inverter wiring

[crazytrain]

hi, new here and i hope this hasn't already been discussed. i have a cabin on a island that is already wired and i use a generator to power it. the generator is about 30 ft from the cabin. i have a cable with a 4 prong plug on it that gores into my generator to the breaker box in the cabin. i would like to set up solar system so was wondering if i can wire inverter to a 4 prong outlet so i can use the cable i use for my generator that is wired to my breaker box inside cabin. if so how would u wire the four prong to the inverter being the four prong has two power wires. if need be i only need to power one side of my breaker box. any help would be greatly appreciated and again i apologize if this has already been discussed.

 

[timselectric]

hi, new here and i hope this hasn't already been discussed. i have a cabin on a island that is already wired and i use a generator to power it. the generator is about 30 ft from the cabin. i have a cable with a 4 prong plug on it that gores into my generator to the breaker box in the cabin. i would like to set up solar system so was wondering if i can wire inverter to a 4 prong outlet so i can use the cable i use for my generator that is wired to my breaker box inside cabin. if so how would u wire the four prong to the inverter being the four prong has two power wires. if need be i only need to power one side of my breaker box. any help would be greatly appreciated and again i apologize if this has already been discussed.

Yes, you can do that. If you only feed one side of the receptacle from the inverter. Then, only one side of the panel will be live. If that's what you want, then you are good to go. However, I would recommend an inverter that puts out the same thing as your generator. That way you won't see any difference. Whether you are on solar or the generator.

 

[crazytrain]

ok sounds good, i didn't know u could get an inverter that could do that, is there a special name for one of those inverters? thanks so much for the help

 

[timselectric]

You need a 240/120v split-phase inverter.

 

[crazytrain]

thanks!

 

[WindWizard]

I think that you need to evaluate what your electrical needs are in the cabin. I setup a camp with a very cheap system. It was one 100 watt panel a pwm charge controller two golf cart batteries and a 1000 watt Inverter charger. It was all automated so that when the batteries were low then it turned the generator on to charge the batteries. It worked very well. I think I put the whole system together for less than 1k.

 

[crazytrain]

yeah not really looking to supply whole cabin just mainly for mini fridge for the weekends and maybe the tv at night was just thinking about getting a good solar generator, just hate running the generator in the summer to watch tv and if i get a mini fridge don't want to run the generator all the time. also looking at solar fridge as a option

 

[timselectric]

Ok, so.
Small 120v inverter
Solar charge controller
Solar panels
Batteries

 

[crazytrain]

yeah that was what i was thinking would be nice to put everything in my generator shed then run power through my generator cable into the the cabin, the reason for my original question about wiring

 

[WindWizard]

yeah not really looking to supply whole cabin just mainly for mini fridge for the weekends and maybe the tv at night was just thinking about getting a good solar generator, just hate running the generator in the summer to watch tv and if i get a mini fridge don't want to run the generator all the time. also looking at solar fridge as a option

You

Ok, so.
Small 120v inverter
Solar charge controller
Solar panels
Batteries

Thats exactly what I was thinking. If you look on Craigslist/Marketplace for the Solar panels then you can reduce the cost. I love the Lifepo4 but the cost is much more expensive than Lead Acid or AGM.
Inverter $100
Solar Panel $100
Batteries $250
Charge Controller $100
Wiring and hardware $100

You could probably do it for less than a grand

 

[crazytrain]

any suggestions for inverters

 

[CamoGreg]

Off Grid Solar Inverters

Building a vehicle mounted solar power system? Let me help.

www.mobile-solarpower.com