Need help with solar power charged battery project.?

Question

I'm trying to push 1600W for 8 hours every day using ten 12V [solar]batteries (120V) . Then I'm planning on using a solar panel array to charge the batteries during off-time.

I figure I would draw 13 Amps to juice 1600W.

I found a deep cycle battery that runs 12 Volts at 100 Amp-Hours which would give me a 1200 Watt-Hour capacity (more than enough). Additionally, I figured that I could run for 8 hours using 13 Amps at 120 Volts.

These specs seem to provide for my needs as I'm looking at installing 10 of these batteries (12V) in a series to give me 120V total output while able to run for 8 hours at a time.

The question is, how do i measure the amount of output needed by solar powers to re-charge the batteries to full? I saw a 125W 12V Solar Panel, how many of these do I need? And also, using this math, how much sunlight-time would I need to fully charge the batteries using the solar panels?

I understand I can always oversupply, but I want to remain cost efficient. Thanks.

Answer 1

I'm interested in this myself Solar power that is.However I am pretty much a noob Anyways I found this site Hope it answers your question:http://solar.wiseowlnetworks.us/Current_...

Answer 2

well.. solar power is much too expensive and we have no actual control over it, like taking in too much heat...

idk anything about measuring the amt of output,.. but i sure hope u figure it out soon..=]

Answer 3

There are web sites that provide calculators based on zip code so you can estimate the efficiency and available kW per day per square meter.

The rated wattage of te panel is pretty much best case.  Figure on about 1.5X the average power consumption

1600*1.5/125

20 panels.

As to battery storage, you will need a charge controller.  These will function at 12, 24 or 48 V.  They insure that the solar panels are delivering enough voltage so that the batteries charge.  Diodes between panels are also required.

To get 120V, I recommend an inverter that will take 12, 24, or 48 vDC and generate 120v AC.  These also can be purchased as "grid-tie", that will generate power in phase with the supply and cut off in case of power failure on the grid.

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Answer 4

can't really help you with your questions, but would want to give some tips on other matters:

you might want to use 24 V batteries, depending on how "long" you e;ectricity lines are.. the longer, the more loss, is why...

Also, don't put the batteries in parallel, it makes them less efficient, as they differ in quality and one battery can "drain" power from th e others.. Instead, charge them one by one (or  x by x if you have x batteries in series).

something like that...