Amon solar sets

[taninthai]

Hi these solar sets any good or a waste of time only need to power fridge ,fan and lights

 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by taninthai

[Crossy]

Are you intending to be completely off-grid or just for emergency use? 

 

If emergency only how long will you need to power the kit for?

 

 

[taninthai]

14 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Are you intending to be completely off-grid or just for emergency use? 

 

If emergency only how long will you need to power the kit for?

 

 

We don’t have any electric where we are we run generators 6pm to 8am ,during low season only 2 people stay at the place so trying to get a solar setup so no need to run generator,  so would need to power lights , fan  and small fridge 24 hours aday every day

[Crossy]

Ok let's do some quick-and-dirty calculations.

 

Fridge = 2 kWh per 24 hours

Lights - say 20W of LED on for 12 hours = 0.5 kWh per 24 hours

Fan - 80W for 24 hours = 2kWh per 24 hours.

 

So you will use roughly 4.5 kWh per day.

Your panels need to put that into the batteries in about 5 hours, so you're looking at about 1200 W of panels and a suitable charge controller.

 

Assuming 12V batteries, to store 4500Whr that's 375 Ahr, but we don't really want to go below 30% discharge so that's 1100 Ahr of 12V batteries (it's the same number of batteries no matter how they are configured). If you have 48V controller and panels you could use 12 x  100Ahr batteries in 3 banks of 4.

 

Your peak consumption (including the start current of the fridge) isn't going to be more than about 1,500W, so a 1.5kW inverter should do the trick but it needs to be pure-sine to keep your motors happy.

 

Note that the above only gives you around one day of autonomy, a dull day may mean you need to run the genset.

 

 

[taninthai]

So it would kill them batteries pretty quick as they are only 100ahr each,would really need to step up to bigger system like one below and then it’s quite a bit more cost.

 

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, taninthai said:

So it would kill them batteries pretty quick as they are only 100ahr each,would really need to step up to bigger system like one below and then it’s quite a bit more cost.

 

The Pack 14 would certainly be in the ball park, it really depends upon what your usage actually is, I made some pretty broad assumptions. 

 

[Crossy]

A thought. 

 

If you get one of those Kill-A-Watt type meters you can check your actual consumption in "low-season" mode by running the genset.

 

That would allow you to better tailor your solar to what you actually use.

 

[taninthai]

In reality the lights are only gonna be on for 5 to 6 hours ,I will have to look into this a bit more,tell them to lose the fridge????????????,the original idea was we will spend 20,000 bht on diesel running the generator over 3 months in low season so maybe better to spend that money on a solar set up which we can also make use off for other stuff once low season finished

Some of the sets they have are 12v panels and 12vinverter and others 24v panels and 24v inverter.

what is the advantage that one has over the other.

would be interested to hear if anyone has purchased solar stuff from amorn before ..customer service ,reliability etc etc

Edited April 18, 2019 by taninthai

[Crossy]

The fridge is indeed likely to be the biggest overall user due to it being on 24/7, but if it's one of the little mini-bar type the consumption should be lower. If you already have it there should be a rating plate on the back and maybe it still has the energy consumption sticker.

 

Maybe amortize the cost over two low seasons, you could then spend 40k on a bigger system.

 

The higher voltage inverters will draw less current (and thus need thinner [cheaper] wires). 

1000W @ 12V =  83A

1000W @ 24V =  41.5A

1000W @ 48V =  21A

 

The bigger grid-tie systems tend to have 48V battery packs (4 x 12V) and solar strings of several hundred volts.

 

[shaemus]

On 4/18/2019 at 8:33 PM, taninthai said:

In reality the lights are only gonna be on for 5 to 6 hours ,I will have to look into this a bit more,tell them to lose the fridge????????????,the original idea was we will spend 20,000 bht on diesel running the generator over 3 months in low season so maybe better to spend that money on a solar set up which we can also make use off for other stuff once low season finished

Some of the sets they have are 12v panels and 12vinverter and others 24v panels and 24v inverter.

what is the advantage that one has over the other.

would be interested to hear if anyone has purchased solar stuff from amorn before ..customer service ,reliability etc etc

that inverter looks rubbish

 

https://www.supersolarz.com/index.aspx?pid=f0d91bcb-502c-450c-976b-4c22d678cf92

 

have a look here, this popped up in my feed today. the panels and rails are quite cheap but the on grid inverters are quite expensive. They do sell SMA  which is a brand i would recommend. Bear this in mind when you are converting from DC AC you will loose some Watts, and depending on the efficiency of the inverter and all of the conditions associated with that. it may be considerable. as would be the condition of the fridge etc etc..

 

I am personally looking into enphase micro inverters https://www.enphase-thailand.com/  for a small system. have a look, they do sell batteries, but they are specific to their equipment. they don't have stock of what i want currently but the pricing is not bad. the reason for the desision is adaptability. i am looking to offset my usage easily with having to install a full system and be left having to buy a new inverter if i want to make it bigger/smaller in the future.

 

Shaemus 

[shaemus]

23 hours ago, shaemus said:

I am personally looking into enphase micro inverters https://www.enphase-thailand.com/  for a small system. have a look, they do sell batteries, but they are specific to their equipment. they don't have stock of what i want currently but the pricing is not bad. the reason for the desision is adaptability. i am looking to offset my usage easily with having to install a full system and be left having to buy a new inverter if i want to make it bigger/smaller in the future.

i got a call back from Enphase thailand yesterday, they have stock of the cheaper microinverter i was looking for. the Guy spoke very good English and was extremely polite and helpful.

 

Hope this helps a little. i know this solution doesn't fit your needs entirley as you would need to add the Enphase  battery, but i really like the adaptability of the product. i dont currently know the price of the Battery system but i imagine it wouldn't be much different than Tesla etc etc, which are expensive, Also Li Ion is not my favoured storage tech. the lead acids you are looking at are well tested although one need to be careful when charging of the gas which is emitted that is Vs the potential of you Li Ion bursting into flames. 

 

There is an Aususie product called redflow which is made in Thailand which used a zinc bromide type solution, which has none of the above dangers. it has been developed into a consumer type unit and also scaleable unit 

 

Shamemus

[mogandave]

Could buy a freezer, put it on a timer and just make ice during the day...

[beddhist]

If you use LiFePO4 batteries they are safer than lead-acid (no acid or gas). You can discharge them a lot lower, so you need only a little more than half the rated capacity. Depending on how reliable the people are you leave in charge: lead batteries like in the picture must have distilled water refilled regularly.

[tjo o tjim]

For off-grid, the enphase microinverters aren’t necessarily the best choice, but there are similar DC devices to maximize power for each panel.

 

If you are trying to work to a budget, I would skimp on the batteries the first year and go for something closer to 500Ah battery.  Add timers on things so they don’t always run.  Upgrade the capacity with your savings in the second year, although without a separate charger you will age the new batteries much faster.

 

With panel prices as low as they are, using a deep freezer chest on a relay to only run when you have sun is a good option.

[Tagged]

How is it going? 

 

Anyone tried to get hold of a electric car Lithium battery pack, and use that in a set up with solar panel? 

Edited July 12, 2019 by Tagged