Electric Lawn Care Set-Up

[groundedearth]

Hello All,

I signed up because I'm looking for help in lieu of leaf cleanup season. Trying to get all the equipment ordered this week so my mobile mechanic can start setting everything up next weekend. What would be the recommended battery (100 AH server rack?) and inverter (do I need a hybrid unit?) for the following.

I sent the following to Signature Solar earlier today (no response yet):

I am trying to figure out what the best setup would be for my lawn care setup. I will be mounting and installing everything in my extended Chevy Express. I am planning on mounting most of everything on the van's partition/cage (solid, no perforations/openings), including battery chargers. I will have a small section of wooden panel left for anything additional.

Looking at running battery chargers for EGO equipment under 3000 watts. I will be getting a 32" Greenworks Commercial Stand-On unit next year, which is an 8KWh unit.
I plan to run the full setup: solar, DC-DC charging (connecting to van's alternator) and shore line power (for direct power charging).

I need two options (inverter, 48v battery, panels and all equipment needed for routing):

- One for just charging batteries, under 3K watts. I am guessing that the 6.5 EG4 inverter or 6K Growatt would be ideal.
- One for if I decide to charge the large mower. I am guessing the 12K Growatt inverter would be ideal (when will you have this in stock again?)

I need to make a purchasing decision this week, as I am planning for an install next weekend with my mobile mechanic, in preparation for fall cleanup season. If I could get some advice today, that would be GREAT! Need to pass everything to my mobile mechanic.

P.S. I often fully load up my van with brush/plant material after doing property cleanups of overgrown properties. Cargo bay will be fully sealed off (the partition is solid, not perforated). I want to make sure that there will be no issues with overheating or anything. Van will be parked in the open sun.

 

[Delmar]

I would make a mower roof out of solar panels that will also keep the sun off your body. The panels will extend the runtime while you are making money, plus if you have an open trailer will continue to charge while in transport.

 

[groundedearth]

I would make a mower roof out of solar panels that will also keep the sun off your body. The panels will extend the runtime while you are making money, plus if you have an open trailer will continue to charge while in transport.

Thank you for your response! Not worried about the sun. Long-sleeve shirt and hat are UPF+50 rated.

I am running a trailerless setup; everything will be in the van. Much more efficient, less liability and no extra costs. I currently have a 36" Ryobi riding mower, but it is too large to fit into most gates. Getting the 32" next year to address that.

Would I need a hybrid inverter to do dc-dc charging via alternator, solar panels and shore line power? Or would an off-grid inverter work?

 

[Murphyslaww]

Anyone post this yet. This guy is using this for commercial lawn care:

I built my own 24v shed system for my Ryobi stuff.

 

[groundedearth]

Anyone post this yet. This guy is using this for commercial lawn care:

I built my own 24v shed system for my Ryobi stuff.

Yes, I saw this video. That's actually how I learned about EG4 batteries. And subsequently, this forum.

So I could just grab that off-grid inverter instead of an a hybrid inverter? And I could do dc-dc charging (to alternator), solar and shore line?

 

[Vigo]

That inverter won't make use of power from your alternator. It WILL take your solar power and shore power and make use of those.

If you want to use your alternator to charge a higher voltage battery pack, you have two main options:

1. Buy a dedicated DC-to-DC charger. These are usually pretty expensive and you usually need 2 of them to 'max out' a stock alternator, not that maxing out your alternator is necessarily a good thing.
2. Buy a 12vdc to 120vac inverter, and plug the battery charger into that when your goal is to charge from alternator.

I prefer option 2 for reasons of cost and added 'survivability' i.e. it gives you another option for power if the 48v AIO were to crap out or become unusable for whatever reason. 12v inverters are pretty cheap and when all you are doing with it is feeding a battery charger that converts AC to DC anyway, you can even use modified sine wave inverters with no detriment. At the going rate of DC-DC chargers you could get basically 2-3x the watts by using a 12v inverter to power an AC battery charger, vs using a DC-DC charger to charge the 48v battery of the larger inverter and running the AC battery charger off of that. But it is a little more 'messy' of a setup so some might prefer the simplicity of the DC-DC charger and dollar-per-watts be damned. Even if you do #2, you are still limited to whatever Watts your alternator can support. On my RV (aka big van, it's e350 based) i have a 5000w 12v inverter but the most i can realistically support off the 'upgraded' 220a alternator, with my wiring, is about 1500-1800w continuous. If i wanted to do more i'd have to upgrade a lot of wiring. When it was the stock 130a alternator the most i could consistently pull at idle was around 600w.

In my case i mostly run a 5000btu AC while driving, since the 'van' AC system doesn't adequately cool the whole interior while driving, and i've got kids strapped down back there who need their air conditioning. Before i would run the generator to run the big rooftop ac in those situations, and that bothered the hell out of me. It was just an offensive concept. Now i installed that 2nd smaller AC and run it 'off the alternator' (but through a 12v inverter) while driving and im much less offended!