diy solar

diy solar

Need help and a little direction

It sounds like you are getting some good advice. I have a 2 kw solar with growatt 24 volt on Lipo4 in a RV. Also Schneider xw6848 and 6.1 kw solar. I am near Hector Arkansas about 40 miles south of you if you need anything let me know.
Maybe a face-to-face to see what your setup is like? That may help me understand it a little more than watching videos all day. Thank you.
 
You really don't want the generator to "top off" your batteries. That's really a waste of fuel. You'll get the best performance if you start the generator in the very early morning, and bulk charge past 80%. Then shut the generator down and let whatever solar resource you have finish the topping off.

What your inverter might do is want to "qualify" the power coming in from the generator. That means the inverter looks at the voltage and Hz stability and decides whether or not the generator is "qualified" to supply power to it. In real-world practice, I've found that as you inch the charging rate up, it becomes harder and harder to get the generator "qualified". That is, the inverter will accept the power at a lower charging level, but reject it if the generator is getting too labored.

I'd recommend going with a generator at least twice the capacity you want to charge at, so the generator is not being pushed so hard that quality drops. You should go into your inverter's menu and find where the charging setting are and play with them.

Inverter generators are supposed to have a cleaner sine-wave, so that most likely will help with the qualification process.
Not sure why you would want to waste fuel bulk charging and then only use the solar to "top off" .... we do all of our bulk charging late night to get the energy into the batteries that the sun was unable to plus it gets us over the edge to take us to the next day to start the solar cycle all over ...

also going to disagree with "go with a generator at least twice the capacity you want to charge at". Not sure what the logic is on that. It seems expensive and resource wasteful.
 
Not sure why you would want to waste fuel bulk charging and then only use the solar to "top off" .... we do all of our bulk charging late night to get the energy into the batteries that the sun was unable to plus it gets us over the edge to take us to the next day to start the solar cycle all over ...

also going to disagree with "go with a generator at least twice the capacity you want to charge at". Not sure what the logic is on that. It seems expensive and resource wasteful.
The generator is consuming fuel even when just an amp or so is trickling in to almost full batteries. You'll get more amps for fuel used when you are bulk charging a large number of amps.

Sorry you can't keep your system charged in rainy weather. My arrays now put out enough power that my system stays charged even on rainy days. I just can't pump water. But, why pump water when it's raining.

I though my generator qualification explaination above was adequate. Perhaps your inverter is not a fussy as mine about the quality of power it receives, and your inverter will accept power closer to red-line. Mine will not. My 2X rule is based on real-world experience as to what works and what does not.
 
Thank you for your reply. I bought the 3kw model that is 120v. The place I'm at is near Harriet, Arkansas. I am actively shopping for panels on CL and FB marketplace. I was thinking about 3kw of panels. I was hoping the battery capacity would be good for what little I'm running. i did forget one thing...i was also planning on running an 8000 BTU AC for 3 months of the year as I heard the heat here is brutal.
My model does have the 145Vdc limit.
As for the dual fuel generator....i was wanting one that could specifically run off of both gasoline and propane. Propane because it's easier to keep. I would probably use gasoline until the price got to be too astronomical to use. I am having 500# of propane brought up in 5x100lb tanks. This is the largest tank i can safely get to where I am. No refueling truck can make it to where I am.
You are out in the sticks, I'm in Arkansas as well, (Heber Springs), I made the 4 hour drive to Signature Solar in Texas to save the $300 on shipping.
cost me abut $100 in Gas. If you want new that might be an option, they have great prices.
 
You are out in the sticks, I'm in Arkansas as well, (Heber Springs), I made the 4 hour drive to Signature Solar in Texas to save the $300 on shipping.
cost me abut $100 in Gas. If you want new that might be an option, they have great prices.
i have bought from them .. nice folk
 
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