₦airaland Forum

You have a lot of ideas....nice. Some solar charge controllers have auxiliary outputs that can power a relay which in turn can be made to power specific load like freezer. Now as night comes, the charge controller can no longer power the relay which in turn will shutdown d freezer from d inverter system however once mains is restored, it switches d freezer to mains. I can design such a system..contact me on chyke200@gmail.com

bigtt76:
Ok but it could still mean the company connected the Solar panels to your battery charger direct and supplied the house from the battery through the inverter.

Ideally it would be best if your house I s supplied during the day from the solar panels and the battery charged through this route while at night the battery supplies the house. So it means your battery discharges less than it would if connected otherwise.

Some appliances such as fridge or freezer can work during the day on solar and turned off at night to power other appliances which are night use so power can be optimized correctly.

Looking forward to the diagram. I would be very grateful.

OK....its good to know all the same

GODAKPAN:
CHAIRMAN, I CAN ONLY GIVE YOU THOSE INFORMATION WHEN I GET HOME AND CHECK MY BOOKS, I KNOW LITTLE ABOUT THE SYSTEM HENCE MY CONTRACTING IT TO LUMINOUS ITSELF. THEY CAME FROM LAGOS TO UYO TO FIX IT. I JUST TRUSTED THEM AND HAVE GAT NO CAUSE TO COMPLAIN YET. MAYBE BECAUSE WHAT YOU DONT KNOW WOULDNT HURT YOU BUT AV GAT THE LIGHTS I WANTED

You can get all DC appliances and avoid the conversion process and losses however as these DC appliances are not common, they are expensive. I have even installed a DC fridge before. However, we have inverters that are over 90% efficient which is enough for domestic use.

bigtt76:
That would be ideal. All one needs to do is get a high wattage solar panel system. The excess power will be used to charge the battery.

The only issue here is power loss due to conversion of the solar panel's DC to AC for use with household appliances. This might be the reason why houses are supplied directly from battery. What you think?

Southern Nigeria is not windy except along the coastline but abundant solar energy.

Alabitrends01:
what of something like wind turbines, cannot be compared to solar. ?

It can get you a mopower or sukam 900va inverter at about 26k and battery about 55k. See!

adeaks:
But 273k is something else o.

Can 100k get someone a reasonable inverter for just a mini flat?

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

LongJohnS:
OK. So for how long does the battery last before it finally wears our??

The battery comes into plan when night comes or when d sun is low provided your solar power generation is larger than your load averagely.

bigtt76:
Nice one. Please can you share with us the circuit diagram showing how you connected yours? I want to know if the solar panels supply your house during the day and cut over to batteries during the night.

Usual connection is to draw power from the battery all day which to me kills the batteries prematurely. A y thought here would be appreciated.

There are good battery sellers....if you want I can give you good recommendation

nigerianvenom:
It's cheaper if one considers d amount to be save in due course but the problem is d battery, yes the battery because it wears out with time and needs replacement, unfortunately, getting a good battery is as difficult as finding a male virgin

Nice setup you got here. What is the wattage of the solar panels

GODAKPAN:
MINE COST A LITTLE ABOVE 900K, 3.5KVA INVERTER, 4 BATTERIES, 8 SOLAR PANEL AND CHARGE CONTROLLER, ITS BEEN WONDERFUL.

COST: PANEL =48K EACH
INVERTER =135K
BATTERIES =56K EACH
CHARGE CONTROLLER =50K
BATTERY/PANEL RACK =40K
INSTALLATION =75K

Try inverter and you'll get hooked

luxs:
Gen z still more economical to run

Necessity is the mother of invention

Goahead:
There was a thread I saw on nairaland some months ago, the dude made his homemade interverter with UPS and batteries...

Buhari is really working!

The inverter comes with inbuilt charger. You can buy Sulkam 1.4kva 24v for about 45k and the 2 batteries 200Ah for 104k. So your budget should cover it.

molydonhenry:
Chai! about 280k, and i was budgeting 150k, though just 4my small house. Pls hw do u get 2 charge ur batteries?

