📖 My Best-Selling book on Amazon: cleversolarpower.com/off-grid-solar-power-simplified 🎁 Free Diagrams: cleversolarpower.com/free-diagrams 12V 200Ah 5% discount EU use code 'clever': cleversolarpower.com/go/eu/red12V200Ah 12V 200Ah 5% discount US use code 'clever': cleversolarpower.com/go/us/red12v200ah
I want to purchase a 12.8V 300 Ah battery to add to my Ecoflow Delta Pro (3600 W). I would like to recharge the battery with a 720 W Ecoflow generator while it is being charged by a 400 W solar panel. Can this be done? Also, I live north of Houston if that is a factor. Thanks and I learn a lot from your videos!
What is your thoughts on gel batteries? Im wanting to setup a system for my wifes parents farm in the philippines. I'm going to buy things from shoppee to make this happen so im going to buy your book.
Hi Will a bigger panel cause issues? For example if sunny days you are getting 6 hours of sunlight then 400W solar panel would generate too much power. Will that be a problem for the battery or the charge controller? Do we need to adjust the charge controller? How many amps max to charge a 100ah lifepo battery? Can a 30A charge controller be too much and fry the battery? Can the better be charged directly with panel and solar charge controller without inverter?
Hi Nick, i have a food truck that i wanna use a 5000w inverter. How many solar panels, what amp voltage of solar panels charger amp and batteries voltage will need. Thank in advance
Thanks great info but I noticed that either your calculations are incorrect or there is some information missing for example 1280x 3.5 = 4480 and you had 365 am I missing something
Amazing explanation. For example, if I use 90Ah battery and after the calculations, it says that I need a 350 (about) watt solar panel, will it be a problem if I use a 410 watt one?
This chanel help me a lot by giving a scale and begining point . It is obvious i will need to adapt theory to reality as it is. Let see :-) Thanks for this chanel ! In my opinion, connecting in parallel costs more but gives more stability. Shade somewhere or one panel kaputt doesn't disrupt all the system.
Im learning and about to upgrade to Lithium ion batteries, BUT now hearing about 25v holds higher wattage???? What does this mean? I have 4x100watt solar panels. If the 100Ah 24v nattery holds double from the 100 12v does this mean i can't run something higher than 2560wh appliances? What if I had 2 24v 200ah batteries? Im wanting to run music gear some LeD lights and 38qt fridge freezer in my trailer and wish to have at least 800Ah and was going to buy the 230ah, 280ah, or 300ah single batthery and slowly buy tue rest later.
Higher voltage does not hold higher wattage. A 24V 100Ah battery holds double the energy than a 12V 100Ah because if we multiply them we can see they hold more energy. 24V*100Ah=2400Wh, and 12*100Ah=1200Wh. Wh or watt hour is an indication of energy stored, not power. I suggest watching my video about 12V, 24V or 48V battery systems.
@@cleversolarpower I decided to stick with a 300ah battery at 12volts. I watched a video by Will Prouse and got me so confused and frustrated as he said Id need 24v panels and all this other stuff so its easier to just stick with 12v and a 300am Lithium Iron battery. I already have 4x100watt panels with a renogy 40 amp Rover conrtoller and a 700watt inverter. I dont have the luxury to build any new system either, Im' in a van on a fixed income.
When calculating the cable size, how do you get to 10AWG? The calculator in the video shows 40V and 13.12A. How did you work out those values, please? I would have thought they would be 60v and 7A (400w/60v). Thanks
vmp = 20.2V Imp = 9.65A two panels in series = 40V @9.65A*1.56=15A (it should have been 15A instead of 13.12A -> my mistake) 1.56 is a safety factor for outdoor cables, otherwise it would have been 1.25 for indoor cables.
Lead-acid batteries are generally C20 or 0.05C. C10 is 0.1C so: 100Ah*0.1C= 10A max charge for optimal efficiency (no heat generation). 400W/14.6V*0.8=22A. 0.8 = actual power generation at noon with sun. So you should have 200W.
you should do the same for how long can you run an air conditioner on your batteries. with the assumption that the person gets something more common like a 12 thousand btu model. I'm trying to explain to a customer of mine that putting them on batteries along with her house would be a whole lot of extra power and battery storage that could otherwise be avoided by running a generator for a few hours a day. but she wants them to last all night. i am personally not sure about the surge wattage and so i can't tell her exactly what to do.
