Nature Power unit

[electrician549]

Does anyone have any experience with this unit?

http://www.naturepowerproducts.com/product-details.php?id=78

I have a chance to try one for four days of dry camping but I want to make sure that it won't harm my converter and I'm not sure if it will even be worth lugging it along. After all it charges a 12 volt dc battery from a solar panel inverts it to 120 volts ac and then my camper will convert it back to 12 volts dc and that equals a lot of conversion loss. I already use a 60 watt foldable solar panel that almost maintains my camper battery during the day so my only real loss is at night.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Argosy24 wrote:
For the solar panel and battery the inverter is way over sized. 1800 watts looks impressive, you can run the microwave, coffee pot, hair dryer, all the good stuff.

Good advertising, it will sell to unwary consumers, but it's going to be a big disappointment to a lot of buyers.

Yup. It will run the microwave. For a few seconds.

Our 2 KW PSW inverter will just heat a cup of coffee before the batteries get (momentarily) too low. And we have 480 AH of battery to draw from, not 60!

You are certainly right Argosy24; Many if not all purchasers are going to be very disappointed if not thoroughly p'd off. It's almost illegal advertising.

[vermilye]

I find the specifications a bit misleading - 8 amp output from the controller using a 40 watt panel? Not going to happen. Overall, for most users a 40 watt panel is not going to do much - you are going to kill the 60 amp/hr internal battery unless you are very careful with loads.

[electrician549]

Luckily I'm not buying the unit I'm just going to try it out for someone else that has a specific use in mind in a greenhouse. I am thinking that it may work for what they have in mind (operating a 12vdc watering system) but a couple cloudy days and they may be dissapointed. After reading the instruction manual it seems that it was designed for power outages and not as a stand alone power system. I have a Trimetric and was asked to see how it performs.

[Argosy24]

For the solar panel and battery the inverter is way over sized. 1800 watts looks impressive, you can run the microwave, coffee pot, hair dryer, all the good stuff.

Good advertising, it will sell to unwary consumers, but it's going to be a big disappointment to a lot of buyers.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Here is a link to the rather special spreadsheet that N8GS has created to help size solar battery charging systems!
Solar Spread Sheet N8GS

Solar costs about $2.00 per watt with a DIY installation. The Nature Power unit is an example of price gouging imho.

[joeprinter]

Not very practical, like mentioned what are you going to do with maybe 3 amps. not much.. nite lite.. perhaps.. but hey give it a shot, report back too the rest o us, might be interesting.

[electrician549]

Thank you for the input. I may take it once and that way I can chart its performance. Luckily I will be able to give it back when I return from the trip but will probably have to plug it in and charge it first.

[RoyB]

Lots of dollars for this small unit...
1800WATT 40400 HOME POWER KIT with 40WATT Solar Panel

More batteries and more 120WATT solar panels is the answer

Roy Ken

[2oldman]

electrician549 wrote:
I want to make sure that it won't harm my converter and I'm not sure if it will even be worth lugging it along. After all it charges a 12 volt dc battery from a solar panel inverts it to 120 volts ac and then my camper will convert it back to 12 volts dc and that equals a lot of conversion loss.

It will not harm your converter as it's an MSW inverter. However, it's probably not a very good inverter and may not be good for much else.

The unit has a whopping 60ah battery, which is about 1/2 the rating of any standard deep cycle battery. That's terrible. It's almost criminal that they claim 1800 watts of power. Sure, over how many weeks would that be? I seriously doubt this unit would power anyone's converter without crapping out with low voltage with a 60ah battery.

As for conversion loss, consider that a solar controller has to do a lot conversion too, so that's no big deal. They also get hot.

That's a pretty small panel which pumps maybe 3 amps. This is typical of an "I'm going green" kit which is designed more to make you feel good rather than actually BE any good.

Pass.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Let's see, that's like trying to run a motorhome off a 30 amp alternator and garden tractor battery. The panel size is intended to charge a battery intended to make a pot of coffee and 2 slices of toast every morning, and then shut down. All the way down and recharge all day. I am not trying to be sarcastic, the panel and battery capacity are ridiculously small for anything more than the above.

[robatthelake]

Sounds like it is designed to be used as an Emergency Power Source .
In my opinion not going to be able to power Your RV but may allow You to watch TV or operate/recharge Your Laptop.

Using a 12 Volt Inverted (120) Power source to then Convert 120 back into 12 is a waste of time and effort!

The Rule that I follow is 75-80 Watts of Solar will maintain 12 Volts of Battery at a 440 AH Rating (2X 6V Trojan T105 Batteries), assuming minimal usage and maximum Exposure to the Sun! ( Simple or no Controller)

We have 275 Watts on the roof which keeps Our 4X6 V Battery Bank Running 24/7/365 through a Morningstar 45 Controller.

We watch 4-6 Hours of Sat/DVD TV Daily and several FL and LED Lights, but do not even attempt to run Coffee Makers Etc.