Should I've done it different?

[Cloggie]

Hi there.
My name is Will and I'm questioning myself now.
I am building a cabin for our daughter and will be hooking it up to solar array.
Now, I've bought a 3000W pure sine inverter, several lion batteries and an MPPT charger.
So far, so good. (I think) but now I'm starting to doubt my doing.
The reason is as follows:
She has a 3500 watt inverter generator that she is using right now, untill we have the solar stuff setup proper.
But I realized, I should have bought a different setup, meaning, a MPPT charger controler which I could hook up my generator to, so to charge the batteries when there is no sunshine at all. Because with the inverter and charge controller I have now, I can not do that. So, should I return these items and get one complete charge controller/inverter where I could hookup my generator to or should I just see if I can get an ATS and hookup my generator to that, hook it up to the inverter somehow and be happy that way?
Please advice.
Cheers, Will.

 

[Mattb4]

What you may be looking for is a inverter/charger or an AIO (All in one). Typically MPPT SCC are only for PV as input. Since your Daughter has an inverter generator it should work fine with either the AIO or inverter/charger as AC In.

 

[Cloggie]

What you may be looking for is a inverter/charger or an AIO (All in one). Typically MPPT SCC are only for PV as input. Since your Daughter has an inverter generator it should work fine with either the AIO or inverter/charger as AC In.

Thanks. After much thinking, I'm going to hook up a 24v battery charger to my generator, I think that is the best solution instead of sending my inverter and mppt charger back.
I don't have to be afraid of overcharging my batteries I think. (?)
Now I have to think about how to put the whole thing together on a piece of plywood, neat and tidy.

 

[E. Cho]

For added fire safety put Hardy board over the plywood to mount the components to.

There should be some kind of charging control between the generator and the batteries because you / she can very easily over or under charge the batteries and ruin them. This would normally be done through the AiO which probably has an inverter / charge control function and settings. Read the AiO manual at least.

As was said before, the MPPT SCC is a charge controller only for the solar panels not for your generator. Both of you must read the SCC manual and learn its use and it's set up. And the same for the batteries which you barely mentioned and so we have no idea of what they are, what they need for charging control. I also am afraid as you called the batteries, "lion" batteries, which are not recommended vs LiFePO4 batteries which are okay but you leave out lots of specs. Do they have a BMS? Active balancing? Bluetooth and App access for BMS settings control and monitoring?

I advise that both of you slow down and learn and build the system together. Read more on this forum. Watch more YouTube videos. Read the resources sections. Read the component manuals to learn what they do and how to set them up. She should learn all this too if she will be the one using it. You are not helping her if you do not include her. Go slow.

 

[Craig]

Thanks. After much thinking, I'm going to hook up a 24v battery charger to my generator, I think that is the best solution instead of sending my inverter and mppt charger back.
I don't have to be afraid of overcharging my batteries I think. (?)
Now I have to think about how to put the whole thing together on a piece of plywood, neat and tidy.

A 24 volt charger set correctly will work just fine. I have one connected to my generator that I run in conjunction with my all in one. I do have it set to max out about 1 volt less than the AIO since it is not hooked to the BMS.

 

[MichaelK]

Have to agree with what everyone else has already said. Since it sounds like you are making a 24V system, I'll go ahead and recommend the inverter I myself am using, because it has generator input charging.

I've got a Schneider Conext SW4024, which I use in my workshop. It is a very sturdy low-frequency split-phase 120/240V inverter That has ACin terminals to attach a generator. You simply hard-wire a generator plug to the ACin terminals, plug in your generator, and feed AC power directly into the inverter. The unit then reverse-inverts it into battery charging current to feed the battery.