CrossPike77
New Member
Hi All.
I've been tinkering on an off grid system for a barn workshop since 2020 lock down. Harbor Freight 25W kits strung together expanded to more robust components a yr later. Been trying to get to the point of just having lights on (and maybe a few small power tools for short bursts) on the solar, has become a new interest in having a diy solar generator for power down options. I will layout what I have done and my concerns with if I have done correct and what may need correction (willing and wanting to learn if I have done incorrect).
I have 4 100W Renogy Panels on all coming in with adapters and cable into a new 40Amp Mppt BougeRV charge controller. From there, I have a 2000W AC inverter. Connected to 4 batteries, 1 is a 100AH Gel Weize, and the other 3 are 75 AH Deep Cycle Marine batteries. One 12V 40Amp breaker on the solar in before controller. Breaker/Fuse from controller to bus bar. 1 - 200AMP fuse on the battery in to bus bar and 1 on the out to inverter. Shut off on battery bank main in before fuse.
I have done some small testing, I had a heat gun running for a couple minutes, a Harbor Freight router table for a few minutes. Both seemed to use some battery power and to 75%, and then it bounces right back to the 90's after turn off.
I tried plugging in my shop light array this morning ( there are around 10 LED shop lights at 42W each). The battery power started going down fast into the 50% range within a minute or so and after disconnecting, came right back into the 90's again moments later.
My question mainly is, Should I be expecting such a drastic drop in battery power? I feel the panels should be providing some power as I'm trying to draw for this usage. I feel like if I try to test out the LED lights for too many minutes, they won't stay on for long at the rate I witnessed. I plan to start with one light at a time until I see a drastic drop and know that's my threshold.
Is my bottleneck having two different types of batteries and I will see better results with multiple Weize gel instead? Currently they are daisy chained to each other, I have seen multiple batteries run to a common bus bar then out to distribution bus bar (Am I better of with this config?)
I'd like to try and run my fridge or deep freezer (saw a guy on youtube with similar specs run a chest freezer for 6 days, but his drop didn't seem so drastic on draw) if power goes down.
Any help or insight on my questions is greatly appreciated.
I've been tinkering on an off grid system for a barn workshop since 2020 lock down. Harbor Freight 25W kits strung together expanded to more robust components a yr later. Been trying to get to the point of just having lights on (and maybe a few small power tools for short bursts) on the solar, has become a new interest in having a diy solar generator for power down options. I will layout what I have done and my concerns with if I have done correct and what may need correction (willing and wanting to learn if I have done incorrect).
I have 4 100W Renogy Panels on all coming in with adapters and cable into a new 40Amp Mppt BougeRV charge controller. From there, I have a 2000W AC inverter. Connected to 4 batteries, 1 is a 100AH Gel Weize, and the other 3 are 75 AH Deep Cycle Marine batteries. One 12V 40Amp breaker on the solar in before controller. Breaker/Fuse from controller to bus bar. 1 - 200AMP fuse on the battery in to bus bar and 1 on the out to inverter. Shut off on battery bank main in before fuse.
I have done some small testing, I had a heat gun running for a couple minutes, a Harbor Freight router table for a few minutes. Both seemed to use some battery power and to 75%, and then it bounces right back to the 90's after turn off.
I tried plugging in my shop light array this morning ( there are around 10 LED shop lights at 42W each). The battery power started going down fast into the 50% range within a minute or so and after disconnecting, came right back into the 90's again moments later.
My question mainly is, Should I be expecting such a drastic drop in battery power? I feel the panels should be providing some power as I'm trying to draw for this usage. I feel like if I try to test out the LED lights for too many minutes, they won't stay on for long at the rate I witnessed. I plan to start with one light at a time until I see a drastic drop and know that's my threshold.
Is my bottleneck having two different types of batteries and I will see better results with multiple Weize gel instead? Currently they are daisy chained to each other, I have seen multiple batteries run to a common bus bar then out to distribution bus bar (Am I better of with this config?)
I'd like to try and run my fridge or deep freezer (saw a guy on youtube with similar specs run a chest freezer for 6 days, but his drop didn't seem so drastic on draw) if power goes down.
Any help or insight on my questions is greatly appreciated.