₦airaland Forum

adibo:
Hello, does anyone know of any inverter friendly electric jug that does not consume much? All the ones I have seen are rated 2000w

You can buy the 2000watts electric jug. Im assuming it takes 10 mins to boil water with the electric jug.
10 mins will consume around 333 watts-hour (Wh) (2000wattts/60mins x 10 mins) to boil water. You are fine.

waleayeni1:
Thanks for responding to me. Meaning that if I get a DC standing fan, it would work well with regular grid connections but consume less power

Yes,, immediately, consumption will drop.. same airflow but just low power consumption.

Xanderone:
Thanks. I need a non-transformer based, but definitely standalone. There is already a 100A MPPT charge controller installed. A 6.5kwh LFP already on ground. Just needed a recommendation for a good standalone inverter that is not a power hog.

Any ideas please?

Get a decent 24 V hybrid inverter and connect your panels directly to it—Felicity, Deye, Growatt, or units from Valto or other trusted sellers on this platform all work. I’ll go with Felicity mainly because their service centers are everywhere. I’ll buy directly from their main office and make sure it’s properly registered for warranty. Omo, repairs will come—it’s not a question of if, just when.

The 100 A MPPT charge controller can be kept as a spare, no solar equipment is ever truly wasted—it usually comes in handy later
If you’d rather sell it, I can take it off your hands for ₦100k and you can put that money toward a hybrid inverter.

Keep in mind that hybrid inverters do consume slightly more power than a separate MPPT-plus-inverter setup. Another option is a sachet inverter paired with your MPPT, but the caveats are lower real-world wattage than advertised and a chopped/modified waveform output.

sofdoc1:
Hi, why would you not recommend cworth?
I am looking at getting the battery and inverter now, so I'd like to know your reservations.

I use Felicity in my business and have real-world experience across multiple models: the 5 kVA (4/5) in the past, the 8 kVA (3/5), and their newer 12 kVA (5/5). The 5 kVA unit is actually sufficient and performs well for the average household.

My ratings are based on continuous commercial use—about 9 hours per day, 6 days a week, 50 weeks a year, at roughly 75% load and 3x over panelling , which comes out to ~2,700 operating hours per year. I run very high load consistently so i doubt most home users will run their inverters that high.

One of the most important factors when buying any inverter or battery is having a nearby service center. I learned this the hard way with PowMr (No service centre in Nigeria)

No matter what brand you choose, make sure there’s a service center close to you. You’ll likely need it by year 2 or 3 of operation.
I have 2 5kv at a felicity service centre now. this is after 20 months of use.. I have not used Deye but looking at their specs sheet and build quality, it will be amazing. You have to understand, Nigerians are very price sensitive so companies have to build around what nigerians can afford.

Xanderone:
Abeg elaborate more on the bolded. Are you using it as the starter battery in place of the regular LA car battery?

Bros, That’s an oversimplification. While both are “12 V,” most LiFePO₄ batteries are not designed for engine starting.
Car starter motors need very high surge current (hundreds of amps), which many LFP batteries can’t supply due to BMS current limits.
Generic 12 V LFPs are meant for deep-cycle use (solar ), not cranking.
Only starter-rated LiFePO₄ batteries with high-burst capability are true drop-in replacements ( 2-3x more expensive than normal car battery)
So you can’t just swap LA for LFP unless it’s specifically designed for starting

Xanderone:
Good evening all.

So I need a standalone 24v inverter that isn't sachet type and with good (negligible) "no-load power consumption" similar to the sachet inverters and hybrid inverters. The felicity standalone I know is transformer based and is a power hog even without loads. A 2.5kva spec will be okay.

What names/models can you suggest? Thank you.

You cant beat physics bro. Sachet consumes less than hybrids inverters. Hybrid gives cleaner power but you pay for it with higher consumption. Go with hybrid but add 1-2 extra panels to your system. do you really need a transformer based hybrid inverter? non transformer based are okay but repairs can be pricey, they are dicey.

TechGeek777:
Which model did you buy precisely?

