Newbie - Need help

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  • Green Hog
    Junior Member
    • Aug 2021
    • 12

    Newbie - Need help

    Hi,

    a little back ground. I'm geting evicted from my workshop as my letting agent is converting it in to a house. I have found a garage, it's just a garage where you would park a car, there is no electricity supply.

    I need an electricity supply so I can do my custom motorcycle building, so I thought the best solution would be to install an off grid solar system. I have never done anything like this before & need advice on the equipment I should be buying for the appilances I will be using.

    This is what will be used a lot:

    x2 - Optimate 4 battery chargers - 0.384 watts (these will be on constanly, when the bikes aren't being ridden)

    My DAB radio - 7.5 watts.

    x2 - 50 watt LED lights.

    These are the appliances I will be using very rarley & I can't find any info. on their wattage :

    Pillar drill

    Angle grinder

    Bench grinder

    Kettle

    Solder iron

    Hand drill

    This is the equipment I think I need to buy :

    100 watt monocrystal panel

    10 amp controller MPPT

    100AH deep cycle battery

    3500 / 6000 watt inverter, not the pure sine wave type.

    20 amp circuit breaker

    Correct gauge cable

    Maybe a fuse box.

    Would the choices I have made be the correct please?

    TIA,

    Andy.
  • SunEagle
    Super Moderator
    • Oct 2012
    • 15126

    #2
    Hello Green Hog and welcome to Solar Panel Talk

    Before you purchase any solar equipment you really need to determine what your daily watt hour usage is. If that number is high (which is will be if your loads are big) then you will probably have to decide to go with a higher voltage battery system (say 48V) or find a way to run grid power to that building. In the past the average cost to put in a solar/battery system has been about $1500/kWh it can safely deliver. So if you plan on using say 3 kWh then the system may cost about $3000. That 35000watt inverter will easily consume more then 3 kWh a day so the cost will be higher. Which usually means a 48V battery system that is about 400Ah which is way bigger then what you figure.

    I always say "do the math" first and then open the wallet.

    Comment

    • Mike90250
      Moderator
      • May 2009
      • 16020

      #3
      The motors in the Drill and Grinders will consume a lot of power. Lots. And they need a large pure sine inverter to start and run them

      Look at the electrical tag/label on the machines, and see if they have a Wattage or Volt Amp ( VA ) rating. Then you simply add up tha watts for the number of hours you plan to use each one

      Drill 800W x .75 hour = 600watt hours
      kettle 900w x 2 hours = 1800wh
      solder iron 300w x 3 hr = 900wh
      grinder 1200w x 2 hr = 2400wh

      Add all the wh up, and that is 30% of the wh your battery needs to be. Then you size ( several ) solar panels and charge controllers to be able to recharge the panels.

      or you can purchase a generator and run your gear from that.

      An small, efficient house can use about 10,000 watt hours in a 24 hr period.
      Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
      || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
      || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

      solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
      gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

      Comment

      • bcroe
        Solar Fanatic
        • Jan 2012
        • 5203

        #4
        I would go for all battery powered tools, charge the batteries at home. For something
        that must be line powered, get a small portable gen set when you run it.
        good luck, Bruce Roe

        Comment

        • Green Hog
          Junior Member
          • Aug 2021
          • 12

          #5
          Thanks for the replies, unforunately not answering my question.

          I will not be in the garage working full time, only on weekends about 10 hours in total, the only appliances that will be on whilst I am working will be the 2 optimates & the 2 LED lights.

          A gen is not an option as the location of the garage is in a residential area & I'm sure the residents wouldn't appreciate the noise & pollution, for the amount of use I would use the power tools it doesn't make econmonic sence to buy them.

          Adding up the wattage of the appliances I will be using adds up to 108 watts. I understand a 100 watt panel & a 100AH battery will give me 1200 watts of power. I'm not setting up a commercial workshop, a pure sine wave is not need for what appliances I am going to run, a modified wave inverter will be fine for my usage.

          The best way I can describe what the intended use is, think of having LED lights set up if you were camping, that's how much power I would need.

          Andy.

          Comment

          • SunEagle
            Super Moderator
            • Oct 2012
            • 15126

            #6
            Originally posted by Green Hog
            Thanks for the replies, unforunately not answering my question.

            I will not be in the garage working full time, only on weekends about 10 hours in total, the only appliances that will be on whilst I am working will be the 2 optimates & the 2 LED lights.

            A gen is not an option as the location of the garage is in a residential area & I'm sure the residents wouldn't appreciate the noise & pollution, for the amount of use I would use the power tools it doesn't make econmonic sence to buy them.

            Adding up the wattage of the appliances I will be using adds up to 108 watts. I understand a 100 watt panel & a 100AH battery will give me 1200 watts of power. I'm not setting up a commercial workshop, a pure sine wave is not need for what appliances I am going to run, a modified wave inverter will be fine for my usage.

            The best way I can describe what the intended use is, think of having LED lights set up if you were camping, that's how much power I would need.

            Andy.
            Your math is off. A 100Ah 12V battery can provide maybe 360watt hours a day (12V * 100Ah * 30% = 360wh) which can easily be used up with a 3500watt inverter. And a 100 watt panel will never put back what you take out of that battery. A 100watt panel can support a 55Ah battery but it is not enough for a 100Ah. And that 100Ah battery is not enough for your load usage.

            But hey it is your money and IMO you will find out the hard way that the battery will die quickly and it won't even light up those LEDs
            Last edited by SunEagle; 09-01-2021, 06:14 PM.

