₦airaland Forum

mjay:
Me too ,and please what is the minimum requirement to run such equipment ,the inverter ac? And do you say Lg sell such ? How much?

http://www.fouanistore.com/lg-appliances/lg-air-conditioners/split-ac/gen-cool-inverter-air-conditioner-1.0hp/

The startup allows it to run with a 1kva generator

mjay:
Very nice setup. I have 1200watts of solar panels ( 4x 300 watts mono) plus 24v 1.5kv inverter, and 2 200 battery, does it mean i will be able to use freezer?

depends on the starting and rated load of your freezer. My freezer is about 150w on running. Load. Starting load is about x 5 of that. Once it's kicking the running load reduces to 120w or there about.

bigrovar:
Happy new year all the Pro and DIY gurus in the house. I have been following this thread from the sidelines for a very long time now while I put together my first renewable energy system.

I have very little electrical background coming mostly from IT. The idea is to have a very small offgrid system which will power essential appliances in my house. Basically Home Entertainment system and Lights. I knew for a long time that my future would be renewable and to prepare for this, I gradually installed energy efficient 8w philips bulbs in my house. I also have a 43inch LED tv, a 1100watt 5.1 sound system, a laptop acting as a media center, and a dstv satellite reciever. From my estimate my total load for this system would be Max 600w. I have 90% of the component I require for this project which I intend to DIY with an electrician friend who will assist with grounding and other areas. I would appreciate if all the gurus can looking into my plan and point out areas I can makde improvements etc

Design:

PV
I have 2 240w polycrystalline panels with the following specs
VMP=30.1
IMP=7.78

I intend to have the panels mounted on the ground. Reason for ground mounting are as follow:
* South facing part of my roof is completely shaded by 15:00 till sun set. (This is pretty much the main reason)
* Since it is a rented apartment, not comfortable with tempering with the roof
*Easy access to panels to carry out cleaning (Abuja can be very dusty) and ease of removal in case I leave the premise
* Phobia for height

Wiring, Distance and Losses
The estimated length of wire which would be required to the power from PV to CC should be about 60feet. Hence I intend to connect the panels in series to reduce resistance and allow me use a 6mm cable with estimated loss of 3-5% (depending on the weather, position of the sun etc). I plan to use 10mm between the controllers and the batteries and batteries and inverter.

Charge controller
3215RN Epsolar MPPT rated at 30A

Batteries:
2 200AH SMF Sukam (I know I know - But it is what I could afford) Deep cycle batteries, connected in parallel

Inverter
12v Sukam 1050v falcon plus inverter: would of loved to use something more industry standard but had to keep the setup within my budget. The falcon plus seem to be the best option availble to me (from all the low end inverter models out there) and here is why. It has built in temperature sensor for ATC and a SMPS for power factor correction and does the "6 stage charge" at least according to this review http://upsinverterinfo.com/su-kam-falcon-plus-inverter-unbiased-indepth-review.html It also could work in low current between 90v -240v. Anyway based on my budget it was what I could afford.

Charge current = 14A

Protection and Safety:

I put a 10A Cbi vdc breaker between PV and CC, a 40A Cbi vdc breaker between CC and Battery, and a 63 vdc Cbi Breaker between Inverter and Battery.

I also intend to put a 15A AC breaker between Grid and Inverter and a 20A AC breaker between Inverter and Load.

I also intend to ground all the equipment from the panel frames to the panel, cc and inverter.

Infuture and close to raining season I hope to get a thunder arrestor

I intend to have all the load the inverter would be powering to terminate to a separate DB from the main house DB. This is meant to reduce issues of overloading the Inverter since only the load to be powered by the Inverter will be terminated to the inverter nothing more.

Run time: I intend for the backup time for the system to be 6 hours. My max load is 450w.. lets say less than 500w * 6 = 3000 / 12 = 250ah.
Because I have a battery bank of 400ah. I hope to ensure I don't pass the 62.7 state of discharge.

considering that I will not be running all the loads at the same time. I expect the state of discharge threshold to be close to the 50% mark.

When am out during the day, I might consider running the freezer with a timer based plug and set it to run between 12-14:00 depending on the weather.

What I have:
CC, Breakers, Panels,Inverter, Cables.

What am expecting:

Ordered 10 mc4 connectors from Aliexpress, a Killawatt meter, an MC4 Crimping tool and MC4 disconnect wrench.

I hope to start the setup and installation once the tools arrive.

There is pretty much my solar plan. I would appreciate if all the gurus look through and point out mistakes and suggestions.

I have attached a schematics of the project.

I think it is just apt to show guys here the update. This project is now live and has been a resounding success. Of cause some adjustments were made mainly increasing the size of the inverter and making the whole system 24v. 24v is more efficient across the board. On inverter side easier to convert 24 - 220v than 12 - 220v, on cc less work on the cc and I can use it optimally, it is also more efficient has mppt work best when battery voltage is about twice the total voltage from the PV.

