Solar panel help/info

AlterEgo · Oct 1, 2012

We're looking at Sharp solar panels, 240 watt each, 36 volt (at a great price), figure we'll ship them door-to-door. We have two inverters, one 24 volt and one 12 volt.

Can we use a 24 volt controller to connect to the one, and a 12 volt controller for the other?? The 36 volt in the panels is confusing us, and the guy who's selling these doesn't know diddly. A 36 volt controller doesn't seem to exist - at least we can't find one.

We have a small house, 3 br, 1 bath, ceiling fans, GE full size fridge, Whirlpool full size washer. How many panels should we be buying? Our inverter guy says one for each inverter to charge 4 batteries each, we're thinking we need more than that (?????)

Can anyone help?

Ringo · Oct 1, 2012

AlterEgo said:
We're looking at Sharp solar panels, 240 watt each, 36 volt (at a great price), figure we'll ship them door-to-door. We have two inverters, one 24 volt and one 12 volt.

Can we use a 24 volt controller to connect to the one, and a 12 volt controller for the other?? The 36 volt in the panels is confusing us, and the guy who's selling these doesn't know diddly. A 36 volt controller doesn't seem to exist - at least we can't find one.

We have a small house, 3 br, 1 bath, ceiling fans, GE full size fridge, Whirlpool full size washer. How many panels should we be buying? Our inverter guy says one for each inverter to charge 4 batteries each, we're thinking we need more than that (?????)

Can anyone help?

ROFL.... BIG TIME. After all that Wendeguy Olly, WW, donP, Yappy and so many others have posted on DR1. YOU have not been paying attention?

IF you have TWO different systems with different battery banks AND inverters that require DIFFERENT solar controllers... then you need two controllers.

I went through this with two different inverters with battery banks and TWO controllers. Dump one and go with one. As far as I know, different Voltage systems do not work well or intigrate with others. Not worth it and IMO... don't get near it.

Where are you located? Might be able to stop by with .... some of our guys and check you out.

YOU SHOULD NOT NEED TWO SYSTEMS AND THAT IS EXPENSIVE AND BEEN THEIR DONE THAT.

kind regards, ringo

william webster · Oct 1, 2012

There is not a person on the forum who knows 'squat' about solar.....

You need a professional...........:knockedou

Ringo · Oct 1, 2012

william webster said:
There is not a person on the forum who knows 'squat' about solar.....

You need a professional...........:knockedou

ww is offering but I think he is sipping a cold one on one of the North American Great Lakes watching the fall colors .... fall.

Another log on the fire ww. Nice to hear from you.

AlterEgo · Oct 1, 2012

Ringo, we KNOW we need 2 separate controllers. What we're confused about is what kind of controllers do we NEED to buy for a 250 watt 36 volt solar panel to charge 24 volt battery? I don't think I'm expressing myself correctly - can we use a 24 volt controller with a 36 volt solar panel to charge our 24 volt battery bank [that inverter is 24 volt]. We want to buy everything in the US, but want to be sure we buy the right thing.

We have 2 inverters because one [24 volt, 3.0 inverter] does only the refrigerator, the other [12 volt, 1.5 inverter] does the outlets and lights. Purchased separately, different years.

We're on the south coast, west of SD, in San Cristobal province, a long way from you :-(

Ringo · Oct 1, 2012

AlterEgo said:
Ringo, we KNOW we need 2 separate controllers. What we're confused about is what kind of controllers do we NEED to buy for a 250 watt 36 volt solar panel to charge 24 volt battery? I don't think I'm expressing myself correctly - can we use a 24 volt controller with a 36 volt solar panel to charge our 24 volt battery bank [that inverter is 24 volt]. We want to buy everything in the US, but want to be sure we buy the right thing.

We have 2 inverters because one [24 volt, 3.0 inverter] does only the refrigerator, the other [12 volt, 1.5 inverter] does the outlets and lights. Purchased separately, different years.

We're on the south coast, west of SD, in San Cristobal province, a long way from you :-(

Hummmph. Outback for around US price in the US is 600 plus for each controller. GO READ the other solar threads or... leave it to the DR1 team and our know experts and advisers.

HUMMMMPH> You DON"T need TWO SYSTEMS... huuuummmmph.

Let's see what my freinds say. hummmmph. We have worked as a group with that I have helped with and learned from.

STOP... what you are doing until others advise.

No... really. I'll come down and hope others will join me.

Can you put us up and can I bring 2 horses?

Ringo · Oct 1, 2012

Horses are a joke. I'm so busy doing other things that I don't have time for my horses and they have have kinda fit in my other comments. So don't go nuts. (oh my... i'm so used to dr1 people that i post things before they post things0

I'd be glad to come down and anyone can join me. I have a solar expert that I would bring also.

donP · Oct 1, 2012

Q's

AlterEgo said:
We have a small house, 3 br, 1 bath, ceiling fans, GE full size fridge, Whirlpool full size washer. How many panels should we be buying? Our inverter guy says one for each inverter to charge 4 batteries each, we're thinking we need more than that (?????)

