More Solar for "Us"
Ok, I went off.the deep end? Bought 3 used 37watt uni-solar panels and a blue sky 2000e controller for the hefty price of $400, They were being listed as 75w panels, they are not The tested open...
Forum Discussion
well i did that Solar test day, 3 weeks ago this Sunday
today I ran the generator at breakfast & for supper
all thru the day was solar only
117.84 amphrs
1671.9 watthrs
14.79 peak amps
209.1 peak watts
it will be really Rare day when I don't use the generator at all, unless in a restricted zone, its better to use the genset for MW and coffee than it is to put that big strain on the batteries, since I need them for the fridge and everything else
I did test the OLD MW baking a potato 7min on inverter power and i did make a pot of coffee, and a couple of times i did some 30ssecond burst for a warm danish or MW bacon ( the old mw was 750cooking watts , this new one is 1100cooking watts, 1560input watts )
as for the batteries
i'm quite sure the load is not equally shared between the 6's and the 12's
the 12's were only 320ahr total when new, very likely closer to 240ahr or less now
the wiring size and run between them and the main connections (inverter) is NOT the same, low loads like lighting seem more balanced than heavy loads like the inverter which creates a bigger drop on the line
still, i can see the difference on the volt meter and the way the lighting responds when the fridge cycles on, This added capacity is a definite help
to quote a famous quote "capacity is king"
if today is an example, the added capacity will mean less genset hrs during peak summer days
I might try another minimum genset day sat or Sunday
today I ran the generator at breakfast & for supper
all thru the day was solar only
117.84 amphrs
1671.9 watthrs
14.79 peak amps
209.1 peak watts
it will be really Rare day when I don't use the generator at all, unless in a restricted zone, its better to use the genset for MW and coffee than it is to put that big strain on the batteries, since I need them for the fridge and everything else
I did test the OLD MW baking a potato 7min on inverter power and i did make a pot of coffee, and a couple of times i did some 30ssecond burst for a warm danish or MW bacon ( the old mw was 750cooking watts , this new one is 1100cooking watts, 1560input watts )
as for the batteries
i'm quite sure the load is not equally shared between the 6's and the 12's
the 12's were only 320ahr total when new, very likely closer to 240ahr or less now
the wiring size and run between them and the main connections (inverter) is NOT the same, low loads like lighting seem more balanced than heavy loads like the inverter which creates a bigger drop on the line
still, i can see the difference on the volt meter and the way the lighting responds when the fridge cycles on, This added capacity is a definite help
to quote a famous quote "capacity is king"
if today is an example, the added capacity will mean less genset hrs during peak summer days
I might try another minimum genset day sat or Sunday
pianotuna wrote:
Hi Mr. Wizard,
Peukert is your friend! Before you were taxing each battery with potentially 63 amp-hours per day {126 amp-hours total} (assuming no sun). Now it is 1/2 that.
I am going to guess that the solar system may put out at maximum amps a little longer especially on "day two", if generator use is now going to be on alternate days instead of every day.
Speaking of which--have you had a generator free day yet?
