@bodejohn, my bros you too much.... Thanks for every every..... I hail.....

fikfik: HI everyone,

i was wondering, my electricity bill has increased since i started using my inverter. How does an inverter work? If I plug it in to input and its only powering a phone charger, will it pull its full 5KVA from the meter? no matter whats conencted to it? What about those 10KVA stabs? Does connecting a load of say 500VA to it not matter to the NEPA meter (will the stab still pull 10KVA?)

Without all this I was averaging 6-9k a month, now I'm paying 12-16k.... Thanks

ok thanks @earthrealm. I figured since I now have 24 hr electricity, I'm paying PHCN for storing the electricity. So, in essence, I'm paying as if NEPA never cuts power... Still much cheaper than the costs and hassle of buying fuel and maintaining the generator (by the way, sold it 2 weeks back).....

Next step, generating my own power. But i'm still at a rented house. Does it make sense to get solar panels on my landlords roof, for me to detach them when I move into my own house? any thoughts would be welcome. Is everybody with solar panels here, doing it in your own houses?

bing: @bodejohn, my bros you too much.... Thanks for every every..... I hail.....

You are always welcomed.

Most of us i think still live in rented apartment. Enjoy ur life while you are still living. Go install ur panels.
What do members think about the relationship between the solar array vmp and the system voltage for max use of mppt controller. I read somewhere that d higher the difference the better. The manual of my morning star mppt states a difference of 2v is where the controller operates at d highest efficiency. Your views pls. Attention: oga george.

I got my 7 day timer switch yesterday. I intend using it for my fridge. So my fridge can only work from 7am to 3pm daily.
Am still expecting members view on the relationship btw solar array vmp and mppt efficiency.

AM INTERESTED IN THE TIMER WATCH...HOW MUCH DID U BUY IT..AND WHERE?

George_D: more panels, more juice, more joy!

How are the panels fixed to the roof, won't the roof leak with time?

earthrealm: AM INTERESTED IN THE TIMER WATCH...HOW MUCH DID U BUY IT..AND WHERE?

a friend got it for me at ladipo warehouse in lagos for 4k. Just check around all d electronics warehouse there, you may be lucky. It works fine. My fridge is now programmed 9am to 3pm.

Pardon this post because i know this is the wrong thread for this request but George D and others in FTA world Please give current working frequency for mbc on w3a and intelsat 7 ku. have been away for a while and d main forum is so clustered i cant make much out of it. Thanks.

Are 48V inverters better than 24V, reasons pls.
What do you think about BLUEGATE inverters.
I saw a 3.5KVA and 7.5KVA all 24V inverters and i fell in love with them.

fikfik:

ok thanks @earthrealm. I figured since I now have 24 hr electricity, I'm paying PHCN for storing the electricity. So, in essence, I'm paying as if NEPA never cuts power... Still much cheaper than the costs and hassle of buying fuel and maintaining the generator (by the way, sold it 2 weeks back).....

Next step, generating my own power. But i'm still at a rented house. Does it make sense to get solar panels on my landlords roof, for me to detach them when I move into my own house? any thoughts would be welcome. Is everybody with solar panels here, doing it in your own houses?

fikfik,

you are very correct. when you install a back up system {inverter and batteries} you essentially store
energy for future use. what puts that energy there? phcn power of course. remember that energy can neither
be created nor destroyed it is only transferred from one form to the other.

what you lose in terms of credit, you gain in terms of stand by power. so while your neighbors are busy
suffering themselves with noisy generators during a power blackout, you are sitting cool in your living
room enjoying back up power. is it expensive? yes in terms of initial cost of installation. but no in
terms of convenience, health benefits and cost savings over time.

you can install solar panels even in a rented apartment. all you have to do is to be a little bit
innovative. you can install them on a small shed in front of your flat or you can mount a pole and fix
them on top. if you can fix an ordinary binatone antenna besides your flat, mounting solar panels should
not be that much of a problem. however, i'm not sure many landlords will allow you to install on the roof
of their houses.

abunafiu: Most of us i think still live in rented apartment. Enjoy ur life while you are still living. Go install ur panels.
What do members think about the relationship between the solar array vmp and the system voltage for max use of mppt controller. I read somewhere that d higher the difference the better. The manual of my morning star mppt states a difference of 2v is where the controller operates at d highest efficiency. Your views pls. Attention: oga george.