On the consumption side. I have done a lot to trim down my load considerably. Use of Led >=5w goes a long way. My average current load is about 120w (Including 43inch led, laptop powered home theater PC, 1200w 5.1 Home theater sound system, ceiling fan and couple of light bulb 8-5w which come on demand) this when u include an inverter efficiency of 85% puts my current draw from the battery system at 6amps/h putting me very close to achieving a C40 discharge rate from my 220ah battery. (this reading was done with a watt meter)

My daily consumption stands at 1600w (Including the Freezer running for 4 hours daily) which is about 30% dod. the whole 1600w is put back into the battery the next day. By noon my batteries are in float. On afternoons on weekends, generate enough from the 480w panels to run the house while keeping the batteries at float. (TV-Home theater, Fan or Just powering the freezer - not both at once)

Gen has been totally and resoundingly deprecated.

Here is the mandatory Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlkYU02g-HE

Just get a wielder to make something. You can also use wood. The wielder would use angle bar for the panels. It can be screwed tight to the panels to prevent flying. Check on YouTube too.

Sorry I did not read through all your thread. But why does the panel have to be on the roof? There is a general misconception that panels have to be on the roof to perform well.. which is not always true in fact ground mounted panels (if u have a shade free space to mount them) out performs roof mounted for the following reasons:

There are more efficient: One of the biggest causes of power loss on a panel is heat. in fact the higher the temperature is about 25c the less efficient the panel is. Mounting panels on the roof allow it get really hot has heat from the roof is transferred to the panel which can reduce efficiency by close to 40%. this losses also occure when you should be getting pick sun harvest. Ground mount though have less problem with heat. they are easily cooled by natural breeze due to the allowance between panels and ground.

Ground panels are also much easier to maintain than roof mounted panels: the dust situ in Nigeria means u have to clean ur panels at least once a month. For an installation of your size, that means having someone do it for u (more overhead) but a ground mounted system is much easier to clean. heck on a very hot afternoon you can easily hose down the panels with water. (I did and got almost 10% increase in my yield.

Lastly it is easier to achieve the right panel tilt and direction when there are ground mounted, there is that flexibility. Panels in Nigeria get their optimum yield when facing true south at an angle of 81 degree vertical tilt. This is way to mount your panel for optimum yield all year if you are in Nigeria. It is easier to achieve this in a ground mount than roof mount.

sizeof your PV means u can string them in series and have enough voltage to give u flexibility to find an ideal shade free space to mount the panels. the high voltage would help over come resistant thus reducing wiring loss and cost spent on wiring u.

if you have space around ur construction which are shade free then consider a ground mount. You can use this site to calculate sun path and shadows all year round which would help u simulate the best place to sight a solar farm. http://www.suncalc.org/

regards

babniyen:
My mistake, 20,300 WH. thanks

first work before u even all of price is how to make your power consumption very efficient. Doing that can save u a lot of unnecessary cost. Hint. Your freezer don't have to run all the time, your AC don't have to run at all. Get rechargeable fans and even those run on demand. Get energy saver bulbs of not more than 11w. TV don't have to be on 24h. U need to itemise each load and hours it would run. Do that and cut down on the huge power consumption and watch ur bill go down.

My house is sooo Energy efficient that often time what we use in a day is replaced before noon the next day and in most cases we can run the house directly from solar while the battery stays in float. And yes my load include a 175L freezer. We barely scratched 40% dod of our 440ah battery bank.

temizeee:
well...a 150 watt solar panel has an optimum operating current of 8.38A. Makes a total of 33.52A of current but since you are will b using pwm, don't expect more than that current..... U can go for a 30amp(cc) or 40amp(cc)
40amp pwm cc is not common.

when u factor in ineffiency of .77 that figure comes down to about 25ah. I think it is manageable. However that's a lot of current with relatively low voltage. What u think u are saving by getting a cheap controller u will have to spend on wiring otherwise having such high current pass through a less than 16mm wire within a short distance will not only resort to massive voltage losses.. the resistance might lead to heat which can cause a fire. The distance between your panel and cc will be key.

oliyeniun:
1. I have 2 No's 180W/24V solar panels.
Vmp=36.72V
Imp=4.91A
2. I have 1 no 200W/24V solar panel
Vmp =34.56V
Imp=5.71A
please, for the solar panels, what's the best way to connect it and how much power (Pmax) can I get all things being equal given the panels have different specs.

Your best bet is to connect your panels in parallel. connecting them in series is a no no due to the difference in vmp. in series connection you are as strong as your weakest link. The panel with the lowest watt can drag the whole system down. In your case parallel connection will see you have about 11A IMP and 34.56v

The second reason is your pwm controller which does not perform well when there is a very high variation between the panel voltage and the battery voltage. series connection would give u a max vmp of 68v compared to the 24v of your battery system. the pwm would hence be able to use just half of the electricity generated from your panel hence in your case series connection would mean your pwm can only use about 34v from your panel.. (This is where MPPT controllers shine, an MPPT controller would allow you connect your panels in series to a voltage higher than your battery system hence an MPPT controller would take the 68v, feed your system with about 28v needed to charge the battery and convert the rest to current (amps)) so in future when you want to upgrade your system, first thing is to get an mppt controller.