            Comment

            • bcroe
              Solar Fanatic
              • Jan 2012
              • 5203

              #7
              Brand H has some really quiet gen sets, should be no problem. An inverter style
              will not even rev up until you apply a serious load. Bruce Roe

              Comment

              • Mike90250
                Moderator
                • May 2009
                • 16020

                #8
                You listed a bunch of power tools, any of which need a seriously large PV system.

                Now you are backing off and just some lighting..

                > x2 - Optimate 4 battery chargers - 0.384 watts (these will be on constanly, when the bikes aren't being ridden)
                That wattage is wrong. it's not 0.4 watts, it's closer to 104 watts, if the 4 batteries are being trickle charged at 2A each. The chargers will likely require pure sine wave,
                on mod-sine, they may last 10 minutes and then fry. All depends on their internal construction. Cheap out and take your chances.
                2 chargers, you will need 300W of PV just to run the chargers.

                Same with the Grinders and other motors. They will run on mod sine for a while. Then overheat and die.


                Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
                || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
                || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

                solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
                gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

                Comment

                • checkthisout
                  Member
                  • Mar 2019
                  • 76

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Green Hog
                  Thanks for the replies, unforunately not answering my question.

                  I will not be in the garage working full time, only on weekends about 10 hours in total, the only appliances that will be on whilst I am working will be the 2 optimates & the 2 LED lights.

                  A gen is not an option as the location of the garage is in a residential area & I'm sure the residents wouldn't appreciate the noise & pollution, for the amount of use I would use the power tools it doesn't make econmonic sence to buy them.

                  Adding up the wattage of the appliances I will be using adds up to 108 watts. I understand a 100 watt panel & a 100AH battery will give me 1200 watts of power. I'm not setting up a commercial workshop, a pure sine wave is not need for what appliances I am going to run, a modified wave inverter will be fine for my usage.

                  The best way I can describe what the intended use is, think of having LED lights set up if you were camping, that's how much power I would need.

                  Andy.
                  You can get a little Honda 2200 watt inverter generator for less than you will spend on your system and have plenty of power to run your tools.

                  For your lights, you could get a battery charger and just keep a couple Group 31's powering some cheap 12V led spotlights. They will run off the batteries for several hours. Whenever you fire up your gen just make sure the charger is plugged in and it will top the batteries back off.

                  Like others have said though and what I said above, just get a generator or if you're hell bent, just get a 3000 watt inverter (with 6k surge) and run it off your car battery. That would be fine if all you have to do is make a few cuts but then you're over half the cost of a generator sooo.......

                  Comment

                  • Green Hog
                    Junior Member
                    • Aug 2021
                    • 12

                    #10
                    Thank you again for the replies.

                    Can anyone give me a list of what equipment I need to run my 2 optimate 12v battery chargers & 2 50 watt LED lamps please?

                    Many thanks,

                    Andy.

                    Comment

                    • Mike90250
                      Moderator
                      • May 2009
                      • 16020

                      #11
                      No.
                      You need to tell us how much power the battery charges consume, and for how many hours ( example : 300w for 24 hours, or whatever they use )
                      How many hours do you want the 100w of LED lighting to run

                      Then, with those numbers, we can calculate how many PV panels and what size battery you need.
                      We'll guess you get just 5 usable solar hours in the winter and no clouds ever and size it from there.
                      Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
                      || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
                      || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

                      solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
                      gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

                      Comment

                      • SunEagle
                        Super Moderator
                        • Oct 2012
                        • 15126

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Green Hog
                        Thank you again for the replies.

                        Can anyone give me a list of what equipment I need to run my 2 optimate 12v battery chargers & 2 50 watt LED lamps please?

                        Many thanks,

                        Andy.
                        I understand that you want a solution but we need more information as Mike has asked. Just providing what you have is not enough data.

                        Comment

                        • Green Hog
                          Junior Member
                          • Aug 2021
                          • 12

                          #13
                          OK, to reiterate, the two chargers will be on 24 / 7, apart from when I will be out riding, the total output is 0.384 watts, the 50w LED lights will be on for approximately 10 hrs. per week. Does this help?

                          Comment

                          • SunEagle
                            Super Moderator
                            • Oct 2012
                            • 15126

                            #14
                            Originally posted by Green Hog
                            OK, to reiterate, the two chargers will be on 24 / 7, apart from when I will be out riding, the total output is 0.384 watts, the 50w LED lights will be on for approximately 10 hrs. per week. Does this help?
                            Somewhat. Based on that info your daily watt hour load is about 150 watt hours. That is a very reasonable amount. I would say build a solar/battery system that can produce 4 times that amount or 600 watt hours which is about a 200ah 12v battery (2 x 6V wired in series) , a 30 amp CC and either 400 watts of solar panels (wired in parallel) with a PWM CC or 250 watt of panels with an MPPT type CC.

                            Don't forget that with more than 2 items (panels or strings) wired for the CC you will need separate fusing for each string. So while you may pay less for a PWM type CC you will also pay more for solar panels and fusing. That is a choice you have to make.

                            If your estimated watt hour usage is higher then expect a bigger battery system (more than 200Ah) and more panel wattage.

                            Comment

                            • Green Hog
                              Junior Member
                              • Aug 2021
                              • 12

                              #15
                              Thank you.

                              Is this a good starting point - eBay item number: 324251259536, with two deep cycle 12v 100AH batteries wired together?

                              Andy.

                              Comment

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