I got the Qasa AC/DC fan. its on Jumia and available locally. , i'm pretty sure there are other manufacturers

waleayeni1:
Does one have to rewire the house to use DC appliances? If I buy a DC fan, would I require an special wiring? Please enlighten me

No requirement.. It’s really just a matter of removing the old fan and installing the new one. DC fans have a small built-in rectifier that converts your household AC power to DC for the motor, so everything is handled internally.
It’s plug-and-play. Just get a Qasa AC/DC fan and have a qualified electrician install it like a normal ceiling fan.

bassdow:
Funny enough, I own 7 DC fans all bought used both from Arena market at Oshodi, or from Aboki kuleKule - actually bought 2pcs from Aboki kuleKule. Not sure the most expensive among them is up to 10,000 naira as prices then were cheap. if I still see another today, I go buy am.

Paid a client visit, saw a condemed DC fan and I asked if they needed it and they were more than glad to give to me - na so I inherited it.

NowAdays, I kinda priotize USEd Quality items over brand new ones hence that expensive quality + premium item because cheap USEd.

I don set ma eyes on 2 fans somehwere wey dey suffer under the rains, the moment I inherits them, I would convert them to DC - all I need do is change the motor which I haven't done before BUT know should work.

in other words, those of una with standing Fans wey still dey use NEPA, you could actually convert it to DC if you change the motor. if you no sabi, pay money to person wey sabi around you.

I plan doing same to a blender I intends inheriting when I pay my people a visit.

Me sef dey some threads for over 4-years but on ghost mode. Some go think say as I dey always talk here, na so I dey everyWhere.

Bro, what you have is an amazing hack, you are really a DIYer.

bassdow:
and I also run both 12v and 48v systems.

my 12v system is so so efficient I completely skipped using an inverter - na from Charge Controller / battery directly to LOAD and have been doing so since 2014 powering

1. DC Fans - at least 3 or 4 of them remain ON the entire Night,
2. DC lights (me too cheap so tey I dey enter Arena market go buy used LED torchLights use am do light-Bulb)
3. Laptops (Core i5 and i7) and external monitors (2pcs) - they are ON 24/7 even when I go to bed, they enter sleep mode else always ON
4. Even Television and outdoor antennae
5. Few other small loads.

These are more than basic loads required by most very low income homes yet a lot of them either spend more than their yearly rent, or spend so much more to get way less. Seriously, having small sense makes sense sha.

@KA24DETT , You still never intLoDuce yaSef

Na you be efficiency baba. Three DC fans running all night are more efficient than even one AC fan. Most people don’t really understand how efficient DC fans are compared to AC fans — the energy savings can be up to 80%.

When I installed a solar system for my uncle (Big family ), I changed his house fans from AC to DC. Night usage dropped immediately:

Before (AC fans): Average
60W per fan × 5 fans × 12 hours = 3,600 Wh per night

After (DC fans):
25W per fan × 5 fans × 12 hours = 1,500 Wh per night

That’s about 2,000 Wh saved every single night — power you don’t have to drain from your battery bank.

Automatically, your system now needs:

smaller batteries

less inverter stress

fewer panels

This is why I always push DC fans.
You save everywhere from Day 1.

Qasa AC/DC fan on Jumia is around 60k. Maybe cheaper in the market. You will save the cost of purchase on batteries and panels from Day 1.

Bros, i have always been on this thread for more than a year but i rarely post. I summarized my business experience to help others.

bassdow:
Reliable + Cost effective in same paragraph. More interesting is you didn't even state a max budget abi you never hear the phrase abi song "Chicken cost, depends on who price am" .

😂😂😂😂Omo, you no get joy oooo 😂😂

bassdow:
You've spoken well enough BUT I wanna point out a couple of things that a lot of us misUnderstand especially when we try to cut corners by being dirt cheap.

1. Hybrid inverters:

A lot of CHEAP hybrid inverters are actually just a standard inverter and a charge controller sharing same room (casing).

A lot of them can't even byPass the Battery, let alone prioritize power coming from Solar panels over the battery's own.

