Generator?

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Trapper
Trapper Registered Users Posts: 2
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
Hello everyone!! This is my first question. My set up is... 4- 100 watt panels, 40 amp mppt charger, 4-6 volt 235ah deka for a 12 volt 470ah battery bank, to a 1000 watt pure sine inverter. Now I have 6000 watt Owan generator and a 2000 watt inverted generator. I thought I would be able to connect my gen. to the mppt charger, then I was informed I could not do this. So what is the most efficient way to charge my bank with the genny?
Thanks for any Help!
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #2
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    Re: Generator?

    Welcome to the forum.

    As stated the solar charge controller will not take input from a generator: controller is DC, generator is AC (usually).

    The best way to do this is to buy an inverter with an AC charger built in. It is also an expensive way because you're looking at $2,000+ range inverters.

    What you need is a stand alone battery charger. They are not perfect, but if you get one like the Iota it's the best you can do all things considered. You'd be looking for one like this: http://www.solar-electric.com/iota-dls-45-12-volt-45-amp-regulated-battery-charger.html

    I'll also point out that four 100 Watt panels is going to be pretty minimal for 470 Amp hours @ 12 Volts. You can expect about 26 Amps peak current from that, which is only 5.5% charge rate: the bare minimum.

    I don't know what you use this system for so that may be adequate (part-time power back-up, night use only, or other application where running the gen regularly would be done).
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  • Plowman
    Plowman Solar Expert Posts: 203 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
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    Re: Generator?

    I have the Iota 45 Cariboocoot linked to. I have an IQ4 attachment that makes it a multi-stage charger. Good charger, but the default charging voltage is not ideal for my Trojans. This can be adjusted, but you have to run it manually and keep an eye on it. Maybe if you're lucky, the default voltage is better suited to your batteries.

    The 45 amp charger would only give you a 9.6% charge rate, would have to run the gennie a long time. Maybe a bigger one?
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
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    Re: Generator?

    For faster battery charging, some of the electronic switching power supply chargers, with 50 - 80 amp output, would serve for the BULK part of the charge, and them throttle back to a smaller charger & smaller generator for the last 20% of charging.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #5
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    Re: Generator?
    Plowman wrote: »
    The 45 amp charger would only give you a 9.6% charge rate, would have to run the gennie a long time. Maybe a bigger one?

    No, probably not.
    Charging is rarely at maximum current for a long time. It depends on how deeply discharged the batteries are to begin with.
    And some of us have noticed that pushing the charge rate up very high does not help because the batteries don't charge any better at 20% than at 15% (for example; not precise).

    If at all possible a 24 Volt system instead of 12 would be a major improvement.
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  • Plowman
    Plowman Solar Expert Posts: 203 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #6
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    Re: Generator?
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    No, probably not.
    Charging is rarely at maximum current for a long time. It depends on how deeply discharged the batteries are to begin with.
    And some of us have noticed that pushing the charge rate up very high does not help because the batteries don't charge any better at 20% than at 15% (for example; not precise).
    Why would that be? Seems like for bulk charging a higher amp charger would be better. To take an extreme example, my 45-amp charger definitely charges faster than my 5 amp charger. When do you start seeing the effect you're describing?

    The price difference between a 45 and 55 amp Iota is only about $5. Probably worth it for a 470 ah bank IMHO. An Iota 55 still only gives an 11.7% charge rate.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #7
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    Re: Generator?
    Plowman wrote: »
    Why would that be? Seems like for bulk charging a higher amp charger would be better. To take an extreme example, my 45-amp charger definitely charges faster than my 5 amp charger. When do you start seeing the effect you're describing?

    The price difference between a 45 and 55 amp Iota is only about $5. Probably worth it for a 470 ah bank IMHO. An Iota 55 still only gives an 11.7% charge rate.

    Yes, you could go with the 55 Amp. It probably will not be operating at full power unless you draw down the batteries quite a bit.

    The issue is one of charge acceptance, and it seems to depend on the particular batteries in use as well as the charge rate. As yet this phenomenon has not been specifically defined.
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  • Trapper
    Trapper Registered Users Posts: 2
    #8
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    Re: Generator?

    Thanks for the help. I was thinking about the powermax 3 stage 100 amp charger. Any comments would be great! Thanks to everyone!!
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