abunifiu,
as earlier discussed, each solar charge controller operates optimally at different array and system voltages.

for the morningstar depending on whether you are using a 24v, 36v or 48v system, your controller will be most
efficient at different array voltages. therefore it is always advisable to study the oem manual of whatever
charge controller you are using.

a short while ago i went along with the theory that the higher your array voltage, the better the down
conversion efficiency of your controller. so i changed my array setup to 3 by 3 instead of the usual 2 by 2
which i started with. i expected to see a significant boost in array performance which never materialized.
instead what i experienced was a sharp drop in performance. i was losing badly needed power everyday on my back
facing strings which i used for the experiment. recently i was forced to revert back to my traditional 2 by 2
setup and instantly i noticed that my array performance bounced back to what it used to be.

therefore my advice to everyone is to study your charge controller manual and also confirm your module
voltage at maximum power. arrange your panel strings in such a way as to get a near match of voltage to what
your oem manual says. anything outside this and you will be losing much needed power by going for the 3 by 3
string arrangement in spite of the fact that you are using an mppt controller.

blink182: How are the panels fixed to the roof, won't the roof leak with time?

blink,

i use a bracket which i fabricated through a local welder here. as for the roof leaking, you can
always overcome that by using flashing during installation.

George_D:

blink,

i use a bracket which i fabricated through a local welder here. as for the roof leaking, you can
always overcome that by using flashing during installation.

wow, I'm very sure you were sipping tea or juice while typing the replies-so relaxed and detailed.

obijack: Pardon this post because i know this is the wrong thread for this request but George D and others in FTA world Please give current working frequency for mbc on w3a and intelsat 7 ku. have been away for a while and d main forum is so clustered i cant make much out of it. Thanks.

obijack,

you are posting in the wrong thread. however, for w3a you can still use 12728h 30000sr {mta international}.
you can also use 11192h 3210sr {mbc rodriguez}.

intelsat 7ku use 12562h 26657sr {mesiah tv} or 12522h 26657sr {mytv}

by the way those satellites have since changed their name. the one formerly referred to as w3a is now eutelsat 7a
while intelsat 7 has since been replaced by intelsat 20.

hope this helps?

abunafiu: Are 48V inverters better than 24V, reasons pls.
What do you think about BLUEGATE inverters.
I saw a 3.5KVA and 7.5KVA all 24V inverters and i fell in love with them.

hello abunafiu,

each inverter system voltage have their uses but if you want maximum efficiency, go for the
the higher voltages. as for bluegate inverters unfortunately they are not known to be that
efficient.

all,
last weekend, i carried out a stress test on my system and i ran it for about 4 days off grid.

i have since combined both front facing and back facing panels and returned to the 2 by 2 configuration

i can say the results are pretty amazing.

pix below.

looks like i need to change back to my back and front module configuration.

presently maxing out at 3225w, a single charge controller may not be able to handle
all this power going forward.

monitoring still in progress.

George_D: looks like i need to change back to my back and front module configuration.

presently maxing out at 3225w, a single charge controller may not be able to handle
all this power going forward.

pls what do mean by reverting to ur back and front config....i dont understand. pls explain further.

abunafiu:
pls what do mean by reverting to ur back and front config....i dont understand. pls explain further.

hello abunafiu,

i earlier on reverted to a single charge controller setup by combining all my arrays (back facing strings
and front facing strings) into one. with this over-current alarm i'm presently facing i think it will be
wise to split back the array into two like i earlier did and re-commission the second charge controller in
order to handle the extra power coming from the modules.

this i will do over the weekend - and with pictures as usual.

George_D:

hello abunafiu,

i earlier on reverted to a single charge controller setup by combining all my arrays (back facing strings
and front facing strings) into one. with this over-current alarm i'm presently facing i think it will be
wise to split back the array into two like i earlier did and re-commission the second charge controller in
order to handle the extra power coming from the modules.

this i will do over the weekend - and with pictures as usual.

uncle george, please remind me, how many batteries (and in what array) you have to mac your 60amp MPPT controller? What is the wattage and spec of your panels? How many panels you sugegst for a 48V 200Amp (8 nos) battery array? Thanks.

