Japhet: New to off grid solar questions (lighting, battery banks, etc.)

BB.
BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,660 admin
edited September 2016 in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
This discussion was created from comments split from: Stabilizing voltage for LED Lighting.
Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • JAPHET
    JAPHET Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭
    #2
    hi all,
    please i have a pb. when ever i connect a voltage stableliser at the output of
    the inverter of my pv system it automatically trips off. So i dont know WHY. SOS
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  • JAPHET
    JAPHET Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭
    #3
    What could be the problem?
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  • jonr
    jonr Solar Expert Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Perhaps inrush current surge.  Which voltage stabilizer do you have?

    I am available for custom hardware/firmware development

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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #5
    JAPHET said:
    hi all,
    please i have a pb. when ever i connect a voltage stableliser at the output of
    the inverter of my pv system it automatically trips off. So i dont know WHY. SOS
    Many  voltage stabilizers have a bundle of inductors and capacitors in them, and the reactance confuses the inverter.  A mod sinewave inverter is especially susceptible to this happening.

    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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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #6
    GregK said:
    ......
    My problem now is that I discovered that high quality warm white LED lights will have their operating lives severely shortening if they are subject to the typical voltage variations due to a Solar PV system's charge controller eg. 20v-29v. I had a look at the Thin-Lite products but I need warm white and I need classier looking fixtures.........
    You can use a LED current driver to limit the current in the LED (preferred method)
    http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/power-supplies-board-mount/led-drivers/4326590?k=LED driver module

    or a DC-DC converter
    http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/power-supplies-external-internal-off-board/dc-dc-converters/590047?k=DC-Dc

    If you are running 300W of LED's, you surely have the budget to drive them properly,


    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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  • JAPHET
    JAPHET Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭
    #7
    OK thanks Jorn, so if i can understand u well, u means its not advisable to connect a stableliser into our pv systems
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  • JAPHET
    JAPHET Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭
    #8
     please i have another worries again. On what bases do we decide on the voltage of our PV solar/battery farm? what i mean is to know when to use 12,24,48,96,120,192,196,220 etc...

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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,660 admin
    #9
    Japhet, I have moved your questions to your own thread... That way we can focus on your Q&A.

    Instead of asking (relatively) detailed questions about battery bank and system design--Can you tell us what you are interested in doing. What your loads (lighting, refrigerator, computers, backup power, no utility power, save money, etc.).

    I guess you may be somewhere around Nairobi, NA, Kenya? (Knowing, roughly, where the system will be installed helps us predict how much sun you will get).

    Things like battery bank size depends on if this is a small system (12 volts may work), a medium size system (24/48 volts), or large industrial system (possibly 120 VDC or higher). Also depends on what kinds (brands/models) of equipment you can get for your location (230 VAC 50 Hz?) and how much you want to spend (European hardware, Asian, etc.).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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