tivta: This is confusing oh. From what i have read on http://www.freesunpower.com/faq.php the higher the system voltage the lower the battery capacity cause 48v system that runs on 12v 200ah battery will only give 200ah of power when used with 4 batteries in a series/paralle combination. G.D abeg whats your take? Phelex thanks anyway.

Battery capacity in terms of Amp-hour, you are correct. But overall capacity in terms of Watt-hour, it's the same for any system.
Between 24v Sys and 48v Sys its a factor of 2. If the voltage system reduces by 2, the capacity in Amp-hour increases by 2 and if the capacity in Ah reduces by 2 the volt system increases by same amount.
From my previous example you must have seen this. 24v Sys has 1200Ah while 48v Sys has 600Ah.

This is what i was talking about. There fore 400*6= 2400watts right?

like someone has said earlier...in terms of amp a 12v 200amp x 10 units battery hooked to a 12v inverter will have 2000amp at its disposal (nobody will build such a system cos of amp ratings, just using this as an example), and 2000 x 12v = 24kw while if connected to a 24v system will only have 1000amps at its disposal...but the total wattage/power/load is still 24v x 1000amps = 24kw , a 48v system arrangement will only have 500amps at its disposal but the total wattage/load/power rating is 48v x 500amps = 24kw.

so as you can see any of the different arrangments will produce 24kw, the only difference is the amp passing tru the system...............the 48v has the lowest amps...and this is much better since it will require a smaller cable than the monster cable the 2000amp 12v would hv required......................the other disadvantage a 48v system might hv is that...on the offchance that 1 battery fails in the batt bank...u wud be in a bad spot as replacing/mixing just 1 battery isn't a good practise, ..unlike a 12v system where u wud simply remove the problem battery n life goes on...the higher voltage inverter systems were developed to reduce cable/trabssistor/transistor requirements of the inverter system

@ George d...u really have taken this alternative energy to another level.............it appears you don't ever want to use phcn ever again!!!

HURRY HURRY HURRY !!!!!!

PERLIGHT solar panels... 12v 130 watts monocrystalline module » (USA STANDARDS)

PERLIGHT solar panels... 24v 230 watts monocrystalline module » (USA STANDARDS)

SHOTO telecomm batteries 12v 180a

2v 500 ahms Telecomm Batteries

Mercury 3.5kva 24v Pure sinewave lcd inverter (inbuilt 70ahm intelligent max charger for large battery bank) #charges with Gen unlike Cyberpower,, easy installation unlike cyberpower,,powers heavier appliances"inductive/resistive/motors/rectifier loads" with the help of 40 inbuilt powerful mosfets driving out o/p capacity of 2500w and max surge protect of 7500w under 0.7 power factor

MULTIPOWER Inverters of various KVA (MADE IN INDIA)

All our products come with 1 year Warranty.

CALL FRANKIE NOW FOR SUPPLIES 08135031951 .... THANKS

Wow, you guys are really good teachers, so in other words that means no matter the ampage of the system the total ampage of the battery bank times the voltage of each battery will give the total amount of watts available to be used? e.g 200ah 12v battery*4=800ah for a 48v system will still give 9600watts ?

It's like we will start buying shares in his IPP. Oga G_D let us know when shares are available. I guess your next upgrading will be a Mobile Display Monitor...lol
Congrats

@tivta...yes...exactly

@house..if George d dey developed country..he would hv been able to sell some generated power to the grid...thereby making some coins/savings!............

CONGRATULATIONS george d. this is a beauty. na my bros said na to de sell shares for this ipp remain. truly encouragn

TotalGreen: My Oga congrats, i am gum smacked, setting a trend for all of us to follow.
but only one more upgrade remains..... PLEASE paint that room, magnum na yanky o.

great upgrade, really worth the cash.

keep us informed on the workings of Battery Saver.

totalgreen,

you're right. one more upgrade remains - but not the painting of the room, please!
i would rather save up enough to get those items we already discussed about. code!

ok, the battery life saver is a wonderful piece of equipment which i'm still studying myself.
definitely will keep the house posted on performance.

