FEGEITOK:


Agreed.

But he is condemned to less than 1,000 watts draw.

With 24 volts, he can exceed the 1000 watt draw.

Let me refer to a quote online that has put it more elegantly than I am ready to find the words at the moment.

True to 1000w limitations
But the truth is our energy need differs. For example I run freezer( major 4 to 6hrs daily) , tv, bulbs, fans, charging,etc all not up to 500w. All appliances still not running at the same time.Remember too that 24v is not cheap. Battery price is not dropping anytime soon. Those who run applications beyond 1000w are welcome. Lastly, 12v is very easy to maintain.

so, my flooded battery has 2 problems.

1. the electrolyte depletes very fast...within 6weeks, i top up with distilled water and charge at 14.7v and 13.8v float

2. in a battery of 6 cells, maybe 4 or 5 cells will have low electrolyte after 6weeks, while one or 2 cells will have half full electrolyte.

3.i have 4 batteries in series with solar supporting it and grid. by 9pm, the battery voltage drops to 50v and remains there almost tru the night or hovers between 50v and 49.7v. but when the electrolyte is low, the voltage remains btw 50.5v and 51.5v . so i believe the higher concentration makes the battery voltage sag to be minimal. the batteries are 2.5yrs old. and just get warm to touch during charging...luminous battery.

has anyone experienced this and what can i do to turn things around?

cretin:
so, my flooded battery has 2 problems.

1. the electrolyte depletes very fast...within 6weeks, i top up with distilled water and charge at 14.7v and 13.8v float

2. in a battery of 6 cells, maybe 4 or 5 cells will have low electrolyte after 6weeks, while one or 2 cells will have half full electrolyte.

3.i have 4 batteries in series with solar supporting it and grid. by 9pm, the battery voltage drops to 50v and remains there almost tru the night or hovers between 50v and 49.7v. but when the electrolyte is low, the voltage remains btw 50.5v and 51.5v . so i believe the higher concentration makes the battery voltage sag to be minimal. the batteries are 2.5yrs old. and just get warm to touch during charging...luminous battery.

has anyone experienced this and what can i do to turn things around?

Noticed same too....especially since I move to my new location and my panels started pumping more juice. Infact mine boils aggressively and you can see the water spilling through the vent to the floor. Oftentimes we have to mop the battery water, that is how bad it is.

What I discovered is that higher charging current and voltage causes this aggressive boiling. Have limited my charging amps to 30amps whether from solar, utility or both and it has helped. The main issue is that at the peak of the sun when there is sudden shoot in solar generation the battery voltage can go dangerously as high as 58.8 on my controller, sometimes over 59v and you start seeing the water boiling right in your presence.
Safe voltage on my controller has been 58.0 to 58.4, anything beyond it starts cooking. Infact from 58.2 you can start seeing the battery gassing, making crepitus sounds.
My advice reduce the absorption voltage to max of 58.4 if possible 58.2. Reducing charging current too goes along way.

cretin:
so, my flooded battery has 2 problems.

1. the electrolyte depletes very fast...within 6weeks, i top up with distilled water and charge at 14.7v and 13.8v float

2. in a battery of 6 cells, maybe 4 or 5 cells will have low electrolyte after 6weeks, while one or 2 cells will have half full electrolyte.

3.i have 4 batteries in series with solar supporting it and grid. by 9pm, the battery voltage drops to 50v and remains there almost tru the night or hovers between 50v and 49.7v. but when the electrolyte is low, the voltage remains btw 50.5v and 51.5v . so i believe the higher concentration makes the battery voltage sag to be minimal. the batteries are 2.5yrs old. and just get warm to touch during charging...luminous battery.

has anyone experienced this and what can i do to turn things around?

Please take time to share where the battery is installed. Particularly the ambient temperature around the battery. So basically, when your use up electrolyte at such rate, it means you are over charging your battery - the reserve is when toping up electrolyte takes a long time (like 2 to 3 months) means battery is being under charged.

