge your 36v system.

in effect you'll need to connect a minimum of 3pcs of your 100w panels in series to make up 36v to charge your
system. that leaves only one panel remaining which may just be lying about unused unless you want to add extra
2 pcs in series and connect them in parallel to the first set.

hope this helps?

George_D: bodejohn,
from your specs, what you have are essentially 12v solar panels - never mind the nominal 17.82v stamped on them.

therefore you will need more than 2 pieces if you want to effectively charge your 36v system.

in effect you'll need to connect a minimum of 3pcs of your 100w panels in series to make up 36v to charge your
system. that leaves only one panel remaining which may just be lying about unused unless you want to add extra
2 pcs in series and connect them in parallel to the first set.

hope this helps?

Oga George, my battery bank is 24v.
So I plan to make 2 panels in series to get 35v and connect the 2 series sting in parallel which should give me a 35v/11A system to charge my 24v battery bank through an mppt charger.

ok bodejohn,
i thought it was a 36v system you had. since it is a 24v system, you can make it 2 panels in series.

in the long run however, if you want to make full use of your mppt charge controller, you should
connect at least 3 panels in series else you won't be able to reap the extra benefits of mppt
and the charge controller would work like a normal non-mppt controller.

George_D: ok bodejohn,
i thought it was a 36v system you had. since it is a 24v system, you can make it 2 panels in series.

in the long run however, if you want to make full use of your mppt charge controller, you should
connect at least 3 panels in series else you won't be able to reap the extra benefits of mppt
and the charge controller would work like a normal non-mppt controller.

Oga George, sorry for the double post on the forum and on the mails. I just want to document the learning on the forum for others to learn.
Since the voltage from the 2 panels might not be enough, maybe I should connect all 4 panels in series.
This should give me a minimum of 50v which should be good for my mppt charger. What do you think?

no, bodejohn, you can't just connect all 4 panels in series like that.

depending on the type of mppt charge controller you have, there is a maximum open circuit
voltage each one can handle. thown all the panels you got at it will fry out your charge
controller. besides thee is a also an optimum operating voltage the charge controller
needs to down-convert into useful current to charge your batteries.

George_D: no, bodejohn, you can't just connect all 4 panels in series like that.

depending on the type of mppt charge controller you have, there is a maximum open circuit
voltage each one can handle. thown all the panels you got at it will fry out your charge
controller. besides thee is a also an optimum operating voltage the charge controller
needs to down-convert into useful current to charge your batteries.

My charge controller has a solar input voltage scope of less or equal to 70v and maximum power point voltage tracking scope of 24 to 70v if 24v battery bank is selected and rated for 30A. Might be save on the 4 panels. What do you think?

ok, bodejohn,

i think you're right on the money. the important think is to study the user manual of whatever
mppt charge controller you got carefully and know how best to connect to your panels in order to get the best out
of them.

all the best then.

Oga George, many thanks for the call. I am very humbled.
I returned to my abode to discover that there's been power cut for 5days.
My batteries were flat as I left the security lights on the inverter while we were away. I thought there wouldn't be any power in in he evening if I didn't act fast.
So I had to quickly connect the panels together and wire it to my batteries monitoring to turn it off as the sun went down because I still await the delivery of my mppt controller by DHL.
I must say that I wish I had more money on me, I would have headed back to Lagos to buy more panels because the thing dey sweet my belle.
With your help and some personal research I have solution to what even the federal government could not fix.

George_D: FGKelechi,
you can always start with a minimum of two solar panels and expand as you go.

in the long run you'll need a minimum of 6 to 8 solar panels to comfortably charge
your 150ah battery bank. however, i must be quick to add that this will also depend on usage.

i already sent you a message through nairaland contact. just reply and we'll take it up
from there.

meanwhile, do have yourself a very merry christmas!

thanks for taking the pains to reply....you've got mail!

bodejohn,
yes, what we have here with solar is a ppp (personal power project)

sorry about your power outage. it is at a time like this that the usefulness
of solar as an inexhaustible source of energy becomes very evident.

will call you later on today to have a chat.

cheers!

Hello, please I need advice. I want to buy a 1.5 KVA inverter and I have the option of getting two 12V, 200Ah batteries or three 12V, 160Ah batteries. Which one do you suggest I buy? Thanks

George_D: bodejohn,
yes, what we have here with solar is a ppp (personal power project)

sorry about your power outage. it is at a time like this that the usefulness
of solar as an inexhaustible source of energy becomes very evident.

will call you later on today to have a chat.

cheers!

Oga George and all,
I finally received my charge controller from DHL, it came with a serial port to connect to a PC, although my supplier initially told me he was going to send one without pc communication. I will upload the pictures of the setup tomorrow after I have reduced the size.

Oga Geroge, I don join the league of independent power producers like play like play o.

CNN80: Hello, please I need advice. I want to buy a 1.5 KVA inverter and I have the option of getting two 12V, 200Ah batteries or three 12V, 160Ah batteries. Which one do you suggest I buy? Thanks

@ CNN80, the first thing that will determine the number of batteries that will be needed in your setup is the operating input DC voltage of your inverter.
If the input voltage of your inverter is 12V, you can use any number of batteries so long it is connected in parallel. But if the input voltage is 24V, you can only use batteries in pairs, that is, you can only use 2 or 4 or 6 etc, but if the input is 48v, the batteries will be in multiples of 4, that is, 4 or 8 or 12 etc.

Since your inverter is 1.5KVA, assuming the input voltage is 12v, with 2pcs of 200ah batteries you will have a storage capacity of 4800watts but with 3pcs of 160ah, you will have a totally storage capacity of 5760watts. But if the input of your inverter is 24v, you will have to settle for 2pcs of 200ah or better still get 4pcs of 160ah.

@ cnn80...........whats the charging current of ur inverter?...u gat any idea.....cos if its low...hooking up lots of batteries in parallel will make it tough for the inverter to charge ur battery bank...leading to premature battery failure over time

The inverter voltage is 24. I thought, if I got 3 batteries, of connecting the first 2 in parallel and then connecting that setup in series with the last battery (giving me 24V) but I've been told that is a bad idea.
I wish I had known that the inverter was 24V before I agreed to buy it.

CNN80: The inverter voltage is 24. I thought, if I got 3 batteries, of connecting the first 2 in parallel and then connecting that setup in series with the last battery (giving me 24V) but I've been told that is a bad idea.
I wish I had known that the inverter was 24V before I agreed to buy it.

Do not blame yourself for picking a 24V inverter, i think it is even better and more stable than 12V, although i stand to be corrected.
Your setup will only permit you to use batteries that are in pairs so long they are rated at 12V, there are some batteries that are not rated at 12v.
So i will advise that you go for 2pcs of 12v 200Ah batteries, remember also that the bigger the batteries in terms of the Ah capacity, the longer it will take your inverter to charge the batteries to their full capacity.

As promised, the pictures of my solar charge controller and setup.
I was only able to harvest 12Ah on the first day because it was past midday before i installed it.
I already had like 12Ah charge stored in the batteries before 11am today.