Electricity newbie
- Thread starter Mewee
- Start date
I’m looking at buying used when possible. Especially solar panels. 600 watt bifacials aren’t cheap. I like the panels made in Texas, I think they’re Sirus brand not sure but they’re on Signature solar’s website. When the system is done I want people to say it’s over kill. Too much power would be better than not enough. I want to be able to provide free and clean power to people who have lost their homes as well as free internet so they can contact loved ones and insurance companies etc. I’ve lost a lot when my cabin got hit by a tornado and flooding and it was hell at first. The area had no contact with emergency services other than cellphones. Once the water receded and fema arrived it became a lot easier.
Right now only my phone. I haven’t needed a laptop for years so I haven’t replaced my old laptop running windows vista lol. I’ve had 12 surgeries since 2016 so medical bills have been priority. Now they’re all paid off.
Wow now can someone please translate that website into English? It’s like a alien language lol
I watched Wills review yesterday on a 12 volt 300 amp hour battery and I believe it had no over charging protection. I was thinking about those hooked in 48 volt but the amp hours don’t increase correct?
Correct the ah does not increase. 12v 300ah has ~ 3600Wh. (W=VA) Wired in series to get 48v the ah does not change but because you now have 48v at 300ah the wattage becomes 14,400Wh (same as 4 times one battery worth of Watt-hours).
Batteries confuse people because they are designated in amp-hour. This goes back to lead acid batteries that had set time of discharge before being depleted. Most common was a 20 hour rate. So a 100ah battery could be used at 5A for 20 hours time. 5A X 12v X 20h =1200Wh.
Ok. Yeah I have 4 dead Trojans deep cycle in my golf cart that are now dead. They lasted 10 years so no biggie. I was thinking about replacing those with a new lop4 on Amazon. It gets kinda cold here in Tennessee so I was concerned about killing the lithium cells.
I am confused now why Trojan lead acid batteries are way more expensive than lithium. Lead acid are now $400 more expensive than when I last replaced them. Confusing
50ShadesOfDirt
Solar Addict
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2021
- Messages
- 919
It sounds like you need power first, above all else, and there isn't much money to start? I would:
1. get a propane generator, of as much wattage as you can afford, and that still fits with your install plan; perhaps a smaller inverter-gen with low THD, or a smaller westinghouse wgen that might also have low THD (like the wgen11500tfc, only smaller). Helps with construction and what-not right now, and you can be hooking up your inside house wiring over time, and testing that out. Work on your propane plumbing as well, as you can heat and cook with it over this winter.
2. get the 24v inverter and 24v battery-bank. If you can live with my suggestion above, that's about $1000 or so, and now you don't have to run the propane generator all the time. When battery-bank runs low, refill with generator, for a few hours per day. The two 24v batteries will become your 48v battery-bank, if you do move to 48v, so the batteries won't be wasted. The portable 24v inverter will still be a spare, when you're on the road or at base camp.
3. add solar panels as you can afford, and fit to the truck. Tie in to the inverter, matching the panel design to the inverter's input requirements.
And done ... at least on the solar gear, for now.
The portable 24v inverter would make for an easy learning curve into solar.
You could go with a 48v inverter (some "cheaper" brand), and still use two 24v high-amp-hour batteries, which preserves your ability to reconfigure if the 48v aio inverter gives you grief ... according to this forum's posts, there's a very good chance it will, which is why most folks are recommending Victron or such, and which is why I'm recommending you have a fall-back. The portable 24v inverter is super-easy to install, and it's a fallback with a quick reconfig of the battery-bank.
Hope that all makes sense ...
1. get a propane generator, of as much wattage as you can afford, and that still fits with your install plan; perhaps a smaller inverter-gen with low THD, or a smaller westinghouse wgen that might also have low THD (like the wgen11500tfc, only smaller). Helps with construction and what-not right now, and you can be hooking up your inside house wiring over time, and testing that out. Work on your propane plumbing as well, as you can heat and cook with it over this winter.
2. get the 24v inverter and 24v battery-bank. If you can live with my suggestion above, that's about $1000 or so, and now you don't have to run the propane generator all the time. When battery-bank runs low, refill with generator, for a few hours per day. The two 24v batteries will become your 48v battery-bank, if you do move to 48v, so the batteries won't be wasted. The portable 24v inverter will still be a spare, when you're on the road or at base camp.
3. add solar panels as you can afford, and fit to the truck. Tie in to the inverter, matching the panel design to the inverter's input requirements.
And done ... at least on the solar gear, for now.
The portable 24v inverter would make for an easy learning curve into solar.
You could go with a 48v inverter (some "cheaper" brand), and still use two 24v high-amp-hour batteries, which preserves your ability to reconfigure if the 48v aio inverter gives you grief ... according to this forum's posts, there's a very good chance it will, which is why most folks are recommending Victron or such, and which is why I'm recommending you have a fall-back. The portable 24v inverter is super-easy to install, and it's a fallback with a quick reconfig of the battery-bank.
Hope that all makes sense ...
It’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m looking at the web df451i dual fuel on Amazon around 4500 watts. I’m buying my tanks and electrical next. I’m thinking now about actually having 2 independent systems now but should I have 12 volt system because of things like lites, fridge, and radios are going to be mobile units, I have 2 right now so I’ll probably get at least 1 more plus 2 scanners that are also 12 volt trunks. Then run 48 volt system for A/C , tv, and things like instapot, exterior cameras and flood lites are all 120 volt etc. or should I just use a 12 volt converter on a 24 or 48 volt system?
