solararray
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2020
- Messages
- 5
I have been working away at putting together a solar system as a backup for my home. I have been toying with the idea of even eventually getting off grid electricity entirely if I can save some money long term. Electric rates have just gone up from 0.14 kwh to 0.16 kwh (GBP).
In a previous post I was looking at how to expand the storage on a GZ Yeti without using the expensive Yeti link. Now the Yeti's inverter can only produce up to 1.5kw of power which works great for backing up a fridge and a few other small things but I decided I want more power! I'll continue to look out for a solution to that problem.
Because I like to do things as simply as possible (and because I am a solar noob) I have been looking at 'all in one inverter-charge controller' units such as these:
"24V 3000W EPever Upower All In One Combined 3Kw Inverter"
My idea would be to plug my house loads into the AC out on the unit (I have a plug thingy at home that connects to the houses electric circuits and you turn a switch from "mains" to "generator".) The wire is limited to 3kW (otherwise I would get a larger inverter) according to an electrician I asked.
This EPever unit can run 2.4kW of loads continuously and up to 3kW for 15 mins and surge to 6kW. This would be sufficient to start and run:
So with the above, I can have a warm house with lights and communications. Additionally, I reckon I can possibly run:
"Small plugin oven/hob (1500W/1600W respectively) "
- --If I was careful with the other loads. Plus the individual plates on the hob are 600W and 1000W so this allows me to allocate Watts accordingly. Furthermore if I run the system isolated from the house I could plug in separate appliances like my tumble dryer (2kW) and washing machine (haven't checked W) without worrying about overloading it - perhaps I could do this during the day before heating and light become necessary and before dinner is to be cooked!
In addition to the EPever unit above I was thinking to run the system with the following batteries and panels:
2 x 12V 54Ah LiFePO4 TN-Power Lithium Battery
3 x 340W Canadian Solar Half Cell Panels
This would give me potentially just over a 1kW of solar and 1.296kWh of battery storage. If this drains quickly then I can simply buy more batteries.
From wire gauge calculators, assuming a load of 3kW (24v, 125A) over a 3ft distance it seems like I will need a 4AWG gauge cable between the batteries and the inverter. Going to look into an appropriate breaker/fuse to, though I know the unit has some built in electronic protection features and the battery has a BMS. Regardless I will look into this.
I know when adding extra batteries I would have to be careful with differences in the voltages of each battery. I saw this in a Will Prowse video, I'll have to check that.
Anyways, what do y'all think?
In a previous post I was looking at how to expand the storage on a GZ Yeti without using the expensive Yeti link. Now the Yeti's inverter can only produce up to 1.5kw of power which works great for backing up a fridge and a few other small things but I decided I want more power! I'll continue to look out for a solution to that problem.
Because I like to do things as simply as possible (and because I am a solar noob) I have been looking at 'all in one inverter-charge controller' units such as these:
"24V 3000W EPever Upower All In One Combined 3Kw Inverter"
My idea would be to plug my house loads into the AC out on the unit (I have a plug thingy at home that connects to the houses electric circuits and you turn a switch from "mains" to "generator".) The wire is limited to 3kW (otherwise I would get a larger inverter) according to an electrician I asked.
This EPever unit can run 2.4kW of loads continuously and up to 3kW for 15 mins and surge to 6kW. This would be sufficient to start and run:
- Worcester house furnace (1150W start up and a tiny fraction continuously thereafter)
- Additional freezer (I can't remember the wattage now)
- House lighting (LED- most bulbs are between 3-10W)
- Laptop computers (100W each approx)
- Router 24W
So with the above, I can have a warm house with lights and communications. Additionally, I reckon I can possibly run:
"Small plugin oven/hob (1500W/1600W respectively) "
- --If I was careful with the other loads. Plus the individual plates on the hob are 600W and 1000W so this allows me to allocate Watts accordingly. Furthermore if I run the system isolated from the house I could plug in separate appliances like my tumble dryer (2kW) and washing machine (haven't checked W) without worrying about overloading it - perhaps I could do this during the day before heating and light become necessary and before dinner is to be cooked!
In addition to the EPever unit above I was thinking to run the system with the following batteries and panels:
2 x 12V 54Ah LiFePO4 TN-Power Lithium Battery
3 x 340W Canadian Solar Half Cell Panels
This would give me potentially just over a 1kW of solar and 1.296kWh of battery storage. If this drains quickly then I can simply buy more batteries.
From wire gauge calculators, assuming a load of 3kW (24v, 125A) over a 3ft distance it seems like I will need a 4AWG gauge cable between the batteries and the inverter. Going to look into an appropriate breaker/fuse to, though I know the unit has some built in electronic protection features and the battery has a BMS. Regardless I will look into this.
I know when adding extra batteries I would have to be careful with differences in the voltages of each battery. I saw this in a Will Prowse video, I'll have to check that.
Anyways, what do y'all think?
