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diy solar

Outdoor inverter install in the tropics

Doug The Builder

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Joined
Nov 12, 2020
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I am thinking of relocating my inverters outside attached to my solar shed I just built. I will give you guys my thought and would love advice/feedback.
I live in the tropics 100 yards or so from the Ocean. Currently I have my 2 x Deye 8k inverters in my office and the heat load is quite high, The 1.5hp Air-con can not keep the room cool.

My plan is to build a lockable 8’ wide by 6’ high x 2’ deep closet about 1 foot off the ground and that will leave a 2’ gap under the shed overhang.
2’ square pipe frame with thick re-bar mesh welded to the top and bottom with added door screen to keep the bugs and geckos out. Some kind of material to filter the dust. All sides will be enclosed with 3/4 plywood. Hardiflex for the mounting surface. I am not sure if I will need active air movement or passive heat rising will be enough.

I could keep the 6 x 48v battery boxes in the shed where there is AC or add 3 or 4 more feet to the width of the closet and put down a concrete pad (only have 2 but adding 4 more as soon as they arrive)

I was also thinking of adding some big desiccant packs inside the inverters as well.
My other option is to upgrade the AC to a 2.5hp, but not really sure that is the best solution.

I will put up a picture of the shed from the front showing the overhang and an aerial shot of the property showing the shed and my 2 solar gazebos.
 

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From my experience living in the tropics your biggest problem is going to be the monsoon season.
It will be all most impossible to keep the rain out of your inverter's.
Greg
 
I'd partition the shed smaller, insulate and cool it. Topical environment is not friendly to electronics.
 
After taking in what was said I have decided to enclose my inverters in a closet where this stand in my office with a ducted fan to take the hot air outside. I will add an inch of sound foam for audio and thermal insulation. That way the AC will be able to cool the room and the inverters will get a continuous supply of cool air. Grebaba is right about monsoon season, This way they can stay dry and cooler.
 
Our Deye 5kW hybrids live under the car-port roof, they are reasonably well protected from even the horizontal rain that accompanies the monsoon.

They are IP65 and fanless anyway, although having noted that some versions of the same inverter have external fans, I've been experimenting with adding fairly cheap PC fans to the bottom of the (large) heatsink with noticeable reductions in the internal temperatures at minimal cost both in $$$ and in energy consumption.
 
Our Deye 5kW hybrids live under the car-port roof, they are reasonably well protected from even the horizontal rain that accompanies the monsoon.

They are IP65 and fanless anyway, although having noted that some versions of the same inverter have external fans, I've been experimenting with adding fairly cheap PC fans to the bottom of the (large) heatsink with noticeable reductions in the internal temperatures at minimal cost both in $$$ and in energy consumption.
My 8K inverters have 3 fans on the left side, They were very noisy but there is an option to do quiet mode so I think they just run more often but not nearly as fast. I also took into consideration the damage done by the salty air. I loaned a buddy a portable power station I built and the bolts on the cells corroded in his non air conditioned house where the same cells showed no corrosion in my house.
 
I am not concerned about my inverter, it is always on, warm, and dry. That keeps the humidity low. So far, it runs fine near the coast in Costa Rica.
 

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