3. 2.5KVA/24V Prag inverter
4. 30A/24V solar PWM CC
5. 2 luminous 200AH /12V batteries
expected load is 360W to run for 6hrs each day

360w * 6 = 2160 / 0.90 (Inverter efficiency) = 2400w / 24 = 100ah which is within the recommended 50% dod for your battery. The question is can you generate 100ah daily to replaced what was used? I doubt your pwm controller can guarantee you that. so you might have to supplement it with a generator to charge the rest otherwise u would end up with a deficit where u are unable to give back what u took from the system.. leading to u been unable to fully charge your battery

also what's the best type of wiring to use...6mm or 4mm

Wiring depends on the distance between your panel and your charge controller. DC is low on volts but higher on currents, low voltage does not do well over long distance, it faces resistance which would lead to losses. and because you have little choice than to use a parallel connection with your panel, your voltage would be 34v. has such you have to ensure the following:

Your panel most not be too far from he controller, the distance would determine the size of your wire. Here is another advantage of MPPT controller, it can allow u to string your panel in series thus increasing the voltage allowing u to save cost on wiring because the higher the voltage the lower the resistance.

I am asking all this because where I reside, you find a lot of people parading as inverter specialist but in actual fact, dey are technicians with limited knowledge. intact a schematic diagram of d connection would be appreciated.. thanx...@richmon74, @kiekie1, @juo and all my ogas in d aus.

pranil:
try MPP solar incase you have means of importing ( made in Taiwan) - they have models from 60 Amp upto 120 AMP on 48 V the only inverter I found in market with such a high charger rating -http://www.mppsolar.com/v3/pcm40486048-series/

available on aliexpress with Nigerain Naira cards also - http://www.aliexpress.com/store/all-wholesale-products/629424.html?spm=2114.12010108.100004.3.4Lnz3j

Many vendors in Nigeria such as Zinox(ipower) stick them with there own branding although the specs vary acrosss models in terms of amps so check when buying .

alternative on Jumia ( dont know the brand but MPP solar confirmed it is not there models and china copy) -https://www./protek-5kva-solarhybrid-inverter-4110770.html

Alternatively PRAG also has different models but for 60 amps you might have to choose 7.5 KVA or higher model

I would avoid MPP solar Inverters. There are known to break down after less than a year of use. Video is all over YouTube. I would recommend Axpert solar Inverters which is actually what zinox rebrand as Ipowerplus. It is very popular in Australia and south Africa

sensisosu:
@johnkester @bigvolar

Thank you for the analysis, Life is all about learning and I am glad i have been able to learn a few things with your analysis.
The reason why I have not been able to fully ascertain the system completely is because PHCN has been very kind towards us and as such I am unable to know the strength of the system.

What I have decided to do is to put switched to solar 100% and see how long I will be able to use the system based on my normal load.

What I also noticed is my mppt epever 60ah charger does not go above 10.05a. I believe i should be able to get atleast 20a with it..

Please could there be anything wrong with the charge controller?



by the way, where can i buy the Trimetric 2030C to monitor my batteries.

well technically..... not really. You see MPPT tracks your battery voltage level and decides the optimum level of charge required for that voltage. If your battery is well charged and voltage level is high you might be getting less than the potential output of your panel and charge controller.

Ideally your seup should give u about 31.25ah (total PV power 1500w divided by battery voltage 48).. however efficiency losses due to heat, wiring position of the sun etc means u never get up to 31.ah, the rule of thump apply 77% efficiency to your installation hence 31.25 * 0.77 = 24.0625ah. that is what u would get from your PV. if your battery voltage is at 48v. however battery voltage never stays at 48. it is sometimes higher maybe 50v or 49 which would reduce the number of current u get from cc. Only time u might see close to 20ah is if battery is severely discharged in that or as my Jedi master @Abunafiu suggest when load is applied on the battery during day time. So I feel your cc is fine.

External factors can also not be ruled out.

kiekie1:
With 30k , I can offer you the most important pro solar roof mounts including ;
2 qty solar mount rail "4200mm" ,
4 qty rack end clamp,
6 qty mid clamp,
6 qty L feet with rubber & special screw....

Same goes to angle positioning solar kits;
- Adjustable front leg
- Adjustable rear leg
- Rail splice kit
- Grounding lug

All that for 30k? Pictures place

sensisosu:
Thank you for your input, The items powered on are 1 tv, 3 fans, charging ports for 2 laptops, 6 energy saving bulbs. I believe with the system i have, i should be able to enjoy electricity 24hrs a day.

Please enlighten me.

negative.

sensisosu:
Hello House,
I should have found this thread earlier, maybe my life would have been easier by now... I have a 3.5kva sukham inverter with 4 tubular batteries which aren't giving me as much satisfaction that i want. I decided to complement my system by purchasing 6 panels of 250 watts mono solar panels and epever 60amps charge controller.
What i noticed today was that PHCN decided to give us electricity for 4 hours today from 8am to 12pm and my batteries were fully charged at 57volt. as of this moment which is 7 hours later, my battery voltage is at 49volt and the charge controller is showing that the battery % is at 15%.
Please this is completely new to me and I would appreciate if anyone could enlighten me about the system, what are the problems and what should be the solutions.
Thank you

first u have to understand your system that is the best approach, understanding will let u know if and where the problem is. from what you listed. here is the potential generation of your panel.
Inverter 48v
Battery bank 4 12v 220ah (Batteries) in series = 220ah

