Coalpail.com Forum

Yup, What Larry said.


You have a modified sine-wave inverter there so it is wise to try it and find out before you need it real bad.

My suspicions are that it will be less than ideal. But, if so, that can be fixed with swapping it w/ a pure sine wave inverter.

I have been following this thread for some time.It has convinced me (again) that solar PV in the winter is less than ideal.

A have set up and used a solar hot water system in the barn for three years now. In the summer it uses a lot of hot water for washing competition horses between April and November. For DHW it was essentially useless. I am not spending the cash for a year round operation. I have been given a second unit with most of the tubes intact. So I might link them in series and try again this summer. I love no electrics to try/fry.

1.66 KWH per day average at $0.1633 a KWH. Hmmm, that is under $100 for a years effort. Now I see why cogeneration is appealing.

No MG, it's really not a suck it and see situation. My AK180 has a variable speed dist. fan and that Marathon motor is North of $300 and a modified sine wave is not a good idea for me. I suspect it is not good for any motor although some may tolerate it.

Why not go all dc...
No inverter and all the waste of one...

CapeCoaler wrote: ↑

Tue. Feb. 20, 2018 9:15 pm

Why not go all dc...
No inverter and all the waste of one...

That's a great idea, though it is very costly for DC appliances. Depending upon the quality and efficiency of the inverter, the energy savings should be on the order of 10% to as much as 20%. Call it 15%.

A lot of marine stuff is 24v DC. Hmmm.

or you could mix a bit of ac in for TV and such...
small pure sine for those...
Motors and resistance heaters should not be too much of an issue...
There is a nice calculator on line that uses google maps to size up your building...
One of my customers could generate close to 40k per month...
They have a large warehouse...

How is this doin to date larry?

hotblast1357 wrote: ↑

Sun. Dec. 23, 2018 10:19 am

How is this doin to date larry?

As good as the day it went into operation. As expected, the batteries may be a bit down on overall storage capacity vs. when they were new, but that's about it. Still running on all of the original components. My deep freezer has not seen grid power for about 3 years now. Ditto one of my computers and printers.

Awesome! Have you considered expanding?

hotblast1357 wrote: ↑

Mon. Dec. 24, 2018 7:04 am

Awesome! Have you considered expanding?

Yes, but the economics are not there, and neither are the finances.

Larry, Have you been performing battery equalizations all along?
Or ever run a de-sulphate cycle on the battery?

McGiever wrote: ↑

Mon. Dec. 24, 2018 10:58 am

Larry, Have you been performing battery equalizations all along?
Or ever run a de-sulphate cycle on the battery?

My charge controller goes through a litany of differing voltage cycles, one of which is called equalization. Ditto my battery charger. But my budget line stuff doesn't hit the high voltages needed for a decent equalization. I'm not sure what a de-sulfate cycle is, other than perhaps some type of harmonic oscillation frequency.

My systems equalization voltage is 29.3V, and likely it should be in the mid 31's.

The charging voltages I typically see are:
27.0
28.2
29.3 (with this one, equalization, being the rarest)

My el-cheapo inverter actually kicks out and needs to be manually reset if it ever sees voltage at or above 30.0V. so permitting higher charge voltages is not possible for it.

My charge controller is not programmable such that I can change the voltages. I can however tell it that I have a different type of battery bank installed. But I believe lead acid has the highest charge voltages.

I use a Smart Battery Charger for all my lead acid batteries, solar or other wise. This will perform a 12 volt de-sulfate cycle and has paid for itself time and time again, that and maintaining proper cell water levels.

You are correct in that de-sulfate cycle is some type of harmonic oscillation frequency.

For my 24 volt and 48 volt battery banks I simple do them in halves or quarters at the 12 volt cycle it can only do.

Just this week daughter has her car here and I did it and it took a very long cycle (over 24 hours to complete) as it is older and hadn't been done before. Not that the battery was on it's last legs, but the 12 volt battery, which should read 13.7-14-7 volts was reading 12.6 volts before and after had gained a bit more than 1 volt. FYI: 11.9 volts is a completely discharged 12 volt battery.

lsayre wrote: ↑

Mon. Dec. 24, 2018 7:20 am

Yes, but the economics are not there, and neither are the finances.

You went about this all with the correct mindset. Too many people think they are going to save money or make money doing this. Some do but most dont. You'll have a little power if you ever need it and you can learn about it thru the whole process. Perhaps some day it will be affordable to expand and you will have the knowledge to make wise purchasing decisions then.

McGiever wrote: ↑

Mon. Dec. 24, 2018 1:14 pm

I use a Smart Battery Charger for all my lead acid batteries, solar or other wise. This will perform a 12 volt de-sulfate cycle and has paid for itself time and time again, that and maintaining proper cell water levels.

You are correct in that de-sulfate cycle is some type of harmonic oscillation frequency.

For my 24 volt and 48 volt battery banks I simple do them in halves or quarters at the 12 volt cycle it can only do.

Just this week daughter has her car here and I did it and it took a very long cycle (over 24 hours to complete) as it is older and hadn't been done before. Not that the battery was on it's last legs, but the 12 volt battery, which should read 13.7-14-7 volts was reading 12.6 volts before and after had gained a bit more than 1 volt. FYI: 11.9 volts is a completely discharged 12 volt battery.

Where might I get one of these de-sulfate units? Do they make them for 24V?