Hi all,
I have a 16S 48V LiFEPO4 battery bank, connected to a 3kW solar array mounted on my truck roof, and a 5kW all-in-one Iconica inverter/charger. I am just finding out that despite my efforts to install as large a solar system onto my truck as possible, I may still need to give my battery bank a little boost during days of continuous grey, wet weather (UK based). My all-in-one inverter unit has the ability, like most, to plug into some form of external AC input, so, the obvious answer here is to have a back up generator. However, I am very low on space, and the manufacturer recommendation to have a generator twice the rated inverter output (i.e. 10kW!) is just not practical! I need to be able to get by on something around the 2-3kW mark.
I understand that the recommendation for a generator to be double the inverters output kWs is to be able to cope with demand and charging at the same time, however, I only want a generator to charge the batteries and not get involved in meeting output demand. So, my thoughts were to try to create a workaround. My Iconica unit allows me to set priorities for output source. If I set the output source proirities to solar first, battery next, utility last (SBU), then in theory, as long as my battery bank were kept sufficiently topped up, the generator would never be called upon to provide power, meaning that it would only have to be capable of meeting the charging demand, is that correct?
I have a 16S 48V LiFEPO4 battery bank, connected to a 3kW solar array mounted on my truck roof, and a 5kW all-in-one Iconica inverter/charger. I am just finding out that despite my efforts to install as large a solar system onto my truck as possible, I may still need to give my battery bank a little boost during days of continuous grey, wet weather (UK based). My all-in-one inverter unit has the ability, like most, to plug into some form of external AC input, so, the obvious answer here is to have a back up generator. However, I am very low on space, and the manufacturer recommendation to have a generator twice the rated inverter output (i.e. 10kW!) is just not practical! I need to be able to get by on something around the 2-3kW mark.
I understand that the recommendation for a generator to be double the inverters output kWs is to be able to cope with demand and charging at the same time, however, I only want a generator to charge the batteries and not get involved in meeting output demand. So, my thoughts were to try to create a workaround. My Iconica unit allows me to set priorities for output source. If I set the output source proirities to solar first, battery next, utility last (SBU), then in theory, as long as my battery bank were kept sufficiently topped up, the generator would never be called upon to provide power, meaning that it would only have to be capable of meeting the charging demand, is that correct?
