Inverter or Solar panel sales and install - Sosua/POP area?

trina

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Jan 3, 2002
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Does anyone know of any people who are selling the above products in the Sosua area? A friend is wanting to break into the market, and considering making Sosua one of his selling points. Can anyone tell me who sells them in the area?

I think I read something about MrMike (who the friend happens to know, I believe) installing inverters or something, but upon searching, couldn't find the thread.

Any info provided would be very helpful.

Thank you!
 

Rocky

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Freddy's sells inverters & batteries, and I believe there's another store on the way down to Sosua Abajo.
I don't know if they sell solar panels.
PS: Just noticed that you were asking about POP as well. There are several dealers in POP.
 

trina

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Jan 3, 2002
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Thank you guys very much!

This friend can by them (1.5 K) for $75 US - by the time you add shipping, handling, and customs...he might be able to make a good business out of it. I just don't know if 1.5K would be sufficient power?
 

mountainfrog

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Inverters

This friend can buy them (1.5 kW) for $75 US - by the time you add shipping, handling, and customs...he might...
... as well forget about it and need medication. ;)
(You are now talking about inverters and not solar panels, right?)

There's a range of different models with different wattage (1,5 kW is a medium size) and various makes (Xantrex - formerly Trace- being the most renowned and most expensive ones).

Inverters are locally made, too.

As far as I know Mike no longer is in that business but knows all about it and can certainly tell you what your friend can expect.

m'frog
 
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Rocky

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Thank you guys very much!

This friend can by them (1.5 K) for $75 US - by the time you add shipping, handling, and customs...he might be able to make a good business out of it. I just don't know if 1.5K would be sufficient power?
1.5 k can service a lot of applications, but what he is talking about, is NOT what we call an inverter.
 

Rocky

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The price does not suggest it really.

When it comes to driving pumps 1,5 kW is not that much (considering the multiple Amps on start).
We use two synchronized inverters (for 230 V) of 3,6 kW each...

m'frog
Lots of people use 1.5k units, and only hook up low consumption devices.
No pumps, (they'll have a tenaco for water supply back up) no fridge, (they'll buy a good fridge that stays cold for a long time, and in extreme situations, may plug the fridge into the system to kool it off or buy ice)
You can easily power a 2 bed house, with TV's, computers, fans & lights. (low consumption bulbs)
I did it myself for 3 years with 4 batteries and it was great.
The real point here is the $75 unit is not an inverter.
That term has been misused repeatedly for the last few years, including right on the package the unit comes in.
For is to be an inverter, it has to work both ways.
That is to say, that it takes DC battery power and converts it into 110/120 volt AC, during power failures, then when the power returns, it would switch over automatically and charge the batteries.
The $75 unit would be a converter, not an inverter, as it would not include a battery charger for that price.
The battery charger in my Trace/Xantrex 3.6k is 100 amps.
You couldn't even dream of buying a 100 amp charger for $75, even less have it include a converter.
Then there's quality factors.
From the cheapest to the best is a 20 to 1 price & quality ratio.
There are multiple factors that make an inverter good or bad or medium.
It's efficiency should be mentioned.
For instance, if it suffers a 20% loss when inverting, as opposed to a unit that suffers a 50% loss, just imagine the difference that would make on your electricity bill.
Then there's how it charges the batteries.
If it is not staged, at least to 3 levels, you will be buying batteries more frequently.
At an average $85 a pop, if you're running a 12 battery configuration (I run 24) and you go through them twice as fast and have to buy new ones every year and a half instead of three years, then you will be tossing out an additional $1,000 per three years.
Then there's the noise factor.
Some inverters make so much noise they are damn disturbing.
Then there's the capacity to handle momentary excessive loads or power surges.
Then there's the unit's ability to make sinewave, or quasi sinewave.
Too much square wave and some things simply will not work, or not work well, or you'll get so much buzz from your fans that it will give you a headache.
Then there's reliability.
Invariably, they break down on Saturday nights in our SNAFUed world, and you land up being without back up power for a few days.

Should I go on?

There's no reinventing the wheel here.
The Trace/Xantrex inverters even bear a special code for this country, which is extremely hard on inverter systems, as our power grid is so unreliable and whacked out.
For instance, my unit is a DR3624.
DR stands for Dominican Republic.
36 is is short for 36 hundred watt (3.6K)
24 is the base voltage in the battery configuration.
That is to say that one hooks up 4 six volt batteries in series to get 24 volts DC, then parralels other groups of 4 to increase amperage and durability (time of operation).
The unit is specialized for DR abuse.
You buy cheap, you get cheap, and cheap always lands up costing more.
 

trina

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Wow, thank you to you both for the great info. You are WAY over my head as I have no idea about ANY of this stuff, but my friend will appreciate it. I guess I didn't mention that the inverter (or converter, whatever it is) is made in China, and shipped from China :ermm: , so of course shipping costs will be a b! The same applies to the solar panels, and I don't know what price he was quoted for these. All I know is that he installed a whatchamacallit ;) for his mother about a week ago, and has orders for 14 more because everyone around the RSJ area wants one, now that they've seen the mother's work. The $75 cost to Frankie is dependant on an order of 200.

