Saturday at home, installing an inverter

[AndyD]

i see there are quite a few inverter installations on the golf estates. the inverter is connected to the electric golf cart. then there is no need to buy expensive batteries. obviously if you use the golf cart then you dont have back up at that time.the lead unplugs from the golf cart ,the inverter would be switched off and the changeover switch would be on eskom. can anybody see any reason not to do it like that?

I've also seen golf carts used as a DC power supply for a domestic back-up inverter. The golf cart I saw also had a few PV panels on its roof, I don't see any reason it shouldn't be done if you happen to have one kicking around.

lo Andy

ok if i dont wire the system into the building
use trunking and dont touch the main power
at all will it be ok to do this in my bedroom

just to keep the basics going 500watts max
i know a guy that sells truck batteries will
they work? 24volts batteries

my thinking is to add sun panels to the mix
and perhaps adding a smoke detector

if i move i want to take it all with me

I'm sure it would be fine to do this in your bedroom. Just wire it up with trailing leads, same as you would install a UPS, it will be easy to dismantle and take with you if you relocate.

Truck batteries aren't ideal, same as car batteries they're not designed to be cycled as deep as an inverter will drain them. If a car or truck battery is used as it's designed where it's drained less than 10% when starting the vehicle then immediately recharged back to full then they will last 5 years usually. I've seen whole banks of car batteries used on inverter systems where they're being drained 60-70% and they've been scrap after a couple of months only. Rather go with better rated deep cycle batteries, they're more expensive to buy but it will be a lot cheaper in the long run.

Adding solar panels is possible but it's expensive and you'll probably not recover the outlay with the energy savings they'll give you just on a back-up inverter. PV panels will also make the installation a lot more complex especially if your inverter isn't designed to have them connected directly into it. Maybe in the future PV panels would be a viable alternative to adding extra batteries if the load shedding times become much longer than they are now but I'd suggest keeping things simple will be the cheapest route for the occasional blackouts we're getting at the moment.

[bones]

i will look into it thanks

[bones]

lo Andy

ave look at this from "low price power alternative

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5442[/ATTACH]

i have no idea if this is right or not but
the bit that gets me is the solar panel
bit if this right then what stops the
inverter from pulling power directly from
the charger and solar panel

both the charger controller and the
inverter will be connected directly to the
battery do you need to disconnect the
charger before you can use it do you
leave it on will it damage the system i

have no clue

how does that work

[AndyD]

No, you can leave the charger connected. The inverter will draw power from both the batteries and the charger when its running but that's fine, the charger will only supply whatever is being generated by the PV panels and the remainder of the requirement will be drawn from the batteries until they become drained, at which point the voltage will drop to a point where the inverter will shut down.

[AndyD]

Well I'm very pleased with my setup, it performed beyond expectations yesterday evening when we had load shedding between 6pm and 8.30pm. All the back-up lights throught the house were running from 6.30pm onwards, all the office stuff like PC's, printers, routers, phones and laptops were running, the entertanment PC and the TV in the lounge was running, I used the coffee machine a couple of times and we cooked supper using the microwave and sandwich toaster for at least 20 minutes.

At the end of load shedding the batteries were cycled to less than 40% of their available power which was very encouraging. The recharge time was 5 hours so in theory we can run with 3 lots of load shedding per day on the setup I've got as long as the outages are spaced 4 or 5 hours apart.

Given that hopefully were're unlikely to encounter anything like 3 loadshedding periods in a day and given the ease with which the system coped for a 2.5 hour power outage I'm going to extend it this weekend to cover the fridge and freezer, the outdoor LED lighting which is 4x 10W floodlights, some homemade fairylights on the stoep and also the ceiling fan circuit which supplies a fan in every room throughout the house.

[bones]

thankyou Andy now i can get
started on getting parts

[HR Solutions]

thankyou Andy now i can get
started on getting parts

got a e-mail today from the person setting up
the move send me a bunch of stuff to fill in
and asked that i get started on my passport
next month he will be setting up possible
employers to speak to us and get a feel what
is expected of us and what we need so on

it is actually happening sh_t i never thought i
would go but here i am doing exactly that

i dont care about the color of the grass or
crime or politics it is just time to go

I thought you were packing up and leaving SA ?

[bones]

I thought you were packing up and leaving SA ?

can take up to 15 months in the
meantime i have a business to
run so that i can pay for stuff

my wife does graphic design and
takes her work home she does
freehand and pc sketch so she
needs her lightbox pc scanner
and all the rest working we cant
run a generator all the time

[Tonye]

Hi Andy,

Nice job.

Just completed an inverter installation for a client


Moved essential circuits from main DB to a Mini DB with Earth Leakage unit and a changeover switch.
Used a 24 v 2400 VA inverter with 2x 105amphour deep cycle batteries.

[AndyD]

Nice looking installation, your trunking is neater than mine

Looks like a lot of essential circuits in the back-up sub-DB.

[Tonye]

Nice looking installation, your trunking is neater than mine

Looks like a lot of essential circuits in the back-up sub-DB.