6*250 (Panels) = MPPT potential output = 31.25

real life = (31.25*0.77) output due to inefficiencies and losses = 24ah
24ah is the highest power point your system can give on an average. (considering that the panels are installed facing true south with a tilt of about 81 degree and have no shading from trees or nepa poles)

49v is not bad. I think you are confusing state of charge with state of discharge. former is how empty, later is how full. 15% state of charge means 15% empty or 85% full (house jedi can correct me on this) IIRC most charge controllers display state of charge (SOC) in any case 49v represent about 80ish% state of charge, that means your battery is 80ish % full which is good. I have attached a voltage - state of charge chart. remember your system is a 48v system.

what is the distance between panels and controller and size of wires used.

sensisosu:
Thank you for your input, The items powered on are 1 tv, 3 fans, charging ports for 2 laptops, 6 energy saving bulbs. I believe with the system i have, i should be able to enjoy electricity 24hrs a day.
Please enlighten me.

what type of TV, Plasma, LCD or LED and year (it matters energy consumptions between tv display tech varies from 250w to 30w on same display) 3 fan (ceiling or standing) laptop generally use 65w when charging battery, once battery is charged it drops to around 20w. so u multiply that by number of laptop and number of hours u run the laptop. What is the rating on the energy saving bulb? 20w?

You really need to sit down and calculate your load. Try to estimate them as much as possible. In any case, your system us not enough to grant u 24 hours light. Your battery is 220ah. all the above listed items even in their most efficiency will not grant u 24hr light. maybe 10 hours. and even that might put a strain on your battery and drain it beyond the sacred 70% dod

sensisosu:
Hello House,

I should have found this thread earlier, maybe my life would have been easier by now... I have a 3.5kva sukham inverter with 4 tubular batteries which aren't giving me as much satisfaction that i want. I decided to complement my system by purchasing 6 panels of 250 watts mono solar panels and epever 60amps charge controller.

What i noticed today was that PHCN decided to give us electricity for 4 hours today from 8am to 12pm and my batteries were fully charged at 57volt. as of this moment which is 7 hours later, my battery voltage is at 49volt and the charge controller is showing that the battery % is at 15%.

Please this is completely new to me and I would appreciate if anyone could enlighten me about the system, what are the problems and what should be the solutions.

Thank you

There are so many things missing from your post. Reweable energy is called alternative power for a purpose. The very idea is understanding and making efficient your usage of power. You need to be aware of your loads. And design your system to power your needs not your wants. Also and most importantly list all the items powered by your setup and how many hours they run. Then gurus in the house can help.

[quote author=zeestone99 post=45728888]Bro datz y I said near 12hrs, anoda tin to consider is he powering jst 400watt of load, by d time u bombard all dis figure to power jst 400watt. e get as e b o

[quote]1) I said 4 is OK, nd i agree if u say 6 panels dat means faster charging.
100amps charge controller is nt necessary, using a 12v inverter system, u r paralleling too much ( 4 batteries) and dat is y u re suggestin 100amps

I agree. the most efficient system for him would be a 24v system. that way the batteries can be arranged in series parallel. even then the average consumption of 400w for 12 hours with a 24v system with 90% efficiency is 223AH. That is how much AH he would use everyday. To keep is batteries at the recommended 50% depth of discharge he would still need 4 12v, 200ah batteries arranged in series parallel.

and yes making the system 24v would actually allow him to use a 60a cc which would actually be putting out about 48a in real world use considering PV efficiency and heat related losses at 0.77%.

2) you can't use 250watt panel wit a 12v inverter system because 250watt comes with 24v by default.

You can actually, in fact it is what is recommended as long as you are using it with an mppt charge controller. MPPT once it note the voltage of the PV is higher than the battery voltage would downgrade the PV to 12v and excess voltage is then converted to currents. In my case I connected the two 24v panel in series to over come resistance and allow me to spend less on wiring.

Using a 24v inverter is perfect.

We agree

3) 4 batteries is on d high side, who ll fund all this tin you are sayin because of 400watt of load. Afterall there is solar to bk it up

Unless you want to discharge completely discharge the batteries. 4 12v 200ah battery (connected in series parallel) for a system that uses 222ah daily is the minimum if you don't want the batteries dying in less than a year. Unless am mistaken. Remember it is 400w for 12 hours.
alternative energy is not cheap. That is why more time should be spent making the consumption more efficient so that you spend less money

mank1234:
Hello gurus in the house, please help with answers to the following questions:

1) how many 12V 200AH deep cycle battery is required to power an AC(220V) load of 400W continuously for 12hours, assume efficiency of inverter to be 90%?

2) how many 255W solar panel is required for the setup in 1) above assuming MPPT charge controller is to be used?

3) what should be the current rating of the MPPT charge controller be?

400w * 12 = 4,800 / 0.90 (inverter efficiency) = 5,333w
Lets assume your are running this on a 12v system

5,333/12 = 444ah

so in a day your take 444ah from your battery bank.

In other to maintain a 50% depth of discharge (which would ensure your batteries are at between 500 circles (1.5 years) up to 1800 circles ( about 5 years) depending on type of battery use use.

Hence a battery bank of 800ah = 4 12v 200ah batteries (In parallel) would put u within a safe zone of 56% dod.