Another is, the moment you start using an external charge controller, it doesn't matter much if the hybrid inverter is the quality one that is smart, it automatically looses a lot of those core advantages that separates it from the standard inverter. You could try using the internal along with the external charge controller BUT still, not much difference if we being honest.

A lot of the InVerterS (both hybrid & standard) are just UPS with masks.

of course Hybrid inverters are more delicate THAN the standard (nonHybrid) inverters. Of course there are a few hybrid inverters that try to combine the PROs of both categories BUT they are super super expensive. SOo expensive a lot of rich people would think more than thrice before buying them.

personally, I never begin using hybrid Inverters for several reason including the fact I am completely offGrid. No ned paying massively for features I never would need. I no even get fuel generator sef.

You’re absolutely right—quality matters with hybrid inverters, but the real advantage is the 500 V Voc. Higher voltage means lower current and smaller-gauge wiring. A 9s3p string (27 panels) would push excessive current on a low-Voc system (around 160 V).

For smaller installations with fewer than 9 panels, I prefer an external charge controller—it offers redundancy and is cheaper and easier to diagnose or replace if something fails. Anything above 9, its now a question of more charge controllers or running a hybrid inverter. Utility charging of battery can be advantageous if you live in an area with very low nepa rate.
At the end of the day, it still comes down to overall system efficiency. The more efficient your appliances and loads are, the smaller and less expensive the entire system needs to be. I’ve even seen a user here running a very well-designed 12 V system for about five years—can’t remember his name—but that setup worked because he was extremely disciplined and efficient.

bassdow:
see eh, though haven't used such brands both personally and for clients, would make a general comment.

AnyOne who want to give you such information, need be sure they have done the above to avoid unintentionally misLeading you

When you buy super low quality item such as inverter and charge controller, to be on safe side, try limit their load to about 60% of whatever the capacity stated on it's sticker even if it's enGraved on it's body.

To test if the situation with your SmS abi MMS inverter is excess load, try switching off everything and leave just 1 or 2 light bulbs on and see if the fan goes off after a while or it continues staying ON . Your test should last like 10-minutes to give it time.

Normally, the FAN ought to only come up when there's need for cooling which should only happen when the system is stressed e.g loaded close to it's max.

Another reason could be the inverter is installed in enviroment where airFlow is low hence need for constant cooling.

Another thing you need understand is, even for quality brands, especially for inverters, there's something called powerFactor which often tells how much actual power is available for use.

Just like some phone would say and even show you a memory of 8GB but it's Operating system is occupying about 3GB already hence what's left for the user ain't more than 5GB. Same with RAM and others.

A 10KVA inverter could end up giving just 7KW which is just like 7KVA; science student abeg spare me the long grammar and just understand what I meant, and not bother pointing out 7KW ain't same as 7KVA as that's not neccessary here.

---

Actually, you are very correct. Most 10 kVA inverters (I have 10 running in my business) only output about 8 kW. Anything above that triggers the overload alarm from the inverter.

This is my experience running a solar-based power generation and distribution system in Nigeria over the past 22 months (2-year anniversary in March 2026). We have a 400 kW solar array and a 310 kWh battery bank (8 pieces of Felicity 17.5 kWh, 8 pieces of Valto 17.5 kWh batteries, and 2 pieces of Felicity 15 kWh batteries). Daily load requirement is 560 kWh (0.56 MW), Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm.

1. Nothing beats efficiency. If you have AC fans, sell them and buy DC fans. Use inverter ACs, LED bulbs, inverter fridges and freezers. Use induction cookers instead of electric hot plates. The more efficient you are, the less power your panels need to generate, especially during the rainy season.

2. You can’t really have too many panels. If you have the capital, buy more panels. Overpaneling pays off in the shoulder months — April, May, and October — when extra surface area captures diffuse light and stretches production. No one beats physics: the deep rainy season will always humble you. I have a diesel generator for rainy days since my loads are constant.

3. It’s cheaper to design on a 48V platform, if you are starting from a clean sheet. Smaller gauge wires and controllers can harvest more energy from your solar array.