Thanks Andy,
the trunking is quite expensive but comes with all sorts of inside, outside bends & end caps.
Saves on having to mitre bends.
I have moved quite a few circuits. 3 light circuits & 5 plug circuits.
Client currently has 70x 50w down lights. This is being changed to 4 watt LEDs.
The plug circuits are feeding the following
Study ( small PC, Modem router, inkjet printer & a laptop.
Living room ( Led Tv, Dstv decoder & 2x table lamps)
Dining Room ( two table lamps)
Formal lounge ( 1x standing lamp, 1 table lamp)
Main bedroom ( 2x table lamps, 1 x led Tv)

The client is aware that when running in inverter mode, he cannot run everything simultaneously
but still has the convenience of being able to run most of his plug & light circuits.
Obviously when running from mains, there are no restrictions.
The system has been designed to allow an upgrade to a larger system if required.
When running essential items the changeover can be left in inverter mode to supply uninterrupted power supply
in the event of power failure.
Fridges, pool pump, air cons, microwave, washing m/c, dishwasher, geyser, stove etc have been left on Main DB.
I was fortunate that the circuits I moved did not include the above.
I was going to do a total changeover at the main DB, where the client turns off high current items prior changeover
but the Main DB is three phase and did not want to fiddle whith a 4 pole changeover with bridged connection on inverter mode. ( not sure if this would pass a COC)
One problem I had was when tracing neutrals for the lighting circuits, I found one light circuit that even after disconnecting all the neutrals still powered lights in certain lights. Obviously a major neutral to earth fault. Two of these lights are large chandeliers which can be reached easily.
I have informed the client to contact the electrician who issued the COC to rectify the problem.

[HR Solutions]

Hi Andy,

Nice job.

Just completed an inverter installation for a client
[ATTACH=CONFIG]5480[/ATTACH]



Moved essential circuits from main DB to a Mini DB with Earth Leakage unit and a changeover switch.
Used a 24 v 2400 VA inverter with 2x 105amphour deep cycle batteries.

What does something like this cost ?

[Tonye]

What does something like this cost ?

Total cost for this installation R22000.00 excl

[AndyD]

Thanks Andy,
the trunking is quite expensive but comes with all sorts of inside, outside bends & end caps.
Saves on having to mitre bends.

My trunking was recycled second-hand It was all I could find at the time and the installation was in my own office so I wasn't too worried.

I have moved quite a few circuits. 3 light circuits & 5 plug circuits.
Client currently has 70x 50w down lights. This is being changed to 4 watt LEDs.

Sounds sensible. Trying to accomodate 50w halogen downlights would be pointless and expensive. Every installation is different, you installed your inverter at the main DB and separated 8 circuits out into a back-up Sub DB, I installed my inverter very similar to installing a UPS where it supplies only my office circuit. The other supplies to the kitchen and lounge are run as temporary extension leads. This was just to keep the complexity down and to allow it to evolve easily for future, if it had been a customer installation we'd have also installed a subDB specifically for back-up and marshalled all the apporopriate circuit into there.

One problem I had was when tracing neutrals for the lighting circuits, I found one light circuit that even after disconnecting all the neutrals still powered lights in certain lights. Obviously a major neutral to earth fault. Two of these lights are large chandeliers which can be reached easily.
I have informed the client to contact the electrician who issued the COC to rectify the problem.

Yeah, pre-testing the circuits beforehand is critical. The lighting circuit probably has a borrowed or crossed neutral with another circuit, if it was an N-E insulation fault it should have shown up under normal testing if a CoC has been recently issued.

Total cost for this installation R22000.00 excl

I think your pricing is pretty good. I'm not sure what inverter you've used but I know if I was quoting to install the setup I outlined at the beginning of the thread it would be around R26 - 28K including labour. You've installed a subDB and changeover switch but I've got extra battery capacity and a larger inverter so it's swings and roundabouts.

[blackknight72]

help with installing inverter

Hello Andy,

I am considering installing a 3KW inverter system at my home. I must say I have found your inputs in the forum very educative and thank you for the same.

My initial considerations were Honda Inverter Generator Eu30i costing around R20000 versus an inverter. I abandoned the idea since it is not available locally here in East London and also due to issues pertaining to maintanance. I am planning to connect ( a fridge, tv, dstv, router, lights / all led and rarely a printer) I thought my power requirements are similar to your's or probably less.In your post you mentioned that a system like your's will cost more or less in the same price range. I received a quote for Axpert 3KVA unit with 4 trojan batteries including installation for R50000. The Axpert unit was quoted R17000 and the batteries (Trojan deep cycle cells) R20000 (R5000x4). This is beyond my budget at the moment.

Are you able to suggest any reliable units as well as batteries that can bring down the costs involved. I came across Maximus batteries which were quoted R1500 but I am not sure how reliable they are or the life expectancy for the same.

I am currently faced an occasional 1 or 2 hour long power cut. Hence after going through another post from you I was also considering voltronic unit 2kva to start off with and add another one as time goes by depending on my requirement. however I am unable to get any information on the particular unit or its price. I am also wondering if it would be a very expensive exercise to add more units.

I will greatly appreciate your feedback in the above matter.