DUNKA: Congrsts on the upgrade. Please did you also upgrade your battery bank? Also what is your view on the tantalizing promises being made by the new owners of PHCN promising stable light shortly viz a viz the expense of an upgraded system like yours? Did d thot cross your mind whether 2 continue with your old system since it was already serving its purpose?

dunka,

thanks for the kind words. no, the batteries were not included in this upgrade. i had earlier done that late last year
so they're still quite new.
what i did this time around is simply to rotate them within the same strings. battery rotation is recommended for
battery banks at least once a year as part of routine battery maintenance.

as for the tantalizing promises from the new owners of phcn, we have learnt from past experience not to take such
promises too seriously. as much as we are all hoping and praying for steady power supply within the country, we must
at the same time continue striving to put ourselves in a such a position as to be less affected by epileptic power
supply should in case such promises fail to materialize at the end of the day.
however, should we eventually achieve the much anticipated steady power supply, there is no time renewables can
be phased out completely as you can see even in the advanced countries with their 24/7 power supply, they still have
need for such. that is why you see companies like magnum energy, outback, morningstar, xantrex, tripplite, etc all
thriving happily over there.

yes, the old system seemed to be serving its purpose but that alone did not make it right. there were a lot of things
i did in the name of diy that were plain crude and inherently unsafe. i probably got by all this while without experiencing
any major system upset and/or safety incidents through sheer providence. however, for anyone wise enough to
appreciate the dangers inherent in this type of installations, he would know that you can only stretch your luck this
far before you eventually have an incident on your hands. therefore, the need to move towards a more code compliant
and professional installation was very urgent given the circumstances.

if i had continued with the old system, probably i would have gotten away with such crude setup for years but i would
all the time be playing a game of chance and trust me, dc current is not worth playing russian roulette on!

and for the inverter change out, i saw my need for a high end inverter over a year ago when i realized that almost all
the available, common brands that we have around are without exception bulk chargers. be it sukam, cyberpower,
luminous, nexus, mopower, etc. the lack of a smart charging ability means that these inverters invariably will gradually
kill whatever brand of batteries thrown at them in the long run. besides, as i eventually began to experience lately, these
average inverters though relatively cheap at face value, do not last as long as expected without frequent costly repairs.

Akanniade: Big Bros. Congrats. You are a source of inspiration from the day I joined this thread.

akanniade,

my brother,

thanks for the kind words. we just have to continue pushing the boundaries - as much as we can.

tivta,

i can see that pheleix and earthrealm have already done justice to your question. they are very correct. system voltage
does not affect battery capacity in any way. whether 12v, 24v, 36v, 48v or even 96v what changes is the effective
current and not the capacity.

idsolar: CONGRATULATIONS george d. this is a beauty. na my bros said na to de sell shares for this ipp remain. truly encouragn

idsolar,

i hail ooooo! lol! did you say 'shares'?

all,
in line with my post above in reply to dunka,

as part of my pre-upgrade preparations, i carried out battery rotation on my battery bank.
since i was already using a voltage combiner, it meant the rotation only needed to be done
within individual strings and not across the whole bank.

before this rotation, i had earlier checked individual battery voltages to determine their various
state of health. the results were as fascinating as they were instructive. over a year after
installation, battery voltages were almost similar across board and not only that, there was no
sign of early failure whatsoever, thereby giving credence to the effectiveness of the simple
voltage combiner - now rested.

below are voltage results of individual batteries arranged in strings:

s1-1 = 12.59v
s1-2 = 12.56v
s1-3 = 12.56v
s1-4 = 12.55v

-----------------------

s2-1 = 12.57v
s2-2 = 12.52v
s2-3 = 12.59v
s2-4 = 12.58v

-----------------------

s3-1 = 12.57v
s3-2 = 12.59v
s3-3 = 12.52v
s3-4 = 12.56v

----------------------

where s1 stands for string 1, s2 for string 2 and s3 for string 3

George_D: all,
in line with my post above in reply to dunka,

as part of my pre-upgrade preparations, i carried out battery rotation on my battery bank.
since i was already using a voltage combiner, it meant the rotation only needed to be done
within individual strings and not across the whole bank.

before this rotation, i had earlier checked individual battery voltages to determine their various
state of health. the results were as fascinating as they were instructive. over a year after
installation, battery voltages were almost similar across board and not only that, there was no
sign of early failure whatsoever, thereby giving credence to the effectiveness of the simple
voltage combiner - now rested.

below are voltage results of individual batteries arranged in strings:

s1-1 = 12.59v
s1-2 = 12.56v
s1-3 = 12.56v
s1-4 = 12.55v

-----------------------

s2-1 = 12.57v
s2-2 = 12.52v
s2-3 = 12.59v
s2-4 = 12.58v

-----------------------

s3-1 = 12.57v
s3-2 = 12.59v
s3-3 = 12.52v
s3-4 = 12.56v

----------------------

where s1 stands for string 1, s2 for string 2 and s3 for string 3

That's nice.
Have you monitored the individual voltages while charging.
I have one string of 48v. While charging with inverter one day I took note of the voltages, two out of four were clocking 14v ,the 3rd was at 13.8v and the 4th was cranking 15.7v. The 3rd was taking its time to rise. I had to use panel to charge three of the batteries individually. Now no more shooting to 15going to 16