4. Never buy lead-acid batteries. No matter how cheap or attractive the deal looks, buy LiFePO₄. If you have ₦300k, buy ₦300k worth of LiFePO₄ and upgrade later when you have more funds. It’s like traveling by horse versus driving a modern car — night and day. The BMS in LiFePO₄ is such a leap in technological advancement that it made lead-acid batteries obsolete. Yes, it’s everything and much better.

5. Hybrid inverters are very good, if you have the funds. Most hybrid inverters support 500 V Voc, allowing longer series strings and smaller gauge wires.

6. Turning off fridges and freezers at night reduces battery drain. Using frozen containers or bags of pure water inside helps retain cold and slows temperature rise while they’re off.

Solar is not a replacement for generators. It requires mental work, calculations, and most importantly, tempered expectations. Rainy season is brutal.

Valto has visited my site and has been very supportive of my business. His customer service has been excellent since my first battery purchase.

This reflects my company’s experience. Take it for what it is — n = 1. I went with LV instead of High voltage system, it was a business decision. The Jury is still out.

Iinnov8:
1. Digital Timer Switch
Price: 10,500
You can use this device to set the time, duration and even date that certain devices (such as referigerator, starlink, etc) come on and go off. Particularly useful when you have to go to work or go bed, but you want those devices to come on and go off by themselves.

2. Power Meter
Price: 13,000
Use this device to see how much your appliances consume in watts. You can also input your energy bill in kwh and track how much it costs you to run an appliance on a daily, weekly or monthly basis

3. 60a PowMr MPPT Solar Charge Controller (Updated firmware version)
Price: 97,000
Comes with complimentary battery voltmeter worth 4,000

I want exactly all 3 please. How do i place an orde?

AndroBlaze:
I believe a 5kw HF inverter with surge capacity will be good enough for the needs you mentioned as long as you apply good load management. I'm personally not a fan of Felicity, but most who use their inverters here seem to be happy.

For now I can only personally recommend Growatt's 5kw SPF model (currently 550k @ Fouani), as that is my preferred inverter of choice for the value it gives. Their 3kw inverters fall within your range and usually have surge capacity, but my experience with them is limited.

Whatever HF inverter you get, your installer will be limited to what he can service, so it is important you chase a good brand or at least one that has good after sales support.

Either that, or you can get a good older model used LF inverter with your budget which would make your installer happy and likely have significantly higher idle/inefficiencies draws on you batteries.

You hit the nail .
I have no issues with Felicity 5kv . I have 3 pieces running 9 hours a day , 6 days a week for the past one year. I heard great things about Growatt but never used them. At 550k, both are competitive.

Collione:
At this point I'll pick the felicity the installer quoted since it's popular and within my budget. When it comes to 5kwh batteries which is preferable. Fireman, cworth or felicity. I heard some negative reviews about felicity brand but I want to be sure

Contact Valto. He will hook you up with a 5kw battery. I bought 8 pieces of his 17kw battery for my commercial system.

HeavenlyBang:
Pretty much none of this is correct. High surge is still just power draw at the end of the day and ultimately depends on the output of your inverter vs the actual surge current.

For example, this is my freezer surge power draw vs regular usage.

It's also not a matter of "new appliances". It's a matter of inductive loads (regular freezer) vs non-inductive loads (a resistive load like a TV or electric iron) vs variable speed compressors (inverter freezers, ACs, etc)

I should have written 'High surge current" rather than "High surge power". You got me there.,

Collione:
My budget is 400k for a hybrid inverter 5kva 48v. Originally my installer quoted me 395k for a 5kva 48v felicity hybrid inverter but if just been worried because it's high frequency. I also got information from someone who told me to try blue power inverter that it's hybrid transformer based but I don't know anything about the product

You wont get a low frequency inverter at your budget. Low frequency is for starting motor loads that need high surge power like Sumo, non inverter AC or fridges. Most new appliances does not require surge current to start so you should be okay. Buy what you can afford now and upgrade as time goes.