You will also be operating below the discharge rate of a C20 battery since your the battery discharge rate would be close to 37ah / hour.
Number of batteries required is 4 12v 200ah batteries (for a 12v system)

Regarding charge controller. and number of PV. The important rule is. You most be able to generate what you use with some room for raining days.

your daily watt use is 5,333w

PV= your daily use is 5333w (lets says 5400w)

It is good to factor in PV efficiencies and heat related losses into the system hence I would recommend you get 6 250watt panels in series parallel connection

this would give u a total of 1500w / 12 = 125ah * 0.77 (rule of thumb for the combined real world panel plus controller efficiency loss) = 96ah

96 * 5 (average number of sun hours in Nigeria ) = 480ah (sometimes u get more, sometimes a bit less) either way that is above 444ah daily requirement so you have 480w for redundancy.

number of PV = 250w * 6 (this would guarantee your give back what you take from the system)

Charge controller which u need to get this would be a 100a mppt controller.

As you can see from the above. the system u have here would be quite expensive to put together. The first thing you do when planning for alternative energy is to trim down your system to make it more efficient. With some adjustments, that 400w concurrent usage for 12 hours can be reduced. Also how did you come about the figure? did you use a watt meter?

I am still a padawan when it comes to this whole solar thingie. I am sure some Jedi masters in the house would chip in to add to the conversation.

Youngzedd:
200Ah

In that case this rule I would apply is :If it is too good to be true, it probably is. Many people (Including Su-kam) are marketing SLI (Glorified starter batteries with relatively low discharge circle) has SMF deep cycle batteries. Any SMF that is not AGM or GEL is waste of money. The key thing about inverter is paying up front and making up your money back in the shortest time without breaking the bank. Hence a balance must be struck between your bank your needs and what is out there. This has to be a fine balance. If you spend too much u much it would take a long time to get your money back. If you spend too cheaply.. it migt among to a waste of money.. choose wisely

VULCAN:
@bigrover

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on here.
I was on the verge of going for a regular inverter but the PMS increment coupled with the dwindling state of power supply in my area has brought about a rethink as running my 5.5 KVA gen for 8 hrs daily to charge the inverter is no longer economically sensible.

So its either I go solar or hybrid and I found this hybrid system on Konga and I would like your advise based on your expertise.

Thanks in advance

These are the specs:


2400W/3KVA LCD Input & Output 220V 50Hz 24V DC input; with MPPT solar charge controller; with RS232 ;50Hz output frequency;
Pure sine wave inverter
Selectable input voltage range for home appliances and personal computers
Selectable charging current based on applications
Configurable AC/Solar input priority via LCD setting
Compatible to mains voltage or generator power
Parallel operation with up to 4 units only available
Auto restart while AC is recovering
Overload and short circuit protection
Smart battery charger design for optimized battery performance
Cold start function



Technical Specifications

Surge Power: 6000 VA
Waveform: Pure sine wave
AC Voltage Regulation (Batt.Mode): 230VAC±5%
Inverter Efficiency (Peak): 93%
Transfer Time: 10ms(For Personal Computers) 20ms(For Home Appliances)
AC Input Voltage: Voltage 230VAC
Selectable Voltage Range: 170~280VAC(For Personal Computers) 90~280VAC(For Home Appliances)
Frequency Range: 50Hz/60Hz (Auto sensing)
BATTERY Nominal voltage: 24V DC
Floating Charge Voltage: 27V DC
Overcharge Protection: 31V DC
SOLAR CHARGER & AC CHARGER: Maximum PV Array Open Circuit Voltage: 60V DC
Standby Power Consumption: 2W
Maximum Solar Charge Current: 50A
Maximum AC Charge Current: 20A or 30A
Maximum Charge Current: 50A
MECHANICAL SPECIFICATION: Dimension,W*H*D: 272*355*100mm
Net Weight: 12kg
OTHER: Humidity: 5% to 95% Relative Humidity (Non-condensing)
Operating Temperature 0°C-55°C
Storage Temperature -15°C-60°C

On paper the device is on point. Key points that sounds good include the solar charge capacity of 50A however and 30A is not bad for charging via NEPA ( that's better than many Indian Inverters out there)

98% efficiency rating is among the best in the market if those figures are true.

I also uses an MPPT controller though one has to be sure how good it is at doing that.

Here are my reservations:
Maximum string of panels at 60vdc is a deal breaker for me. One of the advantage of mppt is ability to string many panels in series to increase your total PV voltage and thus overcome resistance and spend less on wiring.. As u know Panels (PV) produces low voltage DC. And DC voltage does not do where over long distance.. Resistance causes loses the longer the distance unless u get a bigger wire which means more money. So unless your PV is very close to your charge controller you might be forced spend more on wiring so as to reduce wiring loses between PV and CC to the recommended 3-5%.

Second issue I have with it is the company. In fact that is the most important issue. U should do your research on the company very well. Many of these Chinese companies have bad reputation for putting out substandard product and having dodgy reputation. I have read some unpleasant things about Must Inverters even here on NL.

Why not consider Ipowerplus from zinox. It is a good product and I think the newer ones come with MPPT controllers. The product is a rebrand of Axpert hybrid solar Inverters from Voltronic systems which has a very good reputation in South Africa and Australia. I was going to go for the Ipowerplus but then their product only had pwn charges which was not good for my use case.

