Recommended panels and batteries for a game center

CloudyHamyongwa
CloudyHamyongwa Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
I want to open a game center.Anyone to help on what panels and batteries i need and how many of them should i have to successfully run a gaming centre. Thank you. 
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #2
    Desktop computer systems can be a very high user of electrical energy (assuming gaming center uses high end computers).

    I guess you are in the Zambia/South Africa region, and you can get lots of sun (although, if you have a marine layer or other local weather conditions that limit your hours of sun per day... That can be an issue). But first you need to estimate your loads. Using a power meter or even an electric bill is a good place to start.


    And a question. Why do you want Solar power? Is it to save money, it other reasons. In general, full off grid solar is 5x or more than local utility costs.

    If you want back up power (near daily afternoon power cuts for 4-6 hours a day), a backup battery power system can work. Use utility and or solar power to recharge for next outage (common in many parts of the world).

    Before buying anything, do a few paper designs first to check costs and that such a system will meet your needs.


    Bill

    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • petertearai
    petertearai Solar Expert Posts: 471 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Or is it lions and elephants? .
    2225 wattts pv . Outback 2kw  fxr pure sine inverter . fm80 charge controller . Mate 3. victron battery monitor . 24 volts  in 2 volt Shoto lead carbon extreme batterys. off grid  holiday home 
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  • CloudyHamyongwa
    CloudyHamyongwa Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭
    #4
    BB. said:
    Desktop computer systems can be a very high user of electrical energy (assuming gaming center uses high end computers).

    I guess you are in the Zambia/South Africa region, and you can get lots of sun (although, if you have a marine layer or other local weather conditions that limit your hours of sun per day... That can be an issue). But first you need to estimate your loads. Using a power meter or even an electric bill is a good place to start.


    And a question. Why do you want Solar power? Is it to save money, it other reasons. In general, full off grid solar is 5x or more than local utility costs.

    If you want back up power (near daily afternoon power cuts for 4-6 hours a day), a backup battery power system can work. Use utility and or solar power to recharge for next outage (common in many parts of the world).

    Before buying anything, do a few paper designs first to check costs and that such a system will meet your needs.


    Bill

    Yes i wanna save cash.And the game center won't have much really. Coz literally it will only consist of three TVs and three consoles plus one laptop since it is in an extremely local area. 
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2020 #5
    >   Yes i wanna save cash.

    Wait till you price out the cost of panels, batteries and inverters.  And a secure fence and guards to keep them.

       here's my guess:
    3 tvs   = 300w
    3 game consoles = 150w
    1 laptop = 80w

    Consider if you want to have phone chargers too !!  Another 10W per phone   Any Lighting ?  Fans?   Drink machine?

    530w of load x 12 hours a day  = 6,360 watt hours     Double if you want 24 hr of income

    That requires 4, L-16 size batteries (6V-500ah) wired for 24V operation. That's going to work them pretty hard, and they may only last 1 year.

    To recharge, you need 50A at 30V, or about 1,500 watts harvest. Will you be running any loads when charging ?   Add those in too.

    You would need at least 2,000w of panels and 2, 60A charge controllers

    And a 800 ~ 1,000w pure sine inverter


    (it's late, I'm tired and I think I botched the math up here)





    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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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #6
    So, can you give us an estimate of how much energy per day you wish to use? The math would be something like (just an example, your needs will probably be different):
    • 10 hours per day * 30 Watts (laptop) = 300 Watt*Hours per day (laptop)
    • 3x systems * 8 hours per day * 20 Watts (game console) = 480 WH per day (system consoles)
    • 3x TVs * 8 hours per day * 40 Watts (TV/Monitors) = 960 WH per day (displays)
    • Total = 300+480+960 = 1,740 WH per day total
    Generally, a good place to start is to size your battery system for 2 days of "stored energy" (bad weather, occasional higher loads) and 50% maximum battery discharge (longer battery life):
    • 1,740 WH per day * 1/0.85 AC inverter efficiency * 2 days storage * 1/0.50 max discharge * 1/24 volt battery bank = 341 AH @ 24 volt battery bank suggested
    Then to charge your battery bank, you need something like 5%-13%-20% rate of charge... 5% can work for summer/weekend usage. 10%+ is suggested for full time off grid operation:
    • 341 AH * 29.0 volts charging * 1/0.77 panel+controller deratings * 0.05 rate of charge = 642 Watt array minimum
    • 341 AH * 29.0 volts charging * 1/0.77 panel+controller deratings * 0.10 rate of charge = 1,284 Watt array nominal
    • 341 AH * 29.0 volts charging * 1/0.77 panel+controller deratings * 0.13 rate of charge = 1,670 Watt array "typical cost effective" maximum
    And then, you need to size the array for the amount of sun you get... Say fixed array facing north, in/near Lusaka, Zambia
    http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

    Lusaka
    Average Solar Insolation figures

    Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 75° angle from vertical:
    (For best year-round performance)

    JanFebMarAprMayJun
    5.04
         		4.81
         		5.28
         		6.09
         		6.57
         		6.45
     
    JulAugSepOctNovDec
    6.65
         		7.01
         		6.70
         		6.09
         		5.75
         		5.23
     

    So, based on the worst month of harvest (February?), a "break even" solar array would be:
    • 1,740 WH per day * 1/0.52 off grid AC system efficiency * 1/4.81 hours of sun per day (February, long term average) = 696 Watt array (Feb breakeven)
    So, in theory you could get by with a ~696 Watt array (based on my purely made-up energy profile)--But then you would need to run a genset more often during bad weather/etc... The 1,284 Watt array should help your batteries last longer, and reduce you generator runtime a lot. Batteries are becoming more expensive and solar panels are probably as cheap as they are going to get for now... And solar panels should have a 20+ year life (and not require any fuel or maintenance).

    And you should only plan on a base (daily minimum required loads) usage of 50% to 65% of your "predicted system output"... So, a suggested minimum array for a true 1,740 Watt*Hour base load (and minimum genset use) would be:
    • 696 Watt array * 1/0.50 "base load fudge factor" = 1,392 Watt array suggested minimum optimum array
    Obviously, still lots of information needed (location, Watt*Hours per day, how many days a week/month/year will the system be used, do you want to use more or less generator power, etc.)... But the above is a good starting point.

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