So maybe the generator, Two 24 volt batteries and a 3000 watt charger inverter like the one Will hooked up to the hand dolly. That will get me started and I can add on or build another system separately. Back to Amazon I guess.
50ShadesOfDirt
Solar Addict
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2021
- Messages
- 919
Sure ... those 3 (and fuses, wiring & such) will get you started, if the inverter gets sized to all your electrical needs, or you limit devices to what your inverter can handle. Don't know the exact make/model of gen you're looking at, just confirm THD levels, and that your inverter will accept power from it.
If not doing the portable 24v inverter (up to 3kw), then definitely get the 48v inverter (3kw on up to whatever) system, and have everything be 120v AC inside and out (all electrical devices). Doesn't sound like there's any 240v stuff. This is easy and standard, and everyone here will help you.
Then, convert down to what's needed for HAM (if everything is in that 19" rack, and you might need a big power source for a rack full of HAM gear). Even here, you may want a separate 12v100ah battery system (very portable) for HAM equipment, to reduce EMI noise (from a converter, from nearby inverter, and other sources), unless you find/isolate all noise sources.
At this time, I only do HHT, so maybe others will chime in on HAM (rack-mount) power sources, EMI/RFI considerations, etc.
If not performing ARES (emergency radio) duty, then the 12v battery could be pulling double-duty as emergency lighting and such.
Hope this helps ...
If not doing the portable 24v inverter (up to 3kw), then definitely get the 48v inverter (3kw on up to whatever) system, and have everything be 120v AC inside and out (all electrical devices). Doesn't sound like there's any 240v stuff. This is easy and standard, and everyone here will help you.
Then, convert down to what's needed for HAM (if everything is in that 19" rack, and you might need a big power source for a rack full of HAM gear). Even here, you may want a separate 12v100ah battery system (very portable) for HAM equipment, to reduce EMI noise (from a converter, from nearby inverter, and other sources), unless you find/isolate all noise sources.
At this time, I only do HHT, so maybe others will chime in on HAM (rack-mount) power sources, EMI/RFI considerations, etc.
If not performing ARES (emergency radio) duty, then the 12v battery could be pulling double-duty as emergency lighting and such.
Hope this helps ...
I’m not doing the ham rack I’m going mobile units for radio and repeaters. That way if I need to set up a high ground repeater I can setup a single battery and antenna with a 12 volt solar panel. I’m not ham licensed so I’m going for the games license and use the midland mxr10 for search and rescue units like the Cajun Navy if they need it. I may get a ham license later with a base station but that’s a couple years down the road.
I hate spell check. Gmrs license not game.
Are you sure about that? When I was in America years ago, rent in even a semi-rural area was no less than about $600 a month--for a simple place. That stacks up to over $7,000 per year. Surely licensure, insurance, and maintenance on a truck is not so much as that, particularly if the truck is not rolled around on a daily basis but is parked much of the time. I realize inflation has been hitting hard, but have the fees really gone up that much?
It's my understanding that in an emergency one is permitted to assist with any communication one has access to, whether or not one is licensed to operate on those bands. It seems from what you have posted that this is your intent--to provide assistance during an emergency. It would still be a good idea to get the license, if for no other reason than to understand better how to make use of the equipment and coordinate / network with others.
fuzzmunky415
I've seen CudaBob's crimper
A few days reading/study/practice exams, and you're good to go. No Morse code @ 20 wpm like the old days.
Edit: Teacher said 5 wpm to pass, but taught us to 20 wpm because it was practical, derigeur at the time ( late 70's)
Edit: Teacher said 5 wpm to pass, but taught us to 20 wpm because it was practical, derigeur at the time ( late 70's)
OhYou_
Solar Enthusiast
keep in mind if you just mount the panels flat without angle towards the sun you will halve your daily power intake.
Maybe I suggest you divide the box truck into a smaller conditioned space and then a less conditioned space?
that would allow you to better insulate the smaller space and design it for just the basic needs, as you just retreat into there when it's too hot or cold, and you can use a much smaller climate control system that uses less power.
you can also only worry about cooling and just use a diesel heater for heating.
Maybe I suggest you divide the box truck into a smaller conditioned space and then a less conditioned space?
that would allow you to better insulate the smaller space and design it for just the basic needs, as you just retreat into there when it's too hot or cold, and you can use a much smaller climate control system that uses less power.
you can also only worry about cooling and just use a diesel heater for heating.
Yes that’s what I want to provide. I’m thinking ahead with the radios, scanners , tuners so I can design a power system. I’ve decided on two independent systems. One for every day things and a separate system dedicated to emergency equipment and exterior charging outlets for people who need to use them for charging stations. It’s more expensive this way but I believe in 2 is 1 and one is none. I have backups for nearly everything.
The top panels will be on the 48 volt system and the 2 panels on the side of the box will be able to swing out at a angle with a reflective surface below angled up into the back of the bifacial panels. Those 2 panels will be on a 24 volt system.
No not sure about rental prices in various places. I do know gas and insurance is not inexpensive these days and some States have real high taxes and lic fees. $600/month rent sounds steep to me for a simple place but maybe it is normal now.
Heck for me to drive into the big city today cost me $30 worth of gas. Thankfully that is a rare occasion.
I’m selling everything I own except my tools and cloths. That will pay for a generator and the 24 volt system then I’ll invest monthly in the truck. I’m researching the ecoworthy 450 watt panels on Amazon to see if they’ll be adequate for the 48 volt Sungold 5000 watt inverter charger on Amazon. Average rent in a rv park without utilities is over $1000 month in decent parks. In a box truck I can park in industrial areas and nobody will look twice. The truck will look commercial.
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