@@cleversolarpower i used the calculator on your website to show her that trying to design a system that can run two 21 seer 12 thousand BTU ACs( estimated to run at 571 watts apparently though im not sure for the surge) for 12 hours a day, with 3 days of autonomy would be prohibitively expensive. so i managed to convince her to keep the air conditioners for when they run the generators or to build a seperate solar array and battery bank for each one individually. i did that in part due to my fear and lack of knowledge in estimating larger systems. i don't know how many batteries in parallel are too many. particularly in regards to LiFePo4. i know for Lead acid ones going past three strands in parallel is not recommended due to the uneven charging as a result of the resistance in the connectors, and the subsequent formation of eddy currents. and i know that the BMS for the lithium batteries will help to mitigate that, but i have no idea how far that goes for them. like if her battery bank is 48vdc,583ah, i say 6 48v 100ah batteries, but she chooses to get the bigger system so she can have extra power leading to the system to become 48vdc,3212Ah, does that mean she should get the 32 batteries? ( we assume she has the money to do this at this point)
So if i have 2 12.8 volts 100 amps lithium life po4 batteries i need 800 watts of solar or will it stay 400 watts of solar when i put them in parallel? Greets from belgium
Awesome video I appreciate it. Got a new subscriber. Keep up the videos everyone learn something. A question I have is my lithium lifepo4 batteries. They are all 12v 100ah batteries. First question is to charge those types of batteries is there a maximum amps that should be used to charge these? I know that the more amps the harder it could be on the battery instead of slow charging it but I would like to know if I want to get it done quickly bc of time what is possible? I also wonder if having them together in parallel changes this answer or if in series if it changes anything? Another question I have is in regards to the possibility of having two batteries in parallel and the third in series so I have a 12v 200ah section and a 24v type or would this just make it all uneven bc it is not the same AH and would need to have the 3rd battery be a 200ah 12v battery to work if it’s possible? Thank you
It depends on the BMS of your battery. Most batteries are 0.5xcapacity or 1xcapacity. So in your case 50 or 100A per battery. Series and parallel splits the current. No you cannot, you need two seperate batteries.
So if the bms is the same as the AH you can use the same amps to charge it? So for the example it would theoretically take only an hour to charge one? I’m assuming that doing this all the time would be horrible for the battery. What would you do if you weren’t in a hurry but maybe getting ready for a trip and needed to get them fully charged? Also to make sure I get your response about having 3 in parallel, if they all have the 100bms and I charged at 100 amps it would split evenly among the batteries so 33.33amps each? And take 3X longer approximately?
Hi Nick what if I have a 300ah 12v lifepo4 and can charge it back up over 2 or 3 days then I won't need 3 x 400watt panels, maybe I can swap out the battery with another 300ah battery?
Off grid design says you should be able to recharge the battery in one day. Otherwise, you don't have days of autonomy. If you want one day of autonomy, then you can spread the charge over 3 days.
@@NigelM18 did you get an answer to that last question..?? Because my best guess is. NO . as its not 4 times better, its just more useful if you need 40volts, because the "work" or "energy output" its going to do, is still only 200 watts.
@davidmann4533... I agree that (for myself) & I don't know why, but this subject is hard to wrap my head around, I guess out of curiosity or just a want to understand how & why things work how they do; not just this subject but other subjects too; must be thick skull or a subject over my head, but for some reason I spend a lot of time beating my head against the wall working on understanding this or other subjects; my father loved tools buy them all the time; but he never really knew what to do w/ them (much ❤️ Dad 🙏) besides ever getting to thinking things out in like some series of logical steps
Before I would agree, but now i disagree. Since most lithium batteries are now 8,000 cycles, it will take 22 years for them to reach 0 cycles (if you cycle every day from 0-100%). And then the capacity is still 80%. So it's actually more cost effective to use them from 0-100%. Like Will Prowse says, calendar aging will destroy these batteries before the cycles are met.
