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diy solar

Simple inverter for resistive load

Skid

Solar Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 26, 2020
Messages
203
Location
Nicaragua
I'm not exactly a beginner but this area is new to me. I am now traveling 10 months a year and will be home in Nicaragua for 2 one month visits per year. I had a 10KW LFP system in my waytoodamnbig house, now sold, and building a very small dwelling of 12 square meters. The lights and various chargers will be 12V but I have an old espresso maker that will be the last unnecessary item in my life. It is totally manual and has a 1000w heating coil which is used for 10 minutes two times before dawn.

This will be the only use for the inverter, purely resistive, as no fridge, TV, stereo, nothing else. Any advice on MSW brands is appreciated, as in advice. There is a very limited selection of solar gear here and no LFP batteries. I will have maybe 10 12v LED lights. I think a 50A gel battery might be sufficient?
I am now after a minimalist life. My prior system was very oversized for my needs and I now prefer to have little more than I can use while not discharging the battery more than 40%. Panels are cheap, sunlight is pretty much always and no shade so given there are very few MPPT controllers here I will use PWM. To be honest the thought of using MSW (ack!) Gel battery (ugh) and PWM (arrgh) is completely repellent. However for this limited use I think it might make sense.

I hope I have a clue and if not, someone will dissuade me from doing something stupid.
 
FWIW...I have a Vevor 2500W pure sine inverter purchased for use with my 12V-based Lance camper that currently has two group 29DC lead-acid batteries in parallel. I tested it with normal 12-cup coffeemaker, normal toaster, RV microwave (900 watts?), 43" TV, Dish receiver. Comes with a beefy cable to connect to your batteries. I wanted pure sine in case a MSW might not be as appreciated by the 4K TV and Dish receiver over time. I also thought it might make sense to have extra capacity so that the inverter might not be so inclined to run its cooling fan, and this seems to be case with this unit. When the fan does run, it's variable speed and very quiet. Nice little LCD readout and it includes a wired remote control with battery voltage and inverter on/off. I'd recommend it and I may get another one (probably their 24V version) to run a pond pump and aerator.


I've tested it with various lead-acid batteries and also this 40A MPPT controller along with a few 100W mono panels:

 
Wow, that's really cheap! Thank you for the info. This is hardly more expensive than a MSW.
 
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