Beginner needs to buy components before going to Mexico

[Wellbuilt]

use the search function on this form and search growatt , lots of reading.

 

[FilterGuy]

I guess where I’m lost is how to convert to 48v from 12v.

I am assuming you have lead-acid 12V batteries.
It is how you arrange the batteries. When you put the batteries in series, the voltage adds.



With this arrangement, you will get 48V, but only 1/4 of the current for the same wattage.

 

[Wellbuilt]

This is not to good

 

[Wellbuilt]

 

[FilterGuy]

If you go with a 6KW All-in-one and 48V it would look something like this


Unfortunately, there just is not enough info on the panels to determine how they should be wired. (Parallel, Serial, or a combination). This will be determined by the specs of the panels and the input spec of the All-in-one.


Note: from what you have said, it is hard to determine your needs, but I suspect a 4000W system would be sufficient. It would have the same topology, but use smaller wires:


Edit: Added info on current to the images and the following comment:
I tend to slightly oversize wires just to be on the safe side. You might be able to get away with 1 size smaller than shown in the above diagrams, but for the short lengths we are talking about, I don't think the $$ savings is worth it.

 

[San Felipe BC]

this seams like what you are looking for 120 vac power 48 volt battery 80 amp charge controller
It’s a little cheaper .View attachment 62708View attachment 62710

I’m ready to get one to give me time to see what I’ll need to do down there. Just to be clear. I have a 12v 120v system, no 220. Am I ok with a 48v inverter/charger? The system stays on when no one is there, about 9 months total, and the neighbor adds water when needed. It’s never stopped working until the inverter died. Which of these would you recommend? The 3000 watt? I’ll gladly get any extras I can. There’s a solar place near us in Mexico.

 

[San Felipe BC]

use the search function on this form and search growatt , lots of reading.

Will do

 

[San Felipe BC]

As for cables and size. Can I just use what’s there or are new ones needed? If at all possible I’d love to keep this as simple as possible.

 

[FilterGuy]

Which of these would you recommend? The 3000 watt?

As for cables and size. Can I just use what’s there or are new ones needed? If at all possible I’d love to keep this as simple as possible.

First let's look at what cables a 3000W 48v AIO system would need.



As with before, it is really hard to make any guess about the Solar Panel wiring without knowing more about them.

Presumably, if you have a generator, the existing wire from the generator is sufficient and can be reused.

It is hard to predict the wire from the AIO to the Breaker box. There is probably a 50-50 chance it is already 10AWG, so you may be OK.

Your existing set up is 12V and feeding a 1500W inverter. If it is properly set up, the battery cable should be able to carry at least 125A. That would mean the cable needs to be at least 1AWG or 1/0AWG.... Plenty big for the 70A the new system will carry.

The batteries are probably wired like this for 12V:


You will probably have plenty of Battery-Battery interconnects to reuse and if the main run to the battery is long enough, you should be able to reuse them as well. Where you may have a bit of a problem is if the battery connections on the AIO are too small to take lug on the existing cable. You should be prepared to change out the end lugs

 

[Wellbuilt]

??‍ I don’t know what you have for wires .
It will work for sure but With out knowing what you have it’s hard to say if it’s safe .
I like to have the largest wire that fits on the inverter lugs .
Powering equipment and charging is really better with larger wires it lets the power move freely .
Filter guys pics above are good
Generally the larger the inverter is the more power it draws just being on , so I would go smaller 3000/4000 watt
Instead of 5000/ 6000 watt
Filter guy has 12 volt battery’s in his pic
But I would think you have 6 volt flood Lead acid golf cart battery’s ( just a guess )
The 120/240 volt inverter will work for you
You get 240 volt by adding a second inverter to the system .
The 48 volt system will work for you ?

 

[FilterGuy]

But I would think you have 6 volt flood Lead acid golf cart battery’s ( just a guess )

If they are 6V batteries, they would be laid out like this for 48V

 

[FilterGuy]

Also, if they are 6 Volt batteries they are probably currently wired like this:

 

[FilterGuy]

The 120/240 volt inverter will work for you
You get 240 volt by adding a second inverter to the system .

