1st solar system.

[skwirl]

Decision time, lol.
The pq batt I bought is now on sale, of course.
Should I buy another and run the scc at 24 volts?
Is there a big gain there?
Maybe I could run a shop vac to clean my truck, lol.
I can add panels later.

Any words of wisdom.

 

[Rednecktek]

Your 12v inverter won't work on a 24v bank. Just parallel the battery and have more capacity.

 

[MisterSandals]

Maybe I could run a shop vac to clean my truck, lol.

Unless your truck is up on blocks, it would be easier to just drive the truck closer to an outlet. But thats the way I am being lazy and all.

 

[skwirl]

Unless your truck is up on blocks, it would be easier to just drive the truck closer to an outlet. But thats the way I am being lazy and all.

Comic relief, lol.
I park my truck in front of the shed, install outdoor outlet, good to go.
Hmmm, more capacity or new inverter, I could charge my batt powered tools for free.

The batt is 100$ bucks off, that buys a 3rd panel.

 

[Rednecktek]

Considering the fact that the inverter swap is going to cost a pretty penny, go for a 2nd battery and another panel and stay at 12v. Your 1500w inverter is more than plenty to charge tools.

 

[skwirl]

I got the panels mounted this afternoon. Ran the Pv cables to the inside of the shed. Didnt plug the pv cables together yet. I'll charge the batt tonight and get that set up tomorrow. Heres my panels.


Tomorrow I hope to be making power.
More questions to follow, lol.

 

[Bud Martin]

Just to be sure, please check and verify that all have correct Voltage polarity before plugging them all together.

 

[skwirl]

I set the battery up early this morning, hooked the pv cables to scc and connected them up at the panels.
Then waited for the sun.
Annnnnnnnnnnnnddddddd
I'm making electric power, woohooo!

Checked my lights and both work.
Then started playing with my new clamp meter.

 

[skwirl]

So heres an amp, watt hour use question.
I used the clamp meter to measure amps in to my inverter while using the larger led light.
Amps - 3.52
Heres where I get confused, lol. Do I use 12v or 14v to do the math?
If I do this -
14 × 3.52 = 49.28 watts
I have 900 usable watt hours from batt.
So
900 ÷ 49.28 = 18.26 hours
That's how long I can run that light, correct?

 

[Bud Martin]

So heres an amp, watt hour use question.
I used the clamp meter to measure amps in to my inverter while using the larger led light.
Amps - 3.52
Heres where I get confused, lol. Do I use 12v or 14v to do the math?
If I do this -
14 × 3.52 = 49.28 watts
I have 900 usable watt hours from batt.
So
900 ÷ 49.28 = 18.26 hours
That's how long I can run that light, correct?

You have to measure the Voltage when you are drawing the current from the battery to calculate the power draw from the battery.
As the Battery Voltage goes down the inverter will draw more current to produce the same AC output Wattage.
I.E. when battery is at 14V and the inverter draws 10A to produce 140W inverter output (we ignore conversion loss for now), when the battery Voltage drops down to 12V the inverter will draw 140W/12V = 11.67A to maintain the same amount of power draw.

 

[skwirl]

Thought I'd update this.
First off, many thanks to the forum and members.
My solar system components;
2× 12v 100ah lifpo Power Queen self heating batts.
1 mppt 12/24v Power Queen charge controller.
1 2000 watt Renogy inverter.
3× Renogy 100 watt panels
2× pv disconnect switches
1 subpanel with 6 15 amp breakers.

Heres a pic of panel and scc.


I'm only using 2 breakers so far, they supply 4 circuits.
I have 6 outlets, 2 led lights on switches and a temp controlled exhaust fan.
Everything is working very well so far.

 

[skwirl]

Future plans are adding a 4th panel. My reason for this is pv voltage. Actually to much of it, lol. Currently it's 3s1p to scc. I've seen 71v on good day. Max input is 75v. So I figure I'll smoke the scc when it's cold out. Adding a 4th panel allows 2s2p and gives around 46v on good day.
Then it's building a insulated box for the batts.
Looking back, this solar system was very easy to set up and get working. Great resources here made it easy.