D
Deleted member 1888
Guest
If I make a 48v system with 4x 100ah battle born and use and inverter that outputs 12v for normal appliances. Will the 100ah last any longer due to the fact im only using 12v out of it?
No, dropping the voltage from 48 to 12v does not give you any extra storage. See also https://www.supercircuits.com/volts-watts-amps-converter
krby
Solar Enthusiast
Just to be clear, a device that converts from 48V DC to 12V DC isn't an inverter. It can be called a DC converter, a voltage regulator, a buck regulator, or a few other things, but not an inverter. An inverter turns DC into AC.
When thinking about a variety of voltages also think in terms of watts. If you have an appliance that uses 120W, then it's going to need at least120W from your batteries. It does not matter what voltage your battery is or your appliance is. 120W is 120W. You can't power a 120W appliance by using less than 120W from the battery. In this case:
120W to 12V appliance = 10A at 12VDC
120W from 48V battery = 2.5A at 48VDC
The current an volts are different, but the watts are the same.
You'll actually use a little more than 120W from the batteries because of losses in the connections, wires, and conversion.
SolarRat
Solar Addict
Last longer than what?
A 12v 100ah battery has 1200wh of available energy. A 48v 100ah battery has 4800wh of available energy. Everything is measured in watts. So the 48v bank in series, even though still only 100ah, has 4 times the capacity of the single 12v battery, no matter how you convert/reduce it's output. So the answer to the question that I think you are asking is yes....convert back to 12v and you still have 4x the capacity.
D
Deleted member 1888
Guest
Thank you
Steve_S
Offgrid Cabineer, N.E. Ontario, Canada
keep in mind also that a Buck Converter to take 24 or 48 VDC down to 12VDC also has some loss (minor) through the process, so add that into your math as well if you want a better gauge.