George_D: all,
in line with my post above in reply to dunka,

as part of my pre-upgrade preparations, i carried out battery rotation on my battery bank.
since i was already using a voltage combiner, it meant the rotation only needed to be done
within individual strings and not across the whole bank.

before this rotation, i had earlier checked individual battery voltages to determine their various
state of health. the results were as fascinating as they were instructive. over a year after
installation, battery voltages were almost similar across board and not only that, there was no
sign of early failure whatsoever, thereby giving credence to the effectiveness of the simple
voltage combiner - now rested.

below are voltage results of individual batteries arranged in strings:

s1-1 = 12.59v
s1-2 = 12.56v
s1-3 = 12.56v
s1-4 = 12.55v

-----------------------

s2-1 = 12.57v
s2-2 = 12.52v
s2-3 = 12.59v
s2-4 = 12.58v

-----------------------

s3-1 = 12.57v
s3-2 = 12.59v
s3-3 = 12.52v
s3-4 = 12.56v

----------------------

where s1 stands for string 1, s2 for string 2 and s3 for string 3

chief George u r really sn inspiration for your insight and knowledge sharing. Please curious to know what u did with your former inverters. Also could u kindly give an itemised breakdown of costs of d upgrade?

am jealous. bros G congrats

George_D:
...and for the inverter change out, i saw my need for a high end inverter over a year ago when i realized that almost all
the available, common brands that we have around are without exception bulk chargers. be it sukam, cyberpower,
luminous, nexus, mopower, etc. the lack of a smart charging ability means that these inverters invariably will gradually
kill whatever brand of batteries thrown at them in the long run. besides, as i eventually began to experience lately, these
average inverters though relatively cheap at face value, do not last as long as expected without frequent costly repairs.

Oga George, congratulations on your new investment...
I want to quickly ask you a followup question on the part of your quote in bold above.
Does it mean you wouldn't have made the investment on the new inverter if you were completely off the grid?
What are the ratings (kVA) of the new inverter?

bodejohn:

Oga George, congratulations on your new investment...
I want to quickly ask you a followup question on the part of your quote in bold above.
Does it mean you wouldn't have made the investment on the new inverter if you were completely off the grid?
What are the ratings (kVA) of the new inverter?

in addition to the above UNCLE G, how is it not a waste if you already have solar chargers that can charge to float? Even with the magnum and the poor electricity you've mentioned you have in your area, the 3/4 stage charging of the magnum will hardly be utilized, right? And did you ever have to repair your cyberpower in the past? I noticed you didnt use the AVR and small changeover that comes with the cyberpower, or they didnt come with yours? My cyberpower has been running very strong (after proper installation) without any faults and my batteries are always charged to float by my MPPT, so I dont know if its a good investment (at least with my setup, which takes queues from your former installation) to get an expensive inverter to replace my cyberpower.

You may also want to discharge you batteries to 40-50% SOC before checking the volts with a voltmeter, or better still try to get a battery load tester, so you get a good idea of their SOC while offline. I had to change some batteries that read well with a voltmeter, but when I tried with a 150amp battery load tester dropped under load.

George_D:

akanniade,

my brother,

thanks for the kind words. we just have to continue pushing the boundaries - as much as we can.

George_D, This is impressive, Congrat on the Magnum 4348, it's good value for money.Very neat DIY installation I must say.

men GEORGE D this is great can you give me your email or fb id I want to ask a few question
am a mobile technician in edo state auchi, electricity is one of my big problem despite GEN I hav decided to install portable solar generator not more than 1.2kva due to my appliances rating in my store PLS WHAT IS THE COST
HOW CAN I MAKE IT PORTABLE CUS OF THE RESIDENT
HOW MANY SOLAR PANEL,BATTERIES
THANKS....

George_D:

idsolar,

i hail ooooo! lol! did you say 'shares'?