You may want to adjust down your charge voltage. Something people should understand is, for lead acid batteries, your charge voltage is actually relate to battery temperature, the higher the temperature of a battery, the lower the charge voltage should be. The reference charge voltage on the battery spec sheet is meant for a 27C temperature, so unless your battery is installed in an AC room, If you are in Nigeria you need to adjust your battery charge voltage to compensate for temperature increase above 27C. This is called temperature compensated charging and some solar chargers have this functionality and thus have a temperature sensor probe that you attach to the battery. This allows them to adjust charge voltage automatically based on battery temperature.

On the issue of voltage sag, this is a characteristics of Flooded Acid Battery. It is a fundamental flaw of the battery chemistry and it is one of the ways where an AGM does better. The voltage sag under load shouldn't worry you too much as long as it remains constant. It just means you are unable put heavy load on the battery which again is part of the flaws of Flooded Acid battery.

osayuwamwen:
Installer, sofar it serve me all through the night from 4pm till presently, use TV for some hours with all my surrounding lights ON and a DC fan ON all tru the night, just 1bar out from a full battery bar it's already charging this morning and my refrigerator, TV and DC fan is on the battery voltage is at 12.2v but I was advised not to use the battery below 50%, how do I know when the battery bar is at 50% as the battery is not reading in percentage

I think you are over using your battery sir, 1 12v 200AH battery can store up to 2.5kW Hours of electricity (assuming the battery is actually 200Ah which often times is never the case) 50% of this is 1.2kwh. Now although people advise you discharge your battery to 1.2kwh, this is not the most important thing to watch out for. What is most important is your solar panel capacity. Lead acid batteries like Tubular don't like to be left in a partial state of charge for long, They work best when they are fully charged every day. What this means is, your battery usage should align more with how much solar you can generate on a daily, the amount of solar should be able to fully charge your battery and also power house loads in the afternoon.

If your solar panel can only produce 1kwh a day, your battery discharge should be be made to reflect his. If not you would have either of 2 things, forced to over discharge your battery and or be unable to fully charge what you used up the day before leaving your battery in a partial state of charge and gradually killing it.

My advise, remove the freezer, fridge and anything but essential loads like a few light bulbs and fan. I would also advise you take out the outdoor lights and instead use solar outdoor lights. They are cheaper and ensure less load on your system.

Your system is ok as is and allows for a future upgrade path, for now focus on bring balance to the system to ensure you get return on your investment (aka your battery lasts for at least 2 years before replacement) I would also advise you consider DC ceiling fans and if your ceiling is too low, DC standing fans (if you don't already have them)

Lastly, take some time to do a proper system audit of all the loads you have in the house and which are connected to the system. This should give you an indication how much you are pulling from the system. You can buy a watt meter, I think it is less than 10k.

My pedigree is using 2 tubular battery to power a 2 BR house for 2 years completely offgrid with a 1.8kw solar setup, I know a thing or 2 about how to conserve and manager small systems.

Trippledots:


The only advantage i can think of maybe some energy efficiency since it is using DC directly, with no multi conversions DC-AC-DC or what have you. But if you are well sized on solar I dont think that should be much of an issue.

This is not really an advantage because DC voltage is not one or constant, if I have a 48v battery system and the inverter freezer is 12v input, I would still need a dc to dc converter to tap into the battery. This only works if your battery system has same voltage as your dc freezer, often times this is never the case.

Is this deal worth it


Solar panels US used not brand new 180 watts

Mono 38k
Poly 35

dollarnaira:


True to 1000w limitations
But the truth is our energy need differs. For example I run freezer( major 4 to 6hrs daily) , tv, bulbs, fans, charging,etc all not up to 500w. All appliances still not running at the same time.Remember too that 24v is not cheap. Battery price is not dropping anytime soon. Those who run applications beyond 1000w are welcome. Lastly, 12v is very easy to maintain.

Valid points

See the last paragraph of my picture again.

FEGEITOK:


Valid points

See the last paragraph of my picture again.

