diy solar

diy solar

Solar generator

keithco

New Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2021
Messages
5
Hi Will,

I am working on building a custom solar generator for backing up the refrigerator and maybe a few more low power devices. So far I have purchased these components:
PV Panel: QCELLS 310W
Victron Inverter: 12V 1200W
Victron MPPT: 75V 15A
Victron Battery Protect: 6-35V 100A
Victron Smart Battery Sense (long range)
I'm still not sure what LiFePO4 12V 200AH to purchase. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Keith
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply!
Waiting to here the performance verdict.
I hope these go back on sale??
The price is still $299 as a few seconds ago.
I have 12 of them so far, and haven’t seen any issues of consequence so far with them.
One terminal was a little discolored on one of the batteries, and some squished inner boxes from large stacks of batteries in shipment I assume. The foam protected the batteries fine. No issues to the battery at all.
I mentioned to the seller about the packing, and they are very responsive.
 
Hi Will,

I am working on building a custom solar generator for backing up the refrigerator and maybe a few more low power devices. So far I have purchased these components:
PV Panel: QCELLS 310W
Victron Inverter: 12V 1200W
Victron MPPT: 75V 15A
Victron Battery Protect: 6-35V 100A
Victron Smart Battery Sense (long range)
I'm still not sure what LiFePO4 12V 200AH to purchase. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Keith
I built one of these for my kitchen. Word of caution, you'll have a hard time keeping up with replenishing a battery using PV and the 75/15. At 12V, its max output is 220W. On mine, I went with 2 x 12V batteries for a 24V bank and a 150/35 that has a max output of 1000W @ 24V (I use 1Kw of PV). My batts are SOK 206's. You'll also want to pick up a digital lamp timer...I have one with 8 programs and can run the fridge 1 hour on, 2 off, 1 on, two off...etc.
 
I built one of these for my kitchen. Word of caution, you'll have a hard time keeping up with replenishing a battery using PV and the 75/15. At 12V, its max output is 220W. On mine, I went with 2 x 12V batteries for a 24V bank and a 150/35 that has a max output of 1000W @ 24V (I use 1Kw of PV). My batts are SOK 206's. You'll also want to pick up a digital lamp timer...I have one with 8 programs and can run the fridge 1 hour on, 2 off, 1 on, two off...etc.

My late model efficient refrigerator only draws only 1.75 amps when the compressor is on. My calculations are such, that the components I've selected, should be able to keep up. I'll post an update after testing is done... Thanks for your comment!
 
My late model efficient refrigerator only draws only 1.75 amps when the compressor is on. My calculations are such, that the components I've selected, should be able to keep up. I'll post an update after testing is done... Thanks for your comment!
That appears to be higher than my refrigerator, which uses about 1.2kWh of power per day. It's not just the instantaneous power you have to factor, but how much it will be consuming over a 24hr period.

I have to agree with Goodoz, that one panel is not likely to provide enough power over the course of 24hr. How many sunhours of power are you getting in December? 2, 3 sunhours? Keep in mind that besides the refrigerator itself, the inverter is consuming power just staying on. Have you looked into what it's idle consumption is? I've seen 12V inverters that consumed 500Wh per day, and that one panel might struggle to just keep the inverter on, let along power the refrigerator.

I really think that powering a refrigerator should start at 24V.
 
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