I mentioned MrMike's name to Frankie - is his wife's name Jenny? If so, my friend knows MrMike, and they will probably talk more about this.

Thank you again for taking the time to write out all this info, you guys are great! Frankie will definitely appreciate it.
 

Rocky

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I guess I didn't mention that the inverter (or converter, whatever it is) is made in China, and shipped from China :ermm: , so of course shipping costs will be a b! The same applies to the solar panels, and I don't know what price he was quoted for these.
That's a whole other ballgame.
The charging process is handled by the solar panels, thus only needing a converter, and not an inverter.
$75 is not an abnormal price for that type of device.
I hope these products from China are higher grade than the Chinese vehicles we are starting to see here in the DR, both bikes & cars, that are so substandard that they are considered disposable, like a disposable lighter.
 

trina

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That's a whole other ballgame.
The charging process is handled by the solar panels, thus only needing a converter, and not an inverter.
$75 is not an abnormal price for that type of device.
I hope these products from China are higher grade than the Chinese vehicles we are starting to see here in the DR, both bikes & cars, that are so substandard that they are considered disposable, like a disposable lighter.

Actually, I'm not so sure about that, Rocky, because he didn't install the solar panels in his mother's house. They broke in-transit, so the whatchamacallit is running by itself. His explanation to me is that they are two seperate products.

As for the quality, I wouldn't know - all I know is that his mom likes it ;) :cheeky:. Also, Frankie is quite intelligent and business-savvy. His friend Jorge ships these same products to Mexico, and let's just say he's doing rather well for himself.
 

Rocky

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Actually, I'm not so sure about that, Rocky, because he didn't install the solar panels in his mother's house. They broke in-transit, so the whatchamacallit is running by itself. His explanation to me is that they are two seperate products.

As for the quality, I wouldn't know - all I know is that his mom likes it ;) :cheeky:. Also, Frankie is quite intelligent and business-savvy. His friend Jorge ships these same products to Mexico, and let's just say he's doing rather well for himself.
Mexico is a whole other world.
The DR's electrical needs are unique.
Nevertheless, he can give it a try.
And you're right.
Solar panels and watchamacallits are two different things.
 

trina

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Mexico is a whole other world.
The DR's electrical needs are unique.
Nevertheless, he can give it a try.
And you're right.
Solar panels and watchamacallits are two different things.

lol-you make me laugh. you know what I mean!

And you are very right. The electrical needs of the DR are definitely different than those of Mexico.
 

Chris

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Oct 21, 2002
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Trina, why not send one inverter/converter watchamacallit thingy down here for us to test and figure out what it is? Alternatively give us some pics or technical specs.

Just another perspective, the price quoted could also be a base price of 75 bucks per 1.5 kW. Then our 3.5 inverters would cost out to 1.5 x 75 = 262.50, which could be an ex factory price for bulk purchase?. On top of that would be shipping, duties and mark-up.

Trina, there are many 'corner shops' here that actually make inverters. The quality is perhaps variable and that is why most of us are so married to the Trace/Xantrex units.
 

zak023

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Feb 8, 2006
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Solar distributer

In Sosua these guys have a buisness....They have be selling for awhile.....Solar power and everything else needed.....

Sol Luz Dominicana
809-571-2447
809-571-2411
 

MrMike

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I tried some cheap Chinese inverters once, the price was phenomenal and unfortunately you get what you pay for.

There is no way a 75 dollar inverter is going to have a sturdy enough transformer to go the distance in the DR.

Typically these are designed for occasional use on a boat, RV or camping trip, and are flimsy even for that.

For serious use in a constantly running household install you may get a month out of them if you are lucky but a couple of weeks is what I would expect. Add the cost and hassle of setting up your own charging solution and you are right back to where you started where it's better and cheaper to buy an inverter designed for use in the DR.

Now as far as importing them goes you are at a serious disadvantage. Customs is most likely going to charge you taxes based on the retail value of a "real" 1.5 kilo inverter (since they don't care what you paid for it) and as I recall that was a little over 1,000 dollars a couple years ago, I hear rumors they are padding these values to make up for some lost income. So your friend is most likely going to be paying at least 160 dollars each in sales tax alone to import these inverters, now his cost is 235 per unit plus shipping and I am sure he doesn't want to sell them at cost.

A local 1.5 kilo inverter is selling for about that wholesale last time I checked and while it may not be as good as a Xantrex I'll take a Dominican inverter over a Chinese one (for use in the DR) any day.
 

trina

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Jan 3, 2002
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Thanks again, everyone, for your valuable advice. I am going to send this link to my friend, and since he knows more about them than I do, he can respond and think about your advice before making a big purchase.

Thanks for the offer, Chris, he does have one testing at his mother's house right now that is apparently working great. I agree that with the info I've provided, it is hard to advise anyone, so I appreciate yours and everyone else's offers and advice, as well as those who have posted salespeople in the area. You're a great bunch.

Thanks also for the answer in my PM, Mike. Your experience on this topic is very valuable, and I hope my friend knows what he may be getting himself into. I agree that Customs will be the hardest part of this transaction - as I responded in my PM, his aunt works (or worked? not absolutely clear on this) in Customs, so he may get a break there.