Careful. There are some AIO inverters (Like the Sol-Ark) out there that put out 240V Split phase from a single unit. The OP does *not* want one of those.

 

[San Felipe BC]

Nice work fellas. I’ll confirm that we have 12v batteries tomorrow. I do know that new cables were installed with the the new batteries and the cost was $4500. I appreciate all of the effort. Especially with you folks flying blind.

 

[Wellbuilt]

Careful. There are some AIO inverters (Like the Sol-Ark) out there that put out 240V Split phase from a single unit. The OP does *not* want one of those.

The units in pic above stated 120/240 volt but needed a second inverter to make it work .

Maybe you could help SFP with a good inverter pic , I’m just guessing here I hove no Experience with them .
I’ve allways use heart / xantrex / magnum / now out back equipment but I’m not a electrician .
I’m trying to be objective with these all in one Chinese wonders i know the guys on the form like them .

 

[Wellbuilt]

For 4500 bucks you must have some decent solar battery there

 

[San Felipe BC]

For 4500 bucks you must have some decent solar batteries

 

[Wellbuilt]

midnite solar makes great equipment , i think this must be a rebranded Chinese system
But Arazona wind and sun is selling it , if they sell you a system there are guys standing in there
store that can help you if you have a issue . Most every one is very knowledgeable.
If you need some hand holding , you can get a real live engineer to help
If I had internet or solid phone service they could peek into my system on line and trouble shoot it .
all this diy stuff is well and good but with no experience It’s a lot of guessing going on.
I was on the forms for a year trying to figure this out .
In the end I called arazona Wind And Sun told the guy what I wanted to do and In 24 hours I had a quote
in my hand .
4 days latter my system was sitting in my yard . It wasn’t cheep , but it was easy .

 

[Fusion is the future]

Short background: We have an off grid home in San Felipe BC my brothers and I are taking over expenses for. It seems like we’ve heard our dad fussing about power usage for 30 years and we want to put that to bed. The system is 12 volt with, I believe, 6 panels on the roof. My dad says we have 60 amps coming off the roof. During his last visit, July 2021, he purchased 8 new batteries, so they’re taken care of. The inverter is 1500 watts and is dying a slow death so I need to replace it, along with the charge controller, which is a 60 amp.

The kicker is I need to buy new components before traveling to Mexico from Virginia in late September. From the resources page, which is awesome by the way, I think I need about a 2500 watt inverter but I’d like to get one that’s 4000 watts. I’m also planning to add 2 more panels so the new charge controller needs to be 80 amp?

As you can tell this is an odd situation. My questions are:
1) Do my assumptions about the controller and inverter make sense?
2) I see inverters on line ranging from a few hundred bucks to a thousand. Please help
3) With a new inverter do I need a new breaker box?
4) Can I install these components myself?
5) Should I replace any of the wiring between the panels and the controller or inverter?
6) Should the controller and inverter be the same brand?

Can’t thank y’all enough
Steven

The most important thing you have to watch is that your inverter can handle the grid in Mexico it is official 127 volts +/- 10 % !!!!!!!
The frequency is also not to stabil.
Your inverter must be able to have a selling voltage a way above the standart max 132 V for inverters.
As far i know only Outback delever top quality inverters suitable for Latin America , i have my max selling voltgae set at 140 V !! my grid is around 133 V !!
Al circuit board must be coated with sealer due huminidity and al kind of bugs .
Outback has that all and even a fully closed inverter of 4000 watt , go to a 48 volt instalation, lot less amp and you save a lot on cabeling.
Use the special solar panel cable due loacation and enviroment .
If you want to know more please feel free to ask.

 

[Wellbuilt]

I’m not sure if the op is grid tied or not , but I think he is not .
I’m off grid with out back and it work great but I’m in NY in the Mountains think cold/snowy / pretty much worst weather imaginable.? ?