Hola Tod@s , my first post to this forum, ive done some reading & browsing here but there's so much to look at.
. Can you believe that ? Swapping batteries over for power. Our next upgrade was a gift of 2 Sonnenschein 6v gel batteries from a mate who worked in telecoms & some old, odd 12v panels.We were still on 12v but now we could run a DVD player & some PC speakers, so Friday night was film night !
Fast forward via other versions, including our first inverter to the present. Our current set up is 460W of odd, unmatched panels, a trojan t 1275 + battery, blue sky mppt charge controller , morningstar suresine 300 inverter & a Sterling Power 60A battery charger. We also have a petrol generator for bigger, occasional loads, pumping water, maybe 3 or 4 times a year for an hour or two & some woodworking tools, maybe a saw bench.Despite its limitations it's a well put together system, designed and built by a good friend of mine, who, sadly, died suddenly 2 years ago. Moving forward, we are considering a move away from 12v to be able to run 2 chest freezers, one operating as a fridge.Most people I ask about this upgrade say go to 48 V, dont mess about but our current loads are tiny, a laptop, lighting, charging a few devices, occasional cordless tool and the satellite modem, its power supply rated at 2 A. Our philosophy is small is beautiful, we really dont want or need massive redundancy in a system, an oversized panel array would be useful, maybe? I have some ideas that I would like to post on these forums, but first i need to do some reading. Its good to be here, im looking forward to your input, but also sharing what we have learned during our time off grid.
. Can you believe that ? Swapping batteries over for power. Our next upgrade was a gift of 2 Sonnenschein 6v gel batteries from a mate who worked in telecoms & some old, odd 12v panels.We were still on 12v but now we could run a DVD player & some PC speakers, so Friday night was film night !
Fast forward via other versions, including our first inverter to the present. Our current set up is 460W of odd, unmatched panels, a trojan t 1275 + battery, blue sky mppt charge controller , morningstar suresine 300 inverter & a Sterling Power 60A battery charger. We also have a petrol generator for bigger, occasional loads, pumping water, maybe 3 or 4 times a year for an hour or two & some woodworking tools, maybe a saw bench.Despite its limitations it's a well put together system, designed and built by a good friend of mine, who, sadly, died suddenly 2 years ago. Moving forward, we are considering a move away from 12v to be able to run 2 chest freezers, one operating as a fridge.Most people I ask about this upgrade say go to 48 V, dont mess about but our current loads are tiny, a laptop, lighting, charging a few devices, occasional cordless tool and the satellite modem, its power supply rated at 2 A. Our philosophy is small is beautiful, we really dont want or need massive redundancy in a system, an oversized panel array would be useful, maybe? I have some ideas that I would like to post on these forums, but first i need to do some reading. Its good to be here, im looking forward to your input, but also sharing what we have learned during our time off grid.
. At least 