The main reason I install the analog ameter is to monitor my load so I can have long backup time. Since the inverter does not have a digital display that's d only way I can regulate my load by knowing what each load consume. It also tells me when the batteries are fully charged as the pointer will go to zero signifying d end of active charging. I bought d meter from Alaba at about 2k and connect it in series with d positive terminal.

amokemi:
I invested in inverter last November and I wished I had done it earlier. Except for this past week when Ikeja electricity company did not supply power at all that I had to use my generator, the inverter has been my saving grace. I could sleep well during this terribly hot period despite the heat cos of my inverter.

@op, I have a similar inverter as yours, 1.5kva Su-Kam but with two batteries, I noticed what looks like a meter on the picture you posted, is that meter used in determining the charge level? If yes, how did you achieve that please?

For a well designed system, the batteries stay averagely for 4 years. Some special batteries last over 10years. Sinecerely you cannot compare inverter cost and the benefits

BuddhaPalm:
For the average person, this does not seem such a fantastic deal.

Four batteries at approximately N200K, and I hear you'd need to replace them annually or so.

The fuel situation is temporary, so prices will soon go down. Does it power your refrigerator and microwave?

Depends but averagely between 20k and 200k for home use excluding battery o.

DancingSkeleton:
What's the cost of an inverter?

Make sense. But doesn't ur fridge reduce the backup time.The beauty of solar is that its 25yrs lifespan at least.

osabuohein:
I have something similar to yours in my house. Mine has four batteries. It charges when there's power and soon as the power goes off it continues from where it stopped. Though they're some appliances that I didn't include in it. It can power all the lights, fans, electrical appliances and one fridge.

It doesn't power my pumping machine and pressing iron cos of the high voltage they consume. But the larger the battery the more appliances it can accommodate. I'm even planning on installing a solar powered inverter on the roof of my house so I can tap from both worlds (Solar and Electrical) . Anyone who's interested in purchasing an inverter, it's advisable to start small. Depending on the number of appliances you have determines how many batteries you should buy. Everything should be around 250 to 300k.

Good thought and good plan. Truth is power supply to a building should be budgeted for from d onset as part of the overall cost and deliverables.

eleojo23:
Whenever I am ready to build a house, solar-powered inverter system is going to be part of the budget from the onset. The house will not be considered complete until the inverter system is up and running.
No time to wait for PHCN.

Even if PHCN improves, the inverter will still be useful because it will save cost on electricity bill.

And pay for darkness?

Sirmuel1:
N273k no be beans oh
Wetin Op dey talk sef
Abeg, I rather wait endlessly for NEPA

Exactly.....all depends on the load you want to power. For backup systems, low wattage appliances like energy saver bulbs should be used.

mjames:
you don't have to spend N270 u can buy the level that suit you

Btw 10 and 15 pieces

mukhcech:
Pls House I just Got a delivery of 140watt x 3pieces poly panels. How many more pieces do I need more to power a freezer at home during the Day. thanks.

Most time the problem is the charging system of the inverter. What type of inverter are you using?

okoegualek:
I wonder how i will sleep tonight without my inverter.....?My battery(deep cycle SMF) which i had barely used for 3 months just got bad,no longer able to hold charge like when i bought it newly.Discharges now even when not in use,hardly go above 12.5V now while charging unlike before i used to get up to 13.3V.I have returned it to the company based on warranty things,hoping to get a replacement soon.I still wonder if deep cycle SMF is anyway good compared to Tubular battery,i am having a second thought as which to go for.LUMINOUS BATTERY HAS bleeped UP BIG TIME.
ADVICE NEEDED FROM OUR OGAS AT THE TOP.GREEN FOR LIFE.ONE LOVE.

This is too rough . See my 1.5kva in this link
https://www.nairaland.com/3067118/how-inverter-saving-me-poor#45006517

olorunda68:
Below is the pix of my present phch backed inverter setup which I want to change to solar backed inverter electricity setup sir.

