Solar power mini split vs regular 120v AC

[Vigo]

I’m starting to see why a 10kw battery is needed.

Yeah, i mean some types of things it's ok to fail and then 'work up to adequacy', basically add until it stops failing. But when you have food spoilage involved, it may be better to just bite the bullet up front on something that will work right off the bat, rather than just waking up to no power and going 'welp, i guess ill add another battery sometime'.

Ive had the luxury of 'sneaking up on good enough' on my batteries because A. I ALWAYS had enough to run my fridge, and B. I ALWAYS had enough solar input during the day. So i was able to start small with batteries and build up until it stopped sucking because my goal was really just to have air conditioning overnight, which is technically optional.. In your case you probably never want the fridge to go down so its advisable to start with something more than the bare minimum.

 

[Cardude]

Yeah, i mean some types of things it's ok to fail and then 'work up to adequacy', basically add until it stops failing. But when you have food spoilage involved, it may be better to just bite the bullet up front on something that will work right off the bat, rather than just waking up to no power and going 'welp, i guess ill add another battery sometime'.

Ive had the luxury of 'sneaking up on good enough' on my batteries because A. I ALWAYS had enough to run my fridge, and B. I ALWAYS had enough solar input during the day. So i was able to start small with batteries and build up until it stopped sucking because my goal was really just to have air conditioning overnight, which is technically optional.. In your case you probably never want the fridge to go down so its advisable to start with something more than the bare minimum.

I’m trying to figure out my needed solar capacity to replenish/keep up the 2 5kw 48v eg4 batteries for the Eg4 3000 watt AIO unit. When I’m gone during working hours the only things running will be the fridges I think. I think I’m going to use two 12v Danfoss type fridges like the Alpicool T60 that pulls 60 watts each when running was going to hook up a 48-12v converter, unless that’s a dumb way to do it. Is there a big loss on a converter like that?

When I come home from work I’d like to be able to run the mini split for 6-8 hours (500 watts per hour draw), the electric water heater for about 30 mins, and the induction cook top for a bit. Plus charge up the laptop, phones, etc.

I have room on the roof for 2000 watts of solar, and maybe 2500 if I push it. Think that’s enough? I’m pretty new at this and I’m having a hard time figuring it all out for some reason.

Edit:
After trying to think about it more, what if I disregard the load for now and try to calculate how long it would take to charge the two batteries, a total of 10,000 WH. If I only discharge that battery 80%, that’s 8000WH that needs to be replaced. If I have 2000w of panels, and get 4 hours of good sun per day, shouldn’t that recharge the batteries each day? Or is there a large parasitic loss in the AIO when charging?

 

[davegutz]

I'm wondering what you guys think of a simple cooling solution I'm about to try. We recently got an 8k Midea U for the bedroom. I draws 800w max. I have a 4000 Ah off-grid system in the garage. I can run a 13ga extension cord and get 1600w at 115 volts no problem (I measured driving a heater to avoid damage to Midea unit). So there should be enough voltage to run the stock Midea unit. But the inverter is an isolated variety with the neutral running 57.5 volts from ground and the line running 57.5 volts from ground for 115 volts delivery. Does anybody know if the unbonded neutral is going to be a problem or a risk? What does the special Midea plug unit that comes with the stock unit do? It looks similar to the GFI plug that comes with electric power washers. Will that be fooled by the isolated inverter? I don't want to fry the brand new Midea without first asking. I tried Midea customer support and they said they do not recommend running from an off-grid system. But they confirmed 115 v minimum is ok.