Noted

ubreeze:
Guys, sorry I need to barge in; I won't be able to read up 1300 plus pages.
Here is my issue.
I have about 12-16hrs public power supply daily but PHED has refused to supply power between 7pm and 12am, forcing me to always put on my gen between those hours.
I want to set up an inverter system that I will charge with public supply to power
A TV SET 75W, A DC FAN 10W, LED BULBS 40W MAX for 5-6 hrs in the evening.
Please what will I need to set this up.
I already got a quotation for a starplus 220ah Tubular battery for 140k (is the battery good and is the price okay?)
Finally, I will build on the system to ultimately power
75W TV, 70W CEILING FAN, LED BULBS 60W, CHEST FREEZER 220W with solar panels as a primary source of power and public supply as back up.
So kindly bear this in mind when recommending an inverter.
Eagerly awaiting your assistance.
Location, Akwa Ibom state.

Call/chat - 08117398294

Thank you so much for this project. It is almost impossible to read through the entire thread and asking questions that have already been asked will meet with being ignored. Your project will be a great help. Please start a thread for it.

idk2023:
Hello everyone,

I am so moved by the solidarity and camaraderie on this thread. After reading through this ENTIRE thread, I identified common problems and questions. Many people either have questions on system sizing (what size solar system they need) and/ or what/ where they can find good quality, reliable equipment (whether importing directing from China or sourcing locally from Nigeria).

I have noticed that some people share their system sizing and where to find their equipment, but it can be quite intense reading through this entire thread to find an answer (it took me weeks to do so).

So, I will be starting an easy to follow guide that automatically calculates the size of solar system you need (this is called system sizing) and direct people to equipment they can purchase based on their budget and location. Later on, I will allow people who purchased the equipment to give updates/ opinions on the equipment (providing more information to other Nigerians trying to DIY their solar system).

If this is of interest to you, please PM or input your email via the link below! I would love to get people’s feedback on initial drafts or other ideas they have for this guide, so I can continue to improve upon it and it can serve as a great resource to others. It would be great to dispel the notion that building a solar system yourself is too hard or complicated.

As we all know with the right information, anyone can do it.


Input your email here: https://forms.gle/uMGBbJMLTLpRSXRa8


*Edit: Given the interest, I’m getting regarding this guide, I have inserted a link where you can submit your email. That way, once I’ve completed the first draft of the guide, I can send it to you and get your thoughts.*

My heart is filled with joy as I've finally recovered my cells.
Special thanks to Valto, Niyi, Ojeysky and others. You guys has been so helpful in terms of advice, chat and calls.
I paid 69k for the shipping before the cells were released. I've already paid this money to Selina but I didn't want to wait as she has stopped responding to my messages for closed to a month now.
I'm done with her.

I won't advice u buy used imported panels..

Kabawhat:
Is this deal worth it


Solar panels US used not brand new 180 watts

Mono 38k
Poly 35

Kabawhat:
Is this deal worth it


Solar panels US used not brand new 180 watts

Mono 38k
Poly 35

unless it is going for 15k sha, but don't buy used panels. brand new 180w panel is around 40k

ubreeze:
Thank you so much for this project. It is almost impossible to read through the entire thread and asking questions that have already been asked will meet with being ignored. Your project will be a great help. Please start a thread for it.

I will make time to answer you.

Gotta balance stepping in to help with making a living and taking breaks from the exertion at work.

I sympathize with how you feel.

thanks so much, it will be highly appreciated.

FEGEITOK:

I will make time to answer you.

Gotta balance stepping in to help with making a living and taking breaks from the exertion at work.

I sympathize with how you feel.

isangjohnson:
My heart is filled with joy as I've finally recovered my cells.
Special thanks to Valto, Niyi, Ojeysky and others. You guys has been so helpful in terms of advice, chat and calls.
I paid 69k for the shipping before the cells were released. I've already paid this money to Selina but I didn't want to wait as she has stopped responding to my messages for closed to a month now.
I'm done with her.

You can always ship your cell through us. If you want quality service.

Selina is not here sometimes there's little she can do. You need to have people on both sides.

Call/chat - 08117398294

osayuwamwen:
Thought they said mppt controller are better, am using 60a Felicity controller

Yes, MPPT controllers are better and Powmr is an MPPT controller as well.

Congrats on your installation, bro. You have gotten good advise already, but let me attempt to add some more:

Dont rely on your inverter to know know the voltage of your battery. Inverters tend to give a higher volts reading of batteries, giving you a false hope that your batteries are optimally charged. Try getting an independent battery meter as well. You can try the type Jefferyz mentioned or just get those small ones with digital reading from Arena.