TSHIRT2:
Are you saying , for instance I have 6 590w jinko panel with an hybrid inverter of 3.2kva 3000w with 400v headroom, that I can connect all 6 in series with no effect on the hybrid inverter,which is more than the 3000w rating of the hybrid inverter

Yes sir. You can connect all in series.. I believe VOC is around 49v so 6 in series is giving ~300v. You are good.

easyyoke:
Wow. Thank you so much. This answers all my
Questions. And I had even asked on DIYsolarforum, I did not even notice this thread there. Thanks so much

You are fine. As long as you stay under the maximum voltage of the controller, you are okay. The controller will pull enough amps to charge the battery. Imagine you solar panel array as a bank, your controller will withdraw the amps it needs. You can have a 10kw solar array but require 2300watts (10amps). The charge controller will pull the the required amps from the array to match the load. Overpaneling helps tremendously in low light conditions ( early morning, evening and cloudy weather). Go ahead. You are fine.

oliverjiad:
feel free to contact via Whatsapp 08184364147,,09012044150

Thanks, i will message you on whatsapp

oliverjiad:
Good morning

Full:#5.750m
Compromise:#3m

How about 2012 Mercedes GLK

Abeg guys
Clearing cost for 2012 Mercedes GLK . Would need a clearing agent too
Thanks alot.

Elizkid:
Quick question, please

Are 4 units of the standard used 250w poly Canadian solar panels enough to charge a 220ah tubular battery during the day and still carry max load of 200w simultaneously before sunset using a PWM CC?

For someone looking to buy a new tubular battery at the range of 250-300k, what’s the best lifePO4 alternative for around the same price even if the price is sightly higher?

I look forward to your contributions. Thanks a lot

Contact Valto to buy a small lithium battery within your price range (24v). Get an external charge controller with sachet inverter for your system. You can also buy a hybrid inverter to go with your lithium battery and you are good to go.

Penuelseun:
Must 100a cc supports up to 250v

Depends. Most are 160v. Felicity are around 160v.

Advantage of

Haykay2001:
Get MUST they have high voltage cc

Edit.. I no even no say someone done already suggest am for you.. ✌️

Using high voltage controllers saves you money on the cable sizing. You can use smaller diameter cables in your project. Also less voltage drop for long cable runs.

mctfopt:
Check jiji

This is too much money. You can buy POWMR POW-48140A for around $260 (400k). Voc is around 500v (48v 140amps). I ordered 10 for my project.
Another cheap option is to buy a 5kv felicity hybrid inverter and use it as a charge controller. I believe Voc is around 500v

AndroBlaze:
This response seems to be based more on assumptions than on what was actually said, addressing a point that wasn’t raised—perhaps in an effort to make a larger statement and fulfill a feeling of self.

To clarify for those genuinely interested:

Do I primarily charge my batteries at 0.2C or lower? No.

Have I ever told anyone they should charge at 0.2C or lower? No. I’ve always said: charge at whatever suits your needs. If that happens to be around 0.2C, then you’re in a good position to enjoy longer battery life.


Is it true that charging at 0.2C generally leads to better battery longevity compared to 0.5C? Yes, it is. All available data and discussions I’ve seen here support this principle—slower charge rates tend to preserve a battery’s health over time.

So, while some may prefer to give fixed instructions, others—like myself—aim to share information that helps people understand the topic and learn .This should hopefully arm them with the ability make informed choices.

Best regards.

AI filtered

Bros, yall are saying the same thing. Your theory is that 0.2c increases longevity which might be true. He is saying 0.5c does not affect longevity but rather calendar ageing will do you in before the battery dies from high charge rate.. He is more geared towards efficiency rather than longevity. Both things can be right.
Its the same with lead acid and tubular battery charging with solar. Not enough sun hours to go through the charging cycle (bulk, absorb and float). Most lead acid batteries die of sulfation.

HeavenlyBang:
Tbf EVs are hardly using the quality of cells we have in this market. I'm sure there's a massive, massive gap in quality. For example, The Xiaomi SU7 ultra has just a 93.7KWH battery but can output 1548 HP. Over 1MW. That's about 11C discharge. You think a Felicity battery can handle that?

Secondly, those same EVs start degrading noticeably within like five years, which may just be ~1200 cycles. The high charge and discharge rates are undoubtedly a factor.

