Saturday at home, installing an inverter

[IMHO]

techo, I understand mppt is also very important. Maybe someone can explain.

[Justloadit]

techo, I understand mppt is also very important. Maybe someone can explain.

MPPT Maximum Power Point Tracking

[daveob]

techo, I understand mppt is also very important. Maybe someone can explain.

also a good laymans explanation here :

http://www.solar-electric.com/mppt-solar-charge-controllers.html

[daveob]

In case anyone following this post is interested in the idea I mentioned, I have just created a new post.

MainsDelay is now a GO project.

http://www.theforumsa.co.za/forums/showthread.php/18563-Mains-Delay-Life-After-Loadshedding

[Voicesource]

those prices are very expensive . i sell the 5kva axpert for cheaper than the 3kva you have being quoted on. i install as well. i use the bosch 105AH 12 volt batteries. 4 in series.
the 5kva model can be paralleled up to 6 inverters and has a built in powerful mppt solar charger.
i am however looking for enclosed battery cases for 4 batteries. i have been making my own.

Hi Bergie,

I was interested in your Xpert inverters from Voltronic power. Do you have stock and if s at what prices?

[bergie]

hi voicesource . at the moment i am also paying a fortune for the last few inverters. supply and demand. stock comes in at the end of the month. i dont really sell them loose,only with installation.

[smitty]

UPS is great when the mains fails, but on restore, the batteries are 'switched off' and mains supply, no matter how dirty and nasty, is sent directly to my PC. Had 2 PCs in the last 18 months that popped when power came back on.

That depends entirely on your UPS. A UPS need not only intervene to supply electricity from battery when the supply fails but it can also intervene when the power is too dirty (spikes, drops, etc).

The cheap and cheerful UPSes are probably only going to provide power in the event of power failure.

[smitty]

Hi tec0

As a general run of thumb, you can work on the following :

assuming 2 x 12V 105aH deep cell batteries, connected in series.
So you get a 24V x 105aH power source.
24V x 105aH = 2520 watts of power. But that is from fully charged to absolutely completely dead - dead as in destroyed )
<snip>
So 2520 watts x 50% = 1260 watts ( usable battery power ).

Do you mean watts or whatt hours?

Hi tec0
In case you didn't know, batteries have different life expectancy based on rate of discharge.
Pull that 1260 watts from the battery in 10 minutes every day, and the battery might last 1 year.
Pull same 1260 watts from the battery over 2 hours every day, and it may last 10 years.

Battery capacities are often specified at their 20 hour rate. E.g. 105 amp hours at 20 hours means it will supply 5.25 amps for 20 hours.

In such a case you're going to struggle to draw half the battery's capacity in 10 minutes. It's not a capacitor. ;-)

[daveob]

Battery capacities are often specified at their 20 hour rate. E.g. 105 amp hours at 20 hours means it will supply 5.25 amps for 20 hours.
In such a case you're going to struggle to draw half the battery's capacity in 10 minutes. It's not a capacitor. ;-)

Hi smitty

Sorry, I assumed it would be understood that I was not quoting real / exact / calculated numbers. I was making a comparison to show, by example, that the battery that is discharged faster will have a shorter lifespan.

[daveob]

That depends entirely on your UPS. A UPS need not only intervene to supply electricity from battery when the supply fails but it can also intervene when the power is too dirty (spikes, drops, etc).

The cheap and cheerful UPSs are probably only going to provide power in the event of power failure.

Yes. The majority of typical household / small office UPSs that I have seen work in the 'cheapie' fashion. The mains input is connected DIRECTLY to the UPS output. The pics posted a few days ago of the UPS circuits also confirm this.

Unfortunate that the average user does not know this and thinks the UPS is 'protecting' their PC. It is not.

[ACEsterhuizen]

Congratulations guys now I am am back to properly fragmented with serious RAM issues. Most of the tech guys I buy ups's from cannot even answer these questions. (eg Types Of UPS's)

What is the most common type of ups's we use locally? And which one would be the most effective (cost and other) to use?

[smitty]

Congratulations guys now I am am back to properly fragmented with serious RAM issues. Most of the tech guys I buy ups's from cannot even answer these questions. (eg Types Of UPS's)

What is the most common type of ups's we use locally? And which one would be the most effective (cost and other) to use?

Most popular is Line Interactive because it's cheap and works pretty well.

Don't bother with Standby. That is very old technology and any small saving isn't worth it. Basically it switches to battery when the power drops of spikes sufficiently.

Online (double conversion) is expensive to buy and uses more power to run. It produces beautiful, clean output power though. It can also clean up dirty power without going to battery. Good for running expensive servers and medical equipment off dirty power (e.g. from small generators).

Line interactive is pretty much in between then two. Both cost wise to buy and run and also ability. It does require the use of battery power when the power is dirty.

Note that even within the categories you'll get different price and performance points. A good quality Line Interactive UPS will beat the pants of a cheapie. Things like how quickly it kicks in, battery size, how long it can run for before overheating, etc.

[ACEsterhuizen]

why is this technology so "primitive" ? (joke)

[blackknight72]

Hi, I had a major setback with the installation of my inverter. When the setup was finished, the inverter flashes an error message showing battery overcharging. Any idea what could be the cause. The batteries are Trojan T125s with Axpert inverter. Thanks in advance!

[AndyD]

Did you set the battery type to flooded in the program menu? I think it's perameter 05 should be set to 'FLD' for lead acid baytteries but check in your manual. If it already is then try setting to 'user defined' and set the low alarm and other voltages manually later in the program.