Finally, i see that you made your earlier post about your fridge by past 10am. Not a good practice. Power your heavy loads between 12 - 2pm when the sun is at its peak so that the draw from your solar can be sufficient to power your loads and still charge your batteries.

Wishing you all the very best on your journey bro...

EduTechTainMent:


If I may ask, why would you prefer a 24v to a 12v system? 24v means he would need to connect his battery (at least 2) in series. He is using 1 battery for now. So his 12v inverter is in order. He could look at the possibility of upgrading in the future though.

Good point. And when he wants to upgrade, it is best for him to buy 2 new batteries, because if he uses this one battery for a while then buy an extra one for a 24v connection, there is a high possibility of the batteries drifting apart, with one working more optimally than the other.

zeestone99:


You can always ship your cell through us. If you want quality service.

Selina is not here sometimes there's little she can do. You need to have people on both sides.

Call/chat - 08117398294

This baba...you render shipping services too?...nice one...

odimbannamdi:


This baba...you render shipping services too?...nice one...

Yes we do boss

Trojan Battery SPRE 12V 225AH! Available!!

Trojan 12v 225a deep cycle batteries available.
Price: N256,000

Country of manufacture: USA


Contact,
Smartcell global services
CALL:: 081-350-31951
WHATSAPP::: http://.us/w/?c=a46ea5

What do you guys think about the sodium ion battery development going on now. Apparently it delivers 140wh per kilo as compared to Lithium Ion's 260wh per kg and Lead acids 100wh per kg. It costs apparently $40 per kg compared to Lithiums $137 per kg.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2022/12/catl-will-mix-cheaper-sodium-ion-batteries-with-lithium-for-acceptable-range-evs.html

https://www.arenaev.com/11600_byd_seagull_launches_on_april_18_with_305_km_sodiumion_battery-news-1624.php

https://www.ikts.fraunhofer.de/en/departments/energy_systems/system_integration_technology_transfer/stationary_energy_storage/cerenergy.html

zeestone99:


You can always ship your cell through us. If you want quality service.

Selina is not here sometimes there's little she can do. You need to have people on both sides.

Call/chat - 08117398294

Boss, Selina is here I can confirm that to you.
There is little she can do?
I pray your case will be different.
You may not know what I and others have passed through. One guy whom I believe is here too ordered for his cells from her in June last year and waited till March this year. There is nothing that guy hasn't done to get his good. He finally got tired and ran to Alibaba for refund and I thank God he got his money.
Most of us never knew how tideus and complicated shipping of cells are, neither did we know how careless most of the agents are. We only knew her as we paid for cells and shipment, hoping to receive our goods within the time frame in good condition.
If there is any issue along the line, it's "solely" her responsibility to keep that communication link constantly open to her customers and not to abandon them.
In my case, she left me to my faith when she told me to have patience a month ago that my consignment has issue. Ever since then, she has stopped responding to all the messages I dropped in her box trying to get updates. I was totally confused on where to run to, whom to call and how to retrieve good.
Other members here were the ones talking to her on my behalf as she has stopped talking to me for reasons unknown to me. She still told one of the guys here last week that my consignment has issue with customs unknown to her that my consignment has arrived since.
The local forwarders couldn't trace my good because there was a mixup and it wasn't properly labelled. Out of the four cartons ordered, my name was only written on one carton. I had to pay someone to help me and trace it and I'm very happy it was successful.
I've paid for the shipping again now even as Selina has already been paid and those goods will reach my house today. If she likes, let her eat the shipping fees I've paid to her.
I've moved on as I've also learnt......

Hello Bosses, I am looking to set up a system enough to power 1 1.5 hp inverter AC, Fridge/Freezer, 10 bulbs , 2 55inch led tv , 2 laptops, wifi router and two fans for at least 10-12hours, How much would a setup like this (Solar panels, Power Inverter, Batteries, Monitors/meters, Cables/wires) cost me?, Just a rough estimate, I am not looking for the cheapest brands out there but i am also not going for the costlier ones, just something in between that will work for the above and will last long, I appreciate your inputs.