Can your average lifepo4 cell handle 0.5c charging without issues? Why not. Would 0.2c objectively and scientifically be less stressful on the cells? Also yes. By how much is what we don't know. I think charging at 0.2-0.3c is a perfectly fine way to use lifepo4 here, especially considering the quality of cells we get.

Only time will tell bro. I have a mini grid in Aba with 10 pieces of Felicity 17.5kw battery and 6 pieces of Valto 16kw battery connected to 10 inverters (Valto has been to my site in person). We cycle daily and charge close to 0.5c. This is the 13th month in operation. There is no issue so far. Only time will tell if your theory holds up about less cycle life due to high charging rate.
Total DC System size is 350kw (Approx 600 pieces of 550 watts solar panel, diff manufacturers) Daily load demand is 315kw.
At 0.2c, the business will not make economical sense,. Not enough sun during rainy season to charge the batteries to full. My own research prior to starting the business and consultancy reports shows that 0.5c for lfp has no detriment on battery. I knew calendar aging will do me in rather than battery degradation.
My experience is based on real actual daily business experience
Here at my job in Atlanta, we have an electric car pool with DC fast charging. We have cars on the pool going on 5 years with no sign of battery degradation so far.

@Gloryjoyeux is more knowledgeable on this subject than me and can shed more light into this subject.

AndroBlaze:
@twinstaiye @Seun

Please I have been banned by spam bot 6 times while trying to reply to only one poster today? Are some members of this forum more protected than others?? Please help me check all is well, in case I am banned again now

Bros, no body is saying you are wrong, you might be right but only time will tell.

temi4fash:
Pictures and location?

Yes oo. I want to see pictures too.

AndroBlaze:
Read what I wrote S-L-O-W-L-Y....and as for what I am getting from the array, you can check for yourself with the screenshots I posted prior to today.

Is this an ego protection mechanism? Charging at 0.2c does not correlate to longer life expectancy. I told you to post the source of your theory and you reply with S-L-O-W-L-Y. Stop gaslighting.

AndroBlaze:
It depends on you and your needs.

The setup referred to consists of a 10kw battery with 5kw pv support. Most of the time this is adequate for the power needs of the family 24/7, so really should be entirely off grid. However, sometimes (depending on who comes around for visits, we're always transiting) 2 inverter ACs are run from 7pm to 8am and this takes it toll especially on days where we'd also run the ACs all day and their was poor pv output.

So to avoid the batteries being regularly charged by NEPA, that usually comes at night, rather than solar, the amps for NEPA were severely limited to half what we set as maximum for PV.

So answering your question generally, for best longevity of a lifepo battery 0.2c (or less) is recommended. For a 200amps battery that's 40amps.

So for our setup (I'm currently not around) solar was set to something like 60-80 amps while NEPA was set to 20-40 amps.

Hope this helps.

0.2c where did you get this value for Lifepo4?. That charge rate is too low and not taking advantage of the battery chemistry.. 0.5c is advisable ( 50 percent of battery capacity). I doubt most people here with home solar can get consistent 50 percent of battery capacity from their solar array at any one time. For your 5kw solar set up with 10kw battery, I doubt you will ever see 5kw generation from your array.

Bruteality1:
Lol, there seems to a war against Tubular here. I was a novice before I got it.

Will i get Tubular if I had the knowledge i had now? No

Do I recommend Tubular? Yes

Both tubular and lithium are good batteries. It just depends on what you want. I recommend both

You'll even get more usable capacity on Tubular than on Lithium but that's a conversation we don't want to have or we avoid having here

How do you get a usable capacity on tubular than lithium? Stop Lying. You charge faster on lithium, No maintenance. Prices are very competitive. You can get 24v 50ah lithium ( 1kw) for 630k (Valto) which is equal to the price of 2 tubular batteries.
The lifecycle of lithium is 5x longer than tubular ( 6,000hrs lithium vs 1,200hours tubular).
What metrics are tubular batteries better than lithium?
The only people that recommend tubular are tubular sellers.