Still you did not make it clear explaination.. 😂😂😂😂.. Newbie like me got nose bleed.😅😅😅.. You should clearly say every end of the explaination thar therefore, each 12v/100ah you need blah,blah,blah panel watts and blah blah blah SCC... not no need to mention.. technical term.. 😢😢😢😢
These are all calculations based on your assumptions now please do one on a realistic case. I want a 2 unit air conditioning system and I want off grid solar, I want one unit working in the daytime and the other at night, so what full system will I need. This is the problems we need not all your calculations, or is that all you will do on the videos ?
@@fibber2u I am not an expert on electronics and calculations, so I am unable to do as you say, it is OK for you electronic experts but not for dumbos like me, we don't all understand these calculations
📖 My Best-Selling book on Amazon: cleversolarpower.com/off-grid-solar-power-simplified
🎁 Free Diagrams: cleversolarpower.com/free-diagrams
12V 200Ah 5% discount EU use code 'clever': cleversolarpower.com/go/eu/red12V200Ah
12V 200Ah 5% discount US use code 'clever': cleversolarpower.com/go/us/red12v200ah
Why did you use 14.4v when calculating the size of the controller?
😊
Nick, you have the best off-grid solar channel of all. I know because I’ve watched all of them. Please continue doing these excellent videos!
Thanks, more coming soon 🙏
this is incredible! thanks for making such a nice and simple video
Glad you liked it!
Thank you! You explained it so clearly. Time to make my own solar generator.
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent lecture, thanks boss
Hello, may I know the reference of the formulas that you used in the computations? I'm going to use this for my project thank you very much!
Experience and electrical calculations. It's all in my book.
I want to purchase a 12.8V 300 Ah battery to add to my Ecoflow Delta Pro (3600 W). I would like to recharge the battery with a 720 W Ecoflow generator while it is being charged by a 400 W solar panel. Can this be done? Also, I live north of Houston if that is a factor. Thanks and I learn a lot from your videos!
Appreciate your thoroughness on this topic.
What is your thoughts on gel batteries?
Im wanting to setup a system for my wifes parents farm in the philippines. I'm going to buy things from shoppee to make this happen so im going to buy your book.
Excellent explanation very informative and quite easy to understand. 🤣👍 Thanks.👌😃🤗
Glad you liked it!
Hi
Will a bigger panel cause issues? For example if sunny days you are getting 6 hours of sunlight then 400W solar panel would generate too much power. Will that be a problem for the battery or the charge controller? Do we need to adjust the charge controller?
How many amps max to charge a 100ah lifepo battery? Can a 30A charge controller be too much and fry the battery?
Can the better be charged directly with panel and solar charge controller without inverter?
Always great info!
Thanks! More to come.
thank you for all of your work
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for your knowledge sharing.❤
What to choose series or parallel for solar panel?
Sorry i mean how to choose 😅
Search my channel for series vs parallel and you will find a video about it.
Hi Nick, i have a food truck that i wanna use a 5000w inverter. How many solar panels, what amp voltage of solar panels charger amp and batteries voltage will need. Thank in advance
Thanks great info but I noticed that either your calculations are incorrect or there is some information missing for example 1280x 3.5 = 4480 and you had 365 am I missing something
Amazing explanation. For example, if I use 90Ah battery and after the calculations, it says that I need a 350 (about) watt solar panel, will it be a problem if I use a 410 watt one?
Thanks, glad it was clear. Of course, the more the better. If it's a lithium battery, then you can charge with 90A max.
@@cleversolarpower i cannot find good priced lithium batteries. Looking for a budget better option
Where are you getting the 40 volts from in the wire size calculator that you show at 4:47 in the video and the current in amps?
So when really sizing for a battery, I would have to take into account the inverter, the house daily draw and the recharge rate for the battery?
Correct 💯
This chanel help me a lot by giving a scale and begining point . It is obvious i will need to adapt theory to reality as it is. Let see :-) Thanks for this chanel ! In my opinion, connecting in parallel costs more but gives more stability. Shade somewhere or one panel kaputt doesn't disrupt all the system.
True, parallel is better for shading. But more expensive. Mppts have a max input current as well.
Which inverter in good for 200ah battery
if it has a 100A BMS, and a 12V system, then you can use a max of 1200W. If you have a 200A BMS, then you can use a max of 12V*200A=2400W.
Is there a website for the wire calculator size that you show in your video?
I don't like wire calculators because they can differ with insulation temperatures for the