Friends, i am porting... and 1.5KVA 24V inverter and 2 solar charge controllers (30A and 20A)both 12/24V working range will be up for sale. I will definitely share the pictures of my new bride with you all after the ceremonies...

fikfik:

uncle george, please remind me, how many batteries (and in what array) you have to mac your 60amp MPPT controller? What is the wattage and spec of your panels? How many panels you sugegst for a 48V 200Amp (8 nos) battery array? Thanks.

fikfik,

i have 12 pcs of 260ah batteries in total. my panels are all 200w each.


for 8 batteries you can start with 4 pcs of 200w panels and increase from there.

Oga George, two quick questions;

1. Do you use any battery equalizer in your battery bank?

2. Looks like the Sukam 3.5Kva inverter is buy and use, i was thinking it could be possible to set some few parameters in it like maybe charging voltage. Is there any connection possible with it for setup?

bodejohn: Oga George, two quick questions;

1. Do you use any battery equalizer in your battery bank?

2. Looks like the Sukam 3.5Kva inverter is buy and use, i was thinking it could be possible to set some few parameters in it like maybe charging voltage. Is there any connection possible with it for setup?

Am answering u in d interim sir, my oga george may be busy.
Q1. No battery equalizer is used by oga george.
Q2. You have to re-phrase ur question- But if i get u right, No user defined settings available on sukham 3.5KVA, however, charging current may be adjusted between high and low; with the aid of a switch situated behind the inverter(on 1.5KVA which am familiar with). I believe the same goes for 3.5KVA.

I hope this helps.

abunafiu:

Am answering u in d interim sir, my oga george may be busy.
Q1. No battery equalizer is used by oga george.
Q2. You have to re-phrase ur question- But if i get u right, No user defined settings available on sukham 3.5KVA, however, charging current may be adjusted between high and low; with the aid of a switch situated behind the inverter(on 1.5KVA which am familiar with). I believe the same goes for 3.5KVA.

I hope this helps.

Thanks...
My porting things almost completed...
Sukam 3.5Kva...delivered!!!
Legrand modular distribution module...delivered!!!
DC circuit breakers...delivered!!!
2pcs of 50A 12/24/48V charge controller...to be delivered tomorrow!!!

bodejohn:

Thanks...
My porting things almost completed...
Sukam 3.5Kva...delivered!!!
Legrand modular distribution module...delivered!!!
DC circuit breakers...delivered!!!
2pcs of 50A 12/24/48V charge controller...to be delivered tomorrow!!!

ure welcome boss.
Abeg which one be Legrand modular.............
And is ur charge controller MpPT? Whats d make.
What PV module parameters and how many do u intend using.How do u in tend wiring 2 achieve ur nominal voltage of 48V.

abunafiu:
ure welcome boss.
Abeg which one be Legrand modular.............
And is ur charge controller MpPT? Whats d make.
What PV module parameters and how many do u intend using.How do u in tend wiring 2 achieve ur nominal voltage of 48V.

My battery and pv panels remains the same but I am changing my inverter and charge controllers. About the Legrand...see the picture in the link below.

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/distribution-blocks/6203643/

It can be used to connect multiple battery banks and charge controllers instead of twisting the cables together or having several cqbles in one terminal.

bodejohn,

congrats on the arrival of your sukam inverter and dc breakers.

just like abunafiu earlier told you and which you must have already discovered (since you already have
the inverter with you), there are no user adjustable switches for changing charging current save the toggle
switch at the back of the inverter. you can select between 16a and 12a charging current. of course you'll
normally like to leave it at the higher selection which is 16a. also you get to choose between ups and wide
ups. its is advisable to leave the switch at ups position.

other than the above, the sukam inverter is really a 'buy and use' type of inverter. and that is another thing
that differentiates it from others like cyberpower. you don't need any expert installer neither do you need
to modify your house neutral wiring. as long as you have a basic knowledge of dc voltage, you should be able
to get it up and running in less than an hour including battery connection.

no, i don't have a battery equalizer. i use my tristar charge controller for that.

Oga George, respect for the boss, Thanks.
I saw the advert of the Sukam 48V battery equalizers and i decided to ask.

bodejohn,

sukam is a good inverter but don't fall for that marketing gimmick.

unless you're using flooded lead-acid (wet cell) batteries you don't really need any
battery equaliser. however should you need to equalise your batteries at any point in time
you could always do it through your solar charge controller - provided you are using a high
end brand with embedded features like the tristar mppt.