Hmmm, Selina, Selina......

From the stories starting to emerge from some people here, one needs to be very careful with the type of sellers one conducts business with. Especially when they claim to be more affordable than others leading them to leave you hanging when issues arise. It's also important to pay them within the Ali Baba system as it gives more protection than going "offline" and settling the business. When issues arise you have no where to go to seek redress. I always leave reviews and feed backs on sellers pages on any site that i buy items from. My ratings on shipping times, packaging, cost, quality can serve as historical evidence to any potential new buyer trying to conduct business with the seller. My main issue i have with some people is when they are ordering and things are going well, you don't hear about it here. When things now go bad or there are issues we all come rushing to the thread to complain. It is well with us.

.

3.450M, These is with lithium battery and a tier 2 solar panel with a normal hybrid inverter with no special feature and other carefully selected protective equipments.

Kaybthaniels:
Hello Bosses, I am looking to set up a system enough to power 1 1.5 hp inverter AC, Fridge/Freezer, 10 bulbs , 2 55inch led tv , 2 laptops, wifi router and two fans for at least 10-12hours, How much would a setup like this (Solar panels, Power Inverter, Batteries, Monitors/meters, Cables/wires) cost me?, Just a rough estimate, I am not looking for the cheapest brands out there but i am also not going for the costlier ones, just something in between that will work for the above and will last long, I appreciate your inputs.

I have been running a experiment to confirm if truly fridges run at 8 - 10 hours daily, energy wish.

this statement is confirmed to be true.

Test equipment
204L Midea fridge 2 door fridge of 80 - 110W power
220Vac up time 99.97%
full stocked freezer compartment
half filled fridge compartment

Result
Full power draw for 5 hours straight - with doors completely shut off.
compressor then shuts off between 30, 45, and 1hr interval
the pattern is not regular

but i am sure if a system is designed to run a fridge for 24 hrs, a fridge operating this way will fit just right.

isangjohnson:

Boss, Selina is here I can confirm that to you.
There is little she can do?
I pray your case will be different.
You may not know what I and others have passed through. One guy whom I believe is here too ordered for his cells from her in June last year and waited till March this year. There is nothing that guy hasn't done to get his good. He finally got tired and ran to Alibaba for refund and I thank God he got his money.
Most of us never knew how tideus and complicated shipping of cells are, neither did we know how careless most of the agents are. We only knew her as we paid for cells and shipment, hoping to receive our goods within the time frame in good condition.
If there is any issue along the line, it's "solely" her responsibility to keep that communication link constantly open to her customers and not to abandon them.
In my case, she left me to my faith when she told me to have patience a month ago that my consignment has issue. Ever since then, she has stopped responding to all the messages I dropped in her box trying to get updates. I was totally confused on where to run to, whom to call and how to retrieve good.
Other members here were the ones talking to her on my behalf as she has stopped talking to me for reasons unknown to me. She still told one of the guys here last week that my consignment has issue with customs unknown to her that my consignment has arrived since.
The local forwarders couldn't trace my good because there was a mixup and it wasn't properly labelled. Out of the four cartons ordered, my name was only written on one carton. I had to pay someone to help me and trace it and I'm very happy it was successful.
I've paid for the shipping again now even as Selina has already been paid and those goods will reach my house today. If she likes, let her eat the shipping fees I've paid to her.
I've moved on as I've also learnt......

Trust me. if u ship with us, u won't run into these issues.

If you want to ship again chat me up

Brand new premium EVE 160AH LIFEPO4 lithium cells with over 4000 cycles and authentic QR code. all cells are capacity tested and above 160ah

---

we can couple as
12v 160ah
12v 320ah
24v 160ah
24v 320ah
48v 160ah
with Bluetooth bms, customised imported box, 125A circuit breaker, 10mm copper battery terminals and voltmeters. cells will be properly compressed. our battery packs are real capacity
contact valtech energy, whatsapp 0802-057-4628.
we can waybill to any location in Nigeria!

What solar set up can power 7 bulbs, a tv, decoder, subwoofer, a fan, laptop and 2 phones and a fridge (the fridge can be removed) for 12 to 24hrs period?