Two panels? :laugh:
On a good day (= sunny, hardly any clouds) you could harvest max. 2.5 kWh from them.
That would be hardly enough to trickle charge your batteries.
[Today I had 14.9 kWh from my 12 panels @ 235Wp and it was a very good day.]

I also do not know what you aim at.
Total independence from a grid?
Just keep your batteries happy?
Help your batteries if their is a blackout? How long are they usually where you are?
What is your average daily consumption in kWh?

BTW, I don't like your mixture of 12, 24 and 36 V ....

donP

bienamor · Oct 1, 2012

AlterEgo said:
Ringo, we KNOW we need 2 separate controllers. What we're confused about is what kind of controllers do we NEED to buy for a 250 watt 36 volt solar panel to charge 24 volt battery? I don't think I'm expressing myself correctly - can we use a 24 volt controller with a 36 volt solar panel to charge our 24 volt battery bank [that inverter is 24 volt]. We want to buy everything in the US, but want to be sure we buy the right thing.

We have 2 inverters because one [24 volt, 3.0 inverter] does only the refrigerator, the other [12 volt, 1.5 inverter] does the outlets and lights. Purchased separately, different years.

We're on the south coast, west of SD, in San Cristobal province, a long way from you :-(

Contact Alex Minibouck at 829-452-4822 He sells panels here in Santo Domingo, along with installation, and the controlers. can explain the whole thing.

william webster · Oct 1, 2012

Ringo said:
ww is offering but I think he is sipping a cold one on one of the North American Great Lakes watching the fall colors .... fall.

Another log on the fire ww. Nice to hear from you.

Not a cold beverage to be found this time of year..... mulled wine is closer to it.

True, the Great Lake called "Huron" by the indians

But, yes again , the colors are turning - BIG TIME---
The end is near..........

Arborists all day, painter on sabbatical.

Yes, log is on the fire.

RD by Oct 18.....
Weather good enough = +/- 70 for the daytime.

My Quote
I was just 'stirring up' activity....

AlterEgo · Oct 1, 2012

bienamor said:
Contact Alex Minibouck at 829-452-4822 He sells panels here in Santo Domingo, along with installation, and the controlers. can explain the whole thing.

Thanks bienamor, we'll start there, Mr. AE will call him in the a.m., no answer tonight.

To Ringo:
The reason for the two inverters that we have is a long story. After we bought the 3.0 inverter and 4 trojan batteries, we flew home. Caretaker didn't check water, and what a mess. Supplier tried to save them, but they wouldn't fully charge anymore. We went back down, electric was off more than on, we were looking at buying 4 new batteries already, probably about $600/US.

About this time, we were offered a 2nd inverter, 1.5, with 4 batteries, all of it only used for 2 months, for $300. We decided to use the original inverter with the 4 crummy batteries for the refrigerator only. And that's how we got where we are today.

We're in NJ now, want to buy the panels and controllers here to save some $$$.

To donp:
Electricity where we live is pitiful. We get electric maybe from 7 am to noon, then off until late afternoon, then off again about 8, etc. We added a windmill last trip to help charge the batteries. We want to add the solar panels to help them some more.

Luperon · Oct 2, 2012

AlterEgo said:
We're looking at Sharp solar panels, 240 watt each, 36 volt (at a great price), figure we'll ship them door-to-door. We have two inverters, one 24 volt and one 12 volt.

Can we use a 24 volt controller to connect to the one, and a 12 volt controller for the other?? The 36 volt in the panels is confusing us, and the guy who's selling these doesn't know diddly. A 36 volt controller doesn't seem to exist - at least we can't find one.

We have a small house, 3 br, 1 bath, ceiling fans, GE full size fridge, Whirlpool full size washer. How many panels should we be buying? Our inverter guy says one for each inverter to charge 4 batteries each, we're thinking we need more than that (?????)

Can anyone help?

Is there a sale on panels that you can share?

Would love to buy some if priced right.

yapask1 · Oct 2, 2012

Not good to have two systems since efficient mppt charge controllers are expensive. One controller can handle two panels. For this size 12 volts would be good.

Use one inverter about 3 kwH or so to cope with peak load from fridge.

2 panels are great for a simple single dwelling. Just less than 1kWh per day for small fridge and about 0.6 kWh for everything else.
Arrange a switch over to grid supply in case of cloudy days.

panels ------ mppt controller ------- 12 volt battery bank ( 4 x 6V ) ------
up to 3 kWh inverter ---|--- appliance and light circuit ( 110 volt )
.............................switch to grid

yapask1

Ringo · Oct 2, 2012

AlterEgo said:
We're looking at Sharp solar panels, 240 watt each, 36 volt (at a great price), figure we'll ship them door-to-door. We have two inverters, one 24 volt and one 12 volt.

The solar panels don't determine the voltage. The controller does that. So you would need two controllers, one set for the 24 volt battery bank and one set for the 12 volt bank. You could put a knife switch in that you could disconnect all the batteries, reset the ONE controller from the 24 to 12 and then charge the other bank. Lots of work doing that and I'll bet someone screws up real fast.