Note: caveat. I don't work for any solar or Inverter company nor do I own one or deal in sales if Inverter. Am also not an electrical engineer so don't take my words as professional advise. You might want to do research on the things I stated above.

Youngzedd:
I saw one battery called Power tra

The seller said it's 38k, brand new and it's free maintenance battery.

I was wondering this maybe fake battery or substandard.

The price huh, anyone knows about this battery?

It might not be fake yet the seller might not be saying it all. What is the capacity of the battery? That price is fine for a 100AH or even 150AH battery. It might also be 200 at c100 hours which is just a glorified 100ah battery. As usual buyers beware

mrZENographer:
Sir this info is well appreciated. I want the fla battery. I have a budget of 40k. can u recommend a good FLA battery with 1500w inverter? if there is a bit added cost I can still bear it. Thank you.

I would assume your inverter is 24v which means u need a minimum of 2 12v batteries. From the last market survey I did last week. The cheapest FLA battery I saw was Luminous 150AH Tubular battery. I saw it somewhere online for 49k or there about. I think it is sold for 50k from luminous dealers in Nigeria. their 220 model cost about 70k while that of Mercury from mercury direct cost like 60k for 220.

kogistar:
this mercury inverter ok??
Key Features
Compact, sleek and light
weight design
Super-efficient
DC to AC conversion
Minimizing charging losses
Input voltage range
selection option
Fully automatic restart
operation
Provides critical overload
protection
Advanced technology
optimizes battery life
Off-mode charging design
Colour: Black

Its better to see hard figures. numbers help determine how good / sufficient an inverter is. Take the case of *super efficient* what does this mean? the term efficiency is relative and open to interpretation. Rather it is stipulated the efficiency level of the inverter on various load. e.g most high end inverters maintain an efficiency load of btw 98% - 95% this means loses that occurs during conversion from AC to DC is reduced.

In my case I got the efficiency rating of my inverter by writing to Su-kam customer care in india (the figures were no where to be seen on the manuals both on and offline) and was informed their falcon plus has an efficiency rating of 85%. hence if am to calculate my load. say my load is 400watt I will divid that figure by 0.85 to get the total load i.e my total load when u factor in inverter efficiency is 470.5w the higher the efficiency rating the better the inverter.

Figures are very important, unfortunately most inverter marketers hide and in some cases are even ignorant of important figures about their inverter. In my case I have had to email the company directly to ask for specification about their inverter.

From my experience here are some of the specifications you need to know about an inverter to decide whether it is right for you.

Efficiency = Usually rated in percentage.. the closer to 100% the better. (read above)
Surge Factor = Most inverters have rated output and maximum output aka surge factor. The surge factor is the extra burst of output the inverter can give out for a short period of time (usually less than 10 sec) while the rated output is the out the inverter can consistently maintain. As many are away, Why is surge factor important. Let me explain:

I have a freezer (175 liters) which uses a constant watt of 135w-150w when it is running. However when started after a long time being off. It requires up to 8 times its running watt to kick start the compressor. Hence it might reach close to 1250w just to start the compressor. It picks at this figure for about 2 seconds and drops to normal operating watt of 135w. I wanted to know if I could run my 1050w inverter with it. so I mailed sukam to ask what their surge factor is. Below is the reply I got.

Dear Sir,



It’s always a pleasure to hear from you. The Crest Factor In Falcon is 5:1. That means Falcon+ is designed to run a load of 3.5A (AC) as a full load capacity , just for few seconds it can run load where the peak power demand in little more than 15A. For example 190 Liters of Refrigerator which needs high peak current to start the compressor.



Regards

rahul

Now I know the my inverter has a Crest or surge factor of 5:1. The surge/crest factor may be on the inverter manual so you might want to check

ATC: The ability of an inverter to do Automatic Temperature Control would go a long way in determining efficiency of your battery. The optimum temperature for batteries to thrive is 25c (under AC) if it is colder then the battery build up resistant which the charger (in our case the inverter) has to increase the voltage to over come the resistant. When it is hotter then the heat degrade the chemical reaction that produces current which can also lead to gassing.. hence in this case the inverter reduces the voltage to preserve battery life. In the case of Nigeria ATC plays a big role in ensuring good battery life.

Customer care. Please buy an inverter from a company u can always write to and inquire some of these questions. Do your research and see how responsive the company is.

of the top of my head these are what I would consider before choosing an inverter.

N.B I am not an electrical engineer nor do I do inverter installation for a living. I am just a DYI ethusiast. My write up should never be taken as a how to or guide.

Haven't really given them a look. Was put off by it being modified wave. Their Tubular batteries are sait to be good

DMerciful:
Thanks for the info.....much appreciated. But what about the release of gases during charging, is it safe or u need to have a dedicated place outside for good ventilation

from all I have read. All batteries discharge .. Every one of them. Even the smf. Just ensure your batteries are placed in a place with good circulation. The gases released are very lite and dissipate easily ( someone with more knowledge can add ) just don't keep them in an enclosed space or box. And if urs is in an enclosed box. Provide a pipe to allow the gas to escape. Corridor of ur house is a good place.

