Powering two Steca fridge/freezers from a 48 volt battery bank

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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #32
    Re: Powering two Steca fridge/freezers from a 48 volt battery bank
    Slappy wrote: »
    Also keep in mind that inverters adds to a system for another point to fail. No inverter = no fridge.

    A highly unlikely scenario with a good inverter. I expect to 'fail' myself before my Outback does.
    Besides which most off-grid applications include a generator.
    You may as well worry about your local utility going down for a couple of weeks.
    Oh wait; I've actually had that happen. Fortunately I had a generator then too.
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  • jcheil
    jcheil Solar Expert Posts: 722 ✭✭✭
    #33
    Re: Powering two Steca fridge/freezers from a 48 volt battery bank
    Slappy wrote: »
    Also keep in mind that inverters adds to a system for another point to fail. No inverter = no fridge.

    Yeah but you could also say batteries are a point of failure too. And I would predict with quality inverters, a battery is going to die before an inverter.
    Off-Grid in Central Florida since 2005, Full-Time since June 2014 | 12 X Sovello 205w panels, 9 X ToPoint 220w panels, 36x ToPoint 225w panels (12,525 watts total) | Custom built single-axis ground mounts | Complete FP2 Outback System: 3 x FM80, 2 x VFX3648, X240 Transformer, FLEXnet-DC, Mate-3, Hub-10, FW500 AC/DC | 24 x Trojan L16RE-B Batteries 1110ah @ 48v | Honda EU7000is Generator and a pile of "other" Generators | Home-Made PVC solar hot water collector | Custom data logging software http://www.somewhatcrookedcamp.com/monitormate.html
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #34
    Re: Powering two Steca fridge/freezers from a 48 volt battery bank
    jcheil wrote: »
    Yeah but you could also say batteries are a point of failure too. And I would predict with quality inverters, a battery is going to die before an inverter.

    This is in fact almost always the case. Very easy to murder a battery.
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  • Slappy
    Slappy Solar Expert Posts: 251 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #35
    Re: Powering two Steca fridge/freezers from a 48 volt battery bank

    Me myself had three to go out this year. One was a el cheap o. The second was a MS300 two years old. Internal melt down.never abused. Third was my fault over loaded. Simple fix. So any thing can go wrong, but the least amount of items in a system the less chance of the solar set up to break down. I like to use the K.I.S.S. rule. (Keep it simple stup@@)
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  • jcheil
    jcheil Solar Expert Posts: 722 ✭✭✭
    #36
    Re: Powering two Steca fridge/freezers from a 48 volt battery bank
    Slappy wrote: »
    Me myself had three to go out this year. One was a el cheap o. The second was a MS300 two years old. Internal melt down.never abused. Third was my fault over loaded. Simple fix. So any thing can go wrong, but the least amount of items in a system the less chance of the solar set up to break down. I like to use the K.I.S.S. rule. (Keep it simple stup@@)

    Well, like many have said, that's the difference between cheap inverters and high-quality inverters.
    Not saying they are indestructible, but the Outback Inverters are pretty solid. With such high surge (real surge) capabilities, it is unlikely you could overload them and even if you did I am pretty sure they are smart enough to shut down rather than blow up. But all that costs much more $. But then again $2000 for one that will last 10+ years or $500 every 2-3 years. Same dollars in the end, more hassle with the breakdowns of the lower-end units.
    Off-Grid in Central Florida since 2005, Full-Time since June 2014 | 12 X Sovello 205w panels, 9 X ToPoint 220w panels, 36x ToPoint 225w panels (12,525 watts total) | Custom built single-axis ground mounts | Complete FP2 Outback System: 3 x FM80, 2 x VFX3648, X240 Transformer, FLEXnet-DC, Mate-3, Hub-10, FW500 AC/DC | 24 x Trojan L16RE-B Batteries 1110ah @ 48v | Honda EU7000is Generator and a pile of "other" Generators | Home-Made PVC solar hot water collector | Custom data logging software http://www.somewhatcrookedcamp.com/monitormate.html
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  • Hill_Country
    Hill_Country Solar Expert Posts: 96 ✭✭
    #37
    I wanted to provide an update on our setup, which involves two Steca DC fridge/freezers operating on a 48v nominal battery bank system. We have a Steca PF166 and a Steca PF240 that are both up and running and operating wonderfully. In order to step down from 48v DC to 24v DC (nominal), I am using a Solar Converters DC-to-DC converter in which the output from the Solar Converter Inc equipment goes into a Midnite Solar Big Baby Box with three DC breakers. I have the two Stecas on separate DC circuits, along with some additional DC loads (DC ceiling fans and DC LED lighting, plus a pressure pump).
    100% Off-grid with: 8 Solarworld 275 Watt Panels, 8 Concorde SunXtender 405aH 6v AGM Batteries, MS-4448PAE 48v Inverter, MidNite Solar Classic 200 Charge Controller, 10,000 gallon rainwater collection system, etc.
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,917 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #38
    Hill_Country wrote: »
    I wanted to provide an update on our setup, which involves two Steca DC fridge/freezers operating on a 48v nominal battery bank system. We have a Steca PF166 and a Steca PF240 that are both up and running and operating wonderfully. In order to step down from 48v DC to 24v DC (nominal), I am using a Solar Converters DC-to-DC converter in which the output from the Solar Converter Inc equipment goes into a Midnite Solar Big Baby Box with three DC breakers. I have the two Stecas on separate DC circuits, along with some additional DC loads (DC ceiling fans and DC LED lighting, plus a pressure pump).


    The DC converters are nice, but when and if they fail, I have a neighbor running 2 Stecca's each tapped into 1/2 the 48V bank. He has been doing this for 6 years now and when you look at the small current that the Stecca needs, it really is not going to do one thing to hurt the battery system. The one excellent thing about DC refrigeration is that you can shut the inverter down in lightning or when you are away. Really nice for people who leave for extended time like my neighbor who is merchant marine. I really like mine in that it barely needs defrosting once every 2 years. An excellent product from out German friends!

    And even high quality inverters go bad eventually (lightning) and the Stecca is just insurance that you will not be running around like a crazy person.
    We do not need craziness offgrid do we?
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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