Paul standen
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2019
- Messages
- 70
Ok guys so this is my system at the moment....
Running on 230v electrics. The inverter you see was sent back as it just constantly sounded its alarm and kept tripping the power. I replaced for a giandel pure sine wave inverter also 600w and had the alarm only once when the battery hit 12v.
Testing today after upgrading from 100w solar panel to monocrystalline 310w panel and not sure if I've sized the system correct still.
Heres some readings over the experiment.
Testing devices selected was a Russel Hobbs 22 litre mini fridge with ice box. I'm uk so this is all 240v here. I've also got led lights as seen in the picture. There is a window now in that side too. I believe the fridge runs at 240v 0.5a making it 115 watts running load and the led lights are 15w according to listing on amazon.
Tuesday 17th...
8pm full battery I assume as charged for days with no load on 100w panel turns on power and switched on fridge and led lights.
Wednesday 18th...
11.20am 12.4v reading on charge controller no charging yet as sun hasnt come over house to interact with panel. This happens around midday. I turned the led lights off. This was to simulate a night of using the lights for say 3 hours and a tv for 3 hours (20w tv 240v)
2pm 13.6v reading on charge controller 6a steady charge rate only flicking by 0.1a either way occassionally. Partially blocked sunlight
5pm 12.5v reading 0.7a charge rate... sun is literally almost fully covered by dark black clouds.
9pm 12.2v reading turned led lights on to simulate lights and tv for another night however...
10pm go to shop lights are on. Come back with snacks in hand to hear the alarm on the inverter and the lights had gone out.
Checked reading on panel it shows at 12v. Electric will return if I press the power off and on again with the control panel but I decided the alarm was telling me to stop trying to damage my battery so called the experiment over. 26 hours off grid with poor sun conditions isnt bad but this is the uk... our summers are either really nice or really bad. You can get a heatwave or a 2 week stint off rain and misery lol.
So how do I resolve the loss of power issue without resorting to a split charge relay and running the car to charge both batteries? Does my readings indicate the battery did charge fully? I'm confused on this part as the label say 12.10v is 50% empty and mine seems to like sticking between 12 and 13. I keep seeing things that say 12.8 and over is fully charged?
I'm hoping my images will stay once the server for the original forum is gone but I will pop the pictures back on if need be at the time assuming they shown up in my copy and paste attempt ?
Running on 230v electrics. The inverter you see was sent back as it just constantly sounded its alarm and kept tripping the power. I replaced for a giandel pure sine wave inverter also 600w and had the alarm only once when the battery hit 12v.
Testing today after upgrading from 100w solar panel to monocrystalline 310w panel and not sure if I've sized the system correct still.
Heres some readings over the experiment.
Testing devices selected was a Russel Hobbs 22 litre mini fridge with ice box. I'm uk so this is all 240v here. I've also got led lights as seen in the picture. There is a window now in that side too. I believe the fridge runs at 240v 0.5a making it 115 watts running load and the led lights are 15w according to listing on amazon.
Tuesday 17th...
8pm full battery I assume as charged for days with no load on 100w panel turns on power and switched on fridge and led lights.
Wednesday 18th...
11.20am 12.4v reading on charge controller no charging yet as sun hasnt come over house to interact with panel. This happens around midday. I turned the led lights off. This was to simulate a night of using the lights for say 3 hours and a tv for 3 hours (20w tv 240v)
2pm 13.6v reading on charge controller 6a steady charge rate only flicking by 0.1a either way occassionally. Partially blocked sunlight
5pm 12.5v reading 0.7a charge rate... sun is literally almost fully covered by dark black clouds.
9pm 12.2v reading turned led lights on to simulate lights and tv for another night however...
10pm go to shop lights are on. Come back with snacks in hand to hear the alarm on the inverter and the lights had gone out.
Checked reading on panel it shows at 12v. Electric will return if I press the power off and on again with the control panel but I decided the alarm was telling me to stop trying to damage my battery so called the experiment over. 26 hours off grid with poor sun conditions isnt bad but this is the uk... our summers are either really nice or really bad. You can get a heatwave or a 2 week stint off rain and misery lol.
So how do I resolve the loss of power issue without resorting to a split charge relay and running the car to charge both batteries? Does my readings indicate the battery did charge fully? I'm confused on this part as the label say 12.10v is 50% empty and mine seems to like sticking between 12 and 13. I keep seeing things that say 12.8 and over is fully charged?
I'm hoping my images will stay once the server for the original forum is gone but I will pop the pictures back on if need be at the time assuming they shown up in my copy and paste attempt ?