@George_D, I guess it's high time you began reselling electricity to neighbours,(that's in our roadmap "www dot arnergy dot com)(you don't need a license to do that) that could then lead to the big goal, the IPP. BTW, I tried to reach your official line 0807*******, We should talk bro.

feasy,
thanks for the compliments. sorry i've been busy at work this few days.
i will call you back if you drop your line in my mailbox.

pheleix:
That's nice.
Have you monitored the individual voltages while charging.
I have one string of 48v. While charging with inverter one day I took note of the voltages, two out of four were clocking 14v ,the 3rd was at 13.8v and the 4th was cranking 15.7v. The 3rd was taking its time to rise. I had to use panel to charge three of the batteries individually. Now no more shooting to 15going to 16

pheleix,

no, i haven't taken time to do that but i doubt there'll be any significant difference between the individual voltages.
the tristar charge controller coupled with the voltage combiner seems to have been doing a splendid job keeping the
batteries in excellent state of charge.

DUNKA: chief George u r really sn inspiration for your insight and knowledge sharing. Please curious to know what u did with your former inverters. Also could u kindly give an itemised breakdown of costs of d upgrade?

dunka,

my former inverters are now in reserve. more like spares ready to be used anytime should in case i need to carry out
maintenance on the magnum in the near future.

as for the cost, i'm careful not to quote any definite prices here as i'm aware these do change over time. what i can
do is give you links to reliable sites where you can get direct dollar quotes. it will then be left to you to make deductions
as to final landing prices.

i have a battery bank {2 x 200amp) that i have used for about 2yrs.........now i want to increase my capacity and buy 2 x 200amp battery to form my 2nd bank...my qquestion is....can i combine both banks...say using the copper bar as george d used?

its a 24v inverter so the batteries will in in series n then parallel....the system would be connected to a 1kw 24v solar panel and a cc charge controller.....but my major concern is if i can combine the old and new battery bank............without the old battery affecting the life/performance of the new........am thinking since they are in different strings that the effect would be negligible...but am open to ideas/comments from folks here

hello,

Not Advisable, you old set is 2yrs deep, if it was like 3months or less, then you can risk it, but 2yrs too long.

my 2 cent

shithapuns: i have a battery bank {2 x 200amp) that i have used for about 2yrs.........now i want to increase my capacity and buy 2 x 200amp battery to form my 2nd bank...my qquestion is....can i combine both banks...say using the copper bar as george d used?

its a 24v inverter so the batteries will in in series n then parallel....the system would be connected to a 1kw 24v solar panel and a cc charge controller.....but my major concern is if i can combine the old and new battery bank............without the old battery affecting the life/performance of the new........am thinking since they are in different strings that the effect would be negligible...but am open to ideas/comments from folks here

bodejohn:

Oga George, congratulations on your new investment...
I want to quickly ask you a followup question on the part of your quote in bold above.
Does it mean you wouldn't have made the investment on the new inverter if you were completely off the grid?
What are the ratings (kVA) of the new inverter?

bodejohn,

most probably i would still have gone ahead with the upgrade only that the reasons would then not be as compelling
and the urgency would have been muted.

true, the tristar was doing a good job charging the battery bank so the negative impact of the cyberpower or sukam not
having smart charging abilities was largely mitigated as evident from the voltage readings i carried out before rotating the
batteries. however, i needed the other features of the magnum which i couldn't get from those other two inverters, including
remote system monitoring. also the inverting efficiency seems quite high at over 95%. i know i have personally measured
85% and above. also another compelling reason for the change to high end is the seemingly short life span of these average
inverters. within the space of 5yrs i have gone through about three inverters!
my calculations tell me that i have to change to a new inverter every two years or so. within this space of time, either something
goes wrong that requires costly maintenance or that cannot be repaired at all. not good for a cost conscious fellow who entered
the renewables journey on the promise of low maintenance and durability. if i add up the cost of purchasing those other three
inverters, i could have comfortably gotten a magnum or xantrex with change to spare! and chances are that i would still be
using the magnum today.

the magnum is a 4300w model (it is rated in kilowatts as with most usa power products).
that will translate into something like 5.4kva assuming a power factor of 0.8

shithapuns,

totalgreen is correct. never mix old and new batteries - especially those as old as two years apart.
they being in parallel does little to mitigate the negative impact of such an arrangement.

George_D: shithapuns,

totalgreen is correct. never mix old and new batteries - especially those as old as two years apart.
they being in parallel does little to mitigate the negative impact of such an arrangement.

oga George I av misplaced ur number and ur email I can't find,its me d guy dat stays in warri.are u back now?Abeg inbox me ur number mails4kage@yahoo.co.uk Cus I need ur help

donmatin: oga George I av misplaced ur number and ur email I can't find,its me d guy dat stays in warri.are u back now?Abeg inbox me ur number mails4kage@yahoo.co.uk Cus I need ur help

donmatin,

you got mail.

George_D:

donmatin,

you got mail.

yes u av and av replied u.tanks