Just to add that optimal tilt for solar panels in Nigeria (for those that are non adjustable)/is 81° facing through true south. That way u get the most of the sun all year round. Also if u house allows it. But adding an extra panel to compensate for losses and ineffiency in alignment is a good idea. Never thought of that.

DMerciful:
You are right. Let me give the house a free design
If your battery is two 200AH deep cycle batteries, u need a current supply of 30A for 7hrs to charge fully. In addition if your load is 300w from the inverter, u need 300/24=12.5A. So in total, u need 42.5A from the solar panels to power your load and charge your batteries at the same time. Now since you need 42.5A @ 24V in total, your solar panels should be 24*42.5*f=1020f, where f is the factor for the varying angle of the sun's beam. All in all, you need about 1500w solar panel bank. The 480w difference is to compensate for the sun's angle as a solar panel of 200w is actually 200w when the sun is at 90 degrees to d panel. In order words its the power of the panel is rated power p*cos€ where € is sun's angle

bigtt76:
Dry cell cos it's maintenance free and usually sealed.

another common misconception. All deeo cycle batteries (with exception of lithium batteries) are technically wet cell. Even GEL and AGM batteries still use Lead acid. The two type of deep cycle batteries are Flooded Lead Acid (FLA) and Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) the former is what is often called wet cell, while the latter is called "dry cell" FLA requires periodic topping with water. VRLA don't require water topping hence are called SMF ( sealed maintenance free )

Secondly contrary to popular belief. FLA are more rugged and durable than SMF batteries. Especially the type of FLA in Tubular form aka Tubular batteries. This can easily give u 1200 cycle at 80% depth of discharge. Most SMF can only guarantee u 800 cycles at 50% dod (for high end Gel type) and 400 cycles at 50% dod for the common popular type. Many good FLA batteries can last for 4 - 8 years of non abusive use. They are more rugged handle over charge better and take heat better. The only catch is the periodic topping with distilled water. Both Mercury, Luminous and Su-kam have Tubular FLA batteries often time cheaper than their SMF offerings

bigtt76:
So what do you suggest is the best inverter brand out there and also how best to achieve good battery charge without ruining them in no time

Before I started my project I did lots of research particularly on Inverters out there. What I set out to get were Inverters that had the following features:

Smart charge: ability to efficiently and safely charge the battery knowing that voltage to use at different state of battery charge. (Bulk, boast, floating, equalisation etc) not all Inverters have this feature and it's why many batteries don't last. There are not charged properly.

ATC: Automatic temperature control: is another feature I look for in an inverter. This means the Inverter adjust its charging based on battery temperature. In essence the Inverter has a sensor that can read temperature and adjust charge rate accordingly. This is very important. Battery charge should be based on how cold or hot the ambiance temperature is. Charging battery at a flat rate iirespective of temperature will affect it life span.

Fast charge capacity: u would want an inverter that can charge up.ur batter at the shortest time. Most Inverters do 10ah but there are Inverters that can do close to 50ah. Those would charge a 400ah battery setup in 4 hours.

Something within budget: most Inverters with the feature above listed cost money. Lots of money. The golden rule about going alternative is to safe cost so that ur system pays for itself in shortest time possible. A system that's too expensive for your budget becomes a case of sunk cost fallacy or white elephant.

Also most recommend pure sine wave Inverters as they produce power that is as clean as what u get from nepa.

After doing my search I settled for the Su-kam power plus Inverter. This system has all the above listed features. 6 state charge (which it calls fuzzy charging) capable of ATC and comes with a temperature sensor to boot. The only down side is it can only do 14ah of charge but will run even on law current of about 90v but at 9ah. The price is also pocket friendly. About 40k (then) for a 1050va system.

Electroweb:
Well, inverters have minimum voltage at which they cut off power supply, so its not possible to drain it to nought. Assuming If you have an inverter of the strenght of a truck but use it to carry load of one Laptop then its a waste of money and space. The average life span of the batteries is 2yrs. The storage capacity of the batteries drop over time, just like ur phone, rechargeable torch, car batteries e.t.c they are all the same.

majority of Inverter in the market have completely unreliable low voltage disconnect which should never be relied on. In fact Inverter low voltage disconnect are meant to protect the Inverter and not the battery. E.g most Inverters LVD are activated when battery is at 10.5v. At which point ur battery is basically dead. Some Su-kam allow u to set LVD to 11.5 or 11v which is also unsafe for your battery. At 11.5 your battery is at 10% state of charge or 90% state of discharge which fliea on the face of keeping your battery at 50% state of discharge or at 12.06v. Some Inverter (really expensive ones by outback, victron etc ) allow u set a specific LVD but those cost a lot.

Best approach are:

Get a battery monitor especially one with a shunt which will allow u effectively monitor battery usage. The shunt allows u see what comes in and what goes out of battery for near accurate reading. Even the. Disconnect would be manual. Done by the user.

Have an electrical audit of your house appliance. Maths don't like. A properly done calculation of how much u take from your battery daily and how much goes into the battery can help determine when it is self to disconnect. Again this has to be done manually.

You can setup a LVD system that is automatic. I designed one that uses a relay connected to the load output of my charge controller. I then set LVD on CC to 12v ( I use Epsolar Mppt controller) and the positive wire from Inverter is connected to the relay such that when my battery is at 12v the CC lord comes on and the Inverter load from battery is cut off. System works fairly well but a bit complicated to setup. Also getting a good dc to AC solid state relay is quite hard.