@op, if you want to go solar, u need at least a solar panel combination that can out 1000W. If can't go off the grid with 200W and trust me I have experience in solar installation. You need to take into cognistance of the amount of sunlight per day and the varying angles of the overhead sun so that the maximum you can get from the panels is 50% so you plan for twice your daily consumption at least.

The inverter is 24V DC so I connected the batteries in series-parallel configuration to give 24volts.

kogistar:
WHAT IS THE VOLTAGE OF UR BATTERY(AH)?

Mynd44, Lalasticlala ....we need more participation abi make I put snake inverter

You are right...its best to combine with solar panels and be totally independent from PHCN. Solar panels are not as expensive as before so my plan is to include panels in due time

ValarDoharis:
I don't have an inverter but planning to buy. I have a colleague who combined it with solar and he doesn't use mains supply. The solar panels supply his entire house. He has about 20 solar panels on his roof. That's what I'm saving for.

I bought the batteries zenith 200AH x 4 @ 52k each. The inverter is 40k then, maybe 50k now cos of dollar . The rack was about 15k. It is good to install with a stabilizer for protection.I use 5KVA stabilizer although I have it before....all in all about N273k

IamMetallic:
What is the cost implication of acquiring something similar and can u be specific on its requirements? Thanks.

In a month I normally use fuel worth N8000 to power my generator anytime there's power outage but since I bought my inverter more than a year ago, I spend averagely N500 per month. Yes..N500 averagely as I could go for 3months sometimes without putting on my gen. This backup system has been very helpful especially now that there is poor mains supply and fuel scarcity with exorbitant price. Those of you complaining of excessing estimated bill, you can get value for the bills you pay if you have a backup system since you'll massively utilize the mains when it is available provided you can have light at least once in two days.
Below is my 1.5kva sine wave inverter and 4batteries system.
Show us pics of your backup system and tell us how much you save from this arrangement per month.


Mods pls move to front page so Nigerians can be aware of alternative cost saving power

So you are now comparing APC and God? You well so?

tuale4u:
Even Satan was once in d same party with God. He use to worship and sing praises to God. And God elevated him ahead of all d angels ( Some christian believe except angel micheal who was his equal or slightly higher than him).

But today, Lucifer is d number one enemy of God.

So what matters at every point in time is interest and goals. Saraki does not want the progress of Buhari. While Buhari is tryimg to reduce corruption, Saraki is promoting corruption just to remain as senate president. he is a thief. Someone who went into d middle of d night to steal his mandate as senate president is like lucifer. And deserve to be destroyed in d bottomless pit of hell just like God will do to lucifer.

Saraki is to APC what Lucifer is to God.

Talking like someone who is not educated in mathematics..... We are talking of the average availability across the entire country and you're talking of a small village. Come to Lagos and see the massive queues at all NNPC stations and others are selling at N150....stop suffering and smiling

arduino:
Please don't comment if you know not what to say!
Even Jos that used to be the hub of black marketers is returning to normalcy. As of today all NNPC stations have fuel and sell at N86.

Guy wise up! The scarcity towards election period was political as the marketers fear Buhari will not pay them having said he doesn't know what subsidy is. For almost 5 yrs fuel was constant and you're here talking about few months to election. About Diezani, data speaks so I don't want to argue with emotional people.

hornyman:
During GEJ there were same fuel scarcity, and it went from week to month and during this scarcity of fuel, major sectors shut down, banks, GSM operators to mention few and yet GEJ did nothing probably because it happened towards the end of his tenure, fuel was sold for N500/litre. He held on to the payment of marketers which Buhari later paid. PDP was bigger fraud! Diezani does nothing better, she finished Nigeria. So stop this baseless comparison.

Everyday they claim they're distributing over a thousand trucks of fuel yet to fuel! Who's deceiving who. During GEJ era, trucks distribution was not up to this yet fuel was abundant and constant at N97 then N87...what a woman Diezani can do, Buhari and Kachukwu cannot do. Kachukwu even said May but he was pressured to revert to April....so where is d fuel now? APC is a fraud with integrity