can my setup be run 24/7

joshhopey

hi guys i am new to this forum
i want to run my server offgrid it uses 130w on load . i have 900w solar and 500w wind turbine , i want to run this 24/7 my battery bank is 7 deep cycle marine leisure batterys 110 amps each my system is 12v . do i have another amp hours to run in the night . i get about 10 hours off sun a day . 

Photowhit

How many days of clouds do you get maximum?

How much energy does you inverter use?

Where are you located?

What angle and direction is your array?

Are there any Micro climates facts we need to know about?

I guess a 12 volt system? with 7 batteries in parallel? Do they have a Cold Cranking Amps value? CCA? Is Marine Leisure a brand?

It's kind of like me asking, I've got a 22 foot sail boat, can I sail it across the Atlantic.... In general if I'm asking the question with out enough information I would say don't try. Stating that you get "10 hours of sun a day" and it appearing that you have 7 batteries in parallel, doesn't bread confidence...

joshhopey

Photowhit said:

How many days of clouds do you get maximum?

How much energy does you inverter use?

Where are you located?

What angle and direction is your array?

Are there any Micro climates facts we need to know about?

I guess a 12 volt system? with 7 batteries in parallel? Do they have a Cold Cranking Amps value? CCA? Is Marine Leisure a brand?

It's kind of like me asking, I've got a 22 foot sail boat, can I sail it across the Atlantic.... In general if I'm asking the question with out enough information I would say don't try. Stating that you get "10 hours of sun a day" and it appearing that you have 7 batteries in parallel, doesn't bread confidence...

hi we get 2 days max with clouds , my inverter uses half amp turn on plus server uses half a amp so 1 amp , i  am currently located in the uk on the south coast , my panels are facing south sorry i am new to all the forums theses are my battery's  .http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Titanium-110Ah-Leisure-Battery-Sealed-Calcium-4-Year-Warranty-/281779023243?hash=item419b56ad8b:g:18gAAOSwt7pXMxVN

Photowhit

Well you have purchased Lead Calcium batteries, Great if you want to start a car or boat, not so good if you want to cycle your battery. Please note they say in your listing;

• Another thing to note about these batteries which is vital is that when charging and discharging they have 250 life cycles.

If you look at the Trojan Deep cycle golf cart batteries sold by the same company;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Trojan-T105-Deep-Cycle-Battery-6V-225Ah-2-Yrs-Wnty-/281931379188?hash=item41a46b71f4

• 1200 life cycles

So the batteries will work for a while. Another problem is having so many batteries in parallel. When you do this it works fine for a while, but once a single cell starts having problems, the rest of the batteries discharge trying to bring up the charge of a single cell. Since you have them, try to keep the resistance the same through each battery. easiest way to do this is connect each positive and each negative with the same length of wire to a bus bars. One each for Positive and negatives, yes we have had someone try to connect batteries in a dead short!

Even with sun all day, your maximum effective charging is around 6 - 6.5 hrs

I don't understand your inverter using 1/2 amp turn on, It will us some energy just in standby, and it will not be 100% effiecient, it will lose some energy in converting. since it will be under load continuously, lets use 85% for the conversion rate. So you have 130 watts x 1.19 = @154 watt load, at night this will be at an average 12.4 volts so 154/12.4 = @12.5 amps x 24 hours or about 300 amps per 24 hour cycle. You will be getting a discount during sunny hours when your system voltage is higher, and it's just energy that isn't going into charging your battery bank.

I didn't ask what type of charge controller you have? With the expensive type, a MPPT charge controller, your panels will produce about;900 / 14volt = @64 64 x .75 the average panels produce when warm = 48 amps x 6.5 hours sun = 312 ampsI don't know what you can count on for wind, but you are too close for a 12 volt system (12 volt systems will have higher losses in wiring) and you have no capacity for even a day with no sun, though I hope most of those days have a bit more wind. I have no faith in small wind.Hope this gives you some ideas.

joshhopey

Photowhit said:

Well you have purchased Lead Calcium batteries, Great if you want to start a car or boat, not so good if you want to cycle your battery. Please note they say in your listing;

• Another thing to note about these batteries which is vital is that when charging and discharging they have 250 life cycles.

If you look at the Trojan Deep cycle golf cart batteries sold by the same company;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Trojan-T105-Deep-Cycle-Battery-6V-225Ah-2-Yrs-Wnty-/281931379188?hash=item41a46b71f4

• 1200 life cycles

So the batteries will work for a while. Another problem is having so many batteries in parallel. When you do this it works fine for a while, but once a single cell starts having problems, the rest of the batteries discharge trying to bring up the charge of a single cell. Since you have them, try to keep the resistance the same through each battery. easiest way to do this is connect each positive and each negative with the same length of wire to a bus bars. One each for Positive and negatives, yes we have had someone try to connect batteries in a dead short!

Even with sun all day, your maximum effective charging is around 6 - 6.5 hrs

I don't understand your inverter using 1/2 amp turn on, It will us some energy just in standby, and it will not be 100% effiecient, it will lose some energy in converting. since it will be under load continuously, lets use 85% for the conversion rate. So you have 130 watts x 1.19 = @154 watt load, at night this will be at an average 12.4 volts so 154/12.4 = @12.5 amps x 24 hours or about 300 amps per 24 hour cycle. You will be getting a discount during sunny hours when your system voltage is higher, and it's just energy that isn't going into charging your battery bank.

I didn't ask what type of charge controller you have? With the expensive type, a MPPT charge controller, your panels will produce about;900 / 14volt = @64 64 x .75 the average panels produce when warm = 48 amps x 6.5 hours sun = 312 ampsI don't know what you can count on for wind, but you are too close for a 12 volt system (12 volt systems will have higher losses in wiring) and you have no capacity for even a day with no sun, though I hope most of those days have a bit more wind. I have no faith in small wind.Hope this gives you some ideas.

thanks i already run a busbar across my battery bank , i also have a thishttp://www.recovermybatteries.com/ex02-12-48-400.html. i have left my battery bank and my server on for 15 hours without no solar or wind , and battery voltage is 12.5  hasn't moved for 2 hours. my inverter also haves battery voltage cut off , so should shut down before battery bank goes to deep cycle mode  , what is the voltage off 12v battery when it goes into deep cycle ?

Photowhit

How are you measuring your load? does the server say 130 watts or have you measured it?

The batteries are simple, I don't know what the manufacturer considers a 'cycle', but likely you are already there. They are designed to start an engine and have the alternator top off the battery.

The low battery shut off in your inverter, only insures that you don't drain your battery so low it will never recharge. In fact, the low voltage shut off is lower than I would suggest taking a battery.

vtmaps

Photowhit said:
The low battery shut off in your inverter, only insures that you don't drain your battery so low it will never recharge. In fact, the low voltage shut off is lower than I would suggest taking a battery.

Minor quibble... I don't know what inverter the OP has, but with most of the inverters I know about the LVD (low voltage disconnect) is to protect the inverter, not the battery.  Full-featured inverters have an adjustable LVD which you can set to a value that actually does protect the battery.

The default LVD is required for safety.  The inverter tries to draw a constant power (watts).  As battery voltage drops, battery amperage must increase in order to keep watts constant,  The LVD prevents the current (amps) from getting too high for the components in the inverter (wires, busses, terminals, etc).

--vtMaps