Can we use a 24 volt controller to connect to the one, and a 12 volt controller for the other?? YES The 36 volt in the panels is confusing us, and me too and the guy who's selling these doesn't know diddly. A 36 volt controller doesn't seem to exist - at least we can't find one. The Outback controllers can be set for 12, 24, 36 or 48 to match your battery bank size.

We have a small house, 3 br, 1 bath, ceiling fans, GE full size fridge, Whirlpool full size washer. How many panels should we be buying? Our inverter guy says one for each inverter to charge 4 batteries each, we're thinking we need more than that (?????) A minimum of 4 panels per battery system. But I'm guessing that the best that your small inverter will power will be a few lights and a couple of fans. The fridge would be a stretch on the large inverter.

Can anyone help?

We are trying.

Another thing.... what setting was your inverter at to boil off all your battery water and for how long were they not inspected?

This is sounding more and more like.... start over with a new system that will work rather then putting band aids on what you have.

Ringo · Oct 2, 2012

Good Morning!

OutBack Power / Products / Charge Controllers / Flexmax

"Included in all of the FLEXmax Charge Controllers are the revolutionary features first developed by OutBack Power, including support for a wide range of nominal battery voltages and the ability to step-down a higher voltage solar array to recharge a lower voltage battery bank."

You will also need the correct breakers that are installed before the controller(s).

OutBack Power / Products / Integration Hardware / Breakers

And I know how far you are from me. :cheeky:

donP · Oct 2, 2012

Not kilo either

Ringo said:
"Included in all of the FLEXmax Charge Controllers..."

We are using 2 OutBack FLEXmax80_MPPT Charge Controllers.
So far they have been working very well.

yapask1 said:
Use one inverter about 3 kwH...up to 3 kWh inverter

Inverters are not rated in kWh.
But well, the Dominicans simply say KILO. :tired:

donP

Ringo · Oct 2, 2012

AlterEgo said:
Ringo, we KNOW we need 2 separate controllers. What we're confused about is what kind of controllers do we NEED to buy for a 250 watt 36 volt solar panel to charge 24 volt battery? I don't think I'm expressing myself correctly - can we use a 24 volt controller with a 36 volt solar panel to charge our 24 volt battery bank [that inverter is 24 volt]. We want to buy everything in the US, but want to be sure we buy the right thing.

We have 2 inverters because one [24 volt, 3.0 inverter] does only the refrigerator, the other [12 volt, 1.5 inverter] does the outlets and lights. Purchased separately, different years.

We're on the south coast, west of SD, in San Cristobal province, a long way from you :-(

Now that my coffee is working and I've read it all again; I'll correct myself.

ONE 3000 watt inverter will supply 25 amps. That SHOULD be enough for your whole house as long as you don't go nuts. NO washer, hair dryer, toaster oven type stuff.

IF this is used as a back-up system for blackouts then..... I recommend:

the single 3000 watt inverter. Check/change the charge settings.
4 solar panels with frames and mounting brackets.
1 controller with breakers.
CORRECT size of wires.
1 bank of 6 volt batteries/ 4 batteries for 24 volt system. (min. of one bank IF you conserve power. I'd go with two banks.)

What you think guys?

Ringo · Oct 2, 2012

donP said:
We are using 2 OutBack FLEXmax80_MPPT Charge Controllers.
So far they have been working very well.

Inverters are not rated in kWh.
But well, the Dominicans simply say KILO. :tired:

donP

I have 1 OutBack FLEXmax80 and it has done very well. With only 8 panels, I only need 1 controller.

windeguy · Oct 2, 2012

Suggestions would be to generate a power budget. How many kWh per month are you using. Then figure out how much want or need to get from solar panels and how much will be supplied by the utility and possibly an emergency backup generator as well . Then you can size your inverter, battery bank, charge controllers and number of solar panels.

I agree that one big inverter is a better way to go than 2 smaller inverters because it simplifies the overall system.

Ringo · Oct 2, 2012

windeguy said:
Suggestions would be to generate a power budget. How many kWh per month are you using. Then figure out how much want or need to get from solar panels and how much will be supplied by the utility and possibly an emergency backup generator as well . Then you can size your inverter, battery bank, charge controllers and number of solar panels.

I agree that one big inverter is a better way to go than 2 smaller inverters because it simplifies the overall system.

Excellant and a good idea. BACK into what you need and size your system.

During the day with only two people at my place we AVERAGE 3 amps with up to and additional 5 or so amps when a refer, water pump or elec. gate is being used. So we are using, at most, 8 to 10 amps for short periods of time.

At night we use and average of 6.5 amps due to watching TV, cooking dinner and breakfast, lights and higher water usage/pump. So we can have short periods using around 15 to 20 amps max.

Your inverter should be rated for around 25 amps so it should do the job.

With the OutBack controller, you can add more solar panels. You can change your inverter to a different voltage using the same controller and panels.

So now you have to figure how many battery banks that you will need. The more banks/batteries you have gives you more stored energy BUT you have to charge them. 4 panels will not give you a good charge on a lot of batteries so you would have to have grid or a small generator to get them up to full charge.

Solar panel help/info

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