Let there be light

[Bennie Vorster]

If Any one is interested in placing orders for 12 Volt to 220 Volt Inverters.

Place your orders now and be on stand by with your deposits. My stock is araiving in TWO WEEKS Time.

Prices is excl Vat and Delivery cost.

200 Watt = R 306.10
300 Watt = R 439.90
500 Watt = R585.00
RECOMENDED
1000W = R980.00
1500W = R1280.00
2000W = R 1780.00
3000W = R 2880.00
6000W = R 5600.00

[Koevoet]

What tipe of battery bank do you need for example 3000watt.

[Bennie Vorster]

It all depends on The average Amperage you need to draw from the Battery per Hour and for how long you need the supply. The least of your problems will be to power up the lights, with the new available low wattage globes you will be able to supply 15 globes at once with a 120 Watt inverter. I'm using a normal car battery and you can simply Double up if you need to extend the hours it needs to supply.

[Rudix]

What tipe of battery bank do you need for example 3000watt.

To produce 3000W from an inverter running off a 12V battery would require 250A ! (A=W/V), this is assuming 100% efficiency, if you are lucky you will get about 85-90%.

So, running from a "normal" car battery, lets say 65AH, you won't provide more than 15 minutes of power at 3000W (You have a good chance of boiling the battery !)

Even a 105AH, deep cycle battery would give you less than 25 minutes.

Inverters are magic, I have a 2800W sine wave inverter but make no mistake, you need plenty battery capacity. My inverter runs from a bank of 8 x 105AH deep cycle batteries, the batteries are kept charged under normal circumstances by a 14A solar panel or by a 6.5KVA generator.

Let there be light :D
Rudi

[Bennie Vorster]

Rudi

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepage ... hmslaw.htm

[Koevoet]

Inverters are magic, I have a 2800W sine wave inverter but make no mistake, you need plenty battery capacity. My inverter runs from a bank of 8 x 105AH deep cycle batteries, the batteries are kept charged under normal circumstances by a 14A solar panel or by a 6.5KVA generator.

Rudi How long does it last u.

[DarkHelmet]

Do you wire the batteries in serial or parallel?

[Rudix]

Inverters are magic, I have a 2800W sine wave inverter but make no mistake, you need plenty battery capacity. My inverter runs from a bank of 8 x 105AH deep cycle batteries, the batteries are kept charged under normal circumstances by a 14A solar panel or by a 6.5KVA generator.

Rudi How long does it last u.

Hi Jaco,

I do not use the full 2800W all the time. With my reduced load, around 1500W, it will run for about 6.5 hours but in practice it will be a bit less since the battery voltage drops as the batteries run down till you get to the point where the inverter will complain that the input voltage is to low and it will switch off.

Still, more than what is needed most of the time, if things get bad there is always the generator but I do not like the noise. When I was sailing I used the engine and generator as little as possible, running equipment and lights almost all the time from the batteries and solar panels.

[Rudix]

Do you wire the batteries in serial or parallel?

Parallel, giving you 12V @ about 840AH

Take note that if you run the bank down it will take 60 hours of midday sun to recharge In practice it takes about a week, if I run it down I would normally supplement the solar charger with a heavy duty AC one as well to be ready in time for the next outage.

[Slabfish]

Rudix you sound like the man that can give me some advise , I have to replace my 220v unit with a new garage door electric unit that operates with a 12v motor that would set me back R2200 . I want to know if you think it is a better idea to go the inverter way rather and also what size inverter i would need to operate my 220v unit, also how many 12v deep cycle batteries will I have to run and what is the life expectancy of the battery's .The advantage in the inverter way i thought would be that i can run a couple of other essentials like TV and computer on it.I would also build the inverter unit to be portable so-that i can use it for outdoor use. :D I don't want to go the gene way ,if I can avoid it I will.

[Koevoet]

My garage door motor had a point where I just added a 24v batt. (DC Blue)

The batt cost me around R300-400 bucks. Works excellent with the power outs.

[Boer]

I have been investigating the possibility of installing solar to run my whole
house - I was told that I would need 4 x 100A/H batteries with 4 x 80W
solar panels, I would also have to get a solar water heater and get a gas
fired hob for cooking. The price of such an setup would cost about 60K.
If you consider that you pay around R800 a month for electricity it would
take 75 months for return on your investment, not counting replacing the batteries as they dont last forever.
Question: Do you think this is a viable option or should one just sit out this load shedding with emergency lighting and hope things improve.

[Bennie Vorster]

R 1200.00 per 105 AH Deep cycling battery + 2000 W inverter R 1900.00 + High amp age battery charger R1800.00

All that equals 30 to 45 min of operating time. How mush does you like your luxuries at home?
At my office this is essential for I have 10 Computers running are the same time and I need to use the converter for uninterrupted switch over between the mains and the generator.

As I say only lights is the lease of your problems. It runs at about next to nothing Amps. But the thing you have to look at is 1. Geyser, 2 tumble dryer, kettle, hair dryer. Did you know that your hair dryer consumes more power than your automatic washing machine?

[Leprachaun]

Forget the inverters guys , soon there will be plenty used Rotaxes available to run the alternators , just think seeing we cant fly , we can buzz the next doors with the sound of Freedom - a rotax doing its best to lighten up the dark african continent , Leprachaun-
Ps i have a 1kw inverter and it works like a charm