DMerciful:
Solar panels are now. Cheap such that electricity bills for 2 years can pay the cost of installation... the rest is profit

no it won't. Not for a reasonable off grid solution. Average bill for homes in Nigeria is 10k per month. 10*24 is 240. 240k would not give u an offgrid that replaces NEPA. Not in the times of high dollar prices. And u also have to factor in cost of maintenance which depending on the type of battery u use and usage might be yearly ever 2 years or every 4 years. We really need to lower expectations of solar. Putting it too high rises people hopes and often lead to disappointed users.

parlondy007:
Ok... Point out those things that is critical and a must use for you. E.g.
* Lighting points (energy saver) bulbs - 10pcs @ 10w each = 100w
* LED TV 2 @ 120w each = 240w
*Ceiling Fans 2 @ 75w each = 150w
*Satellite Decoder 1 @ 45w
*Charging Laptop and phones @ 90w
I guess this should be a must use for a mini home. So on the total you have a 625w total load. In this case a 1000w inverter system is suitable here, with about 300w extra to serve as tolerance. Its advisable to create some reasonable amount of tolerance to enable the system breathe well to avoid breakdown since the inverter doesn't work like the generator that accommodates excess load and still with stands it. But what ever be the case you must allow at least about 50w untouched as the system tolerance point.

Where are u guys pulling this watt figures from? I think your estimate are over the top. Yes it is OK to over estimate watt usage as it helps acts as a buffer however over doing it just won't allow u have an efficiently planned system. When I started my project. I did some energy usage estimate of close to 520w concurrent usage mainly home theatre setup ( 42in led + DSTV decoder + 5.1 sound system and a laptop running xbmc ) my total estimate for that was 450w. Add lighting points and I was close to 520w. However I got me a watt a meter. And since then my estimate was drastically reviewed. My home theatre setup turns out uses only 90w (with TV screen on eco mode) compare 90w to my initial estimate of 450w. I also noticed my freezer is 150w with pick start time of 180w. Using the watt meter really helped me plan out a good setup and usage and also helped me in sizing my batteries well so I don't spend too much for my needs. Watt meter are cheap and u can get them from aliexpress for 15 dollars. About 5k.

You can see a picture of my watt meter reading power usage from my TV

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DMerciful:
If you design your system such that you don't discharge ur battery less than 50% of its capacity...it can stay for about 4-6yrs

This is not absolute but depends on the type of batteries. Most batteries used for Inverter and solar systems in Nigeria are VRLA SMF (Sealed Maintenance Free) batteries. The products from Su-kam (LA SMF and Luminous AGM SMF) some product from Rita and Amaron also based on gel and AGM technologies. All the above mentioned would give u a max of 800 circles at 50% depth of discharge. I. fact the su-kam gives u less (about 400 cycles at 50% dod) a cycle in the case is recharge of your battery after a 50% discharge. In essence if u charge and discharge your battery once a day you can take your cycle time to be 1 day. There are 365 days in a year hence a very good SMF battery lasts for 2 years at moderate use. Products from Su-kam Luminous last lesser time. Maybe a year and half.

If you want to get the best cycle from a battery then the way to go is FLA batteries. This are the most rugged and ideal for deep discharging with robust cycle time. I would recommend the Tubular battaries from either Su-kam or Luminous or even Mercury Tubular is quite good. A tubular batteries can easily give u 1200 cycles even when used consistently at 80% depth of discharge we are talking 3-4 years. They are also cheaper than SMF hence easier to recoup ur investment. The catch here is they require maintenance. Requring u to top up the battery with distilled water every once in a while. Small price for the obvious advantage it brings.
Full disclosure don't work for battery company no do I sell consort or own solar Inverter company. Just an enthusiast.

cooldipo:
Frankie, I can relate with the guy's frustration......I remembered about 2 years ago when I paid you online for 2kw power starlight inverter which you sent over to me in Akure. when I set it up and realized it was not charging the battery at all, i called and you ask me to return it for another and you gave me your uncle/bro's Ikeja shop address. I got there and ask after you but their response even left me more confused.....cos you go by another name there and hasn't left any info of anybody coming around or something like that......I journeyed from Akure and had to put the inverter on my laps on the bus and had to carry it on my head while asking around for your bro shop address. The most annoying part was you were always sounding bossy all the time while I tried to converse with you on the phone and after waiting for you for a while, you asked me to drop the inverter at the shop and also with the instruction that I should drop 5k which you claimed is for your transport to the warehouse or I shouldn't bother to drop it at all and all this happened just three days of purchase .....with guarantee fully in place like you promised......my choice were limited so I parted with the money with so much discomfort to the rest of my finance for the rest of the month. You might have forgotten but that experience still leave a bitter feeling each time I replayed it. I feel cheated, disrespected and arm twisted till date.

Thanks for sharing, we need stories like this to bring balance and force people to give due diligence to warranty cases. Yes I do understand how difficult it is for the supplier many of whom don't get covered by the OEM yet it is part of the risk of doing business. You can't sell a product with warranty and treat the customer like shit when he tries to claim. This is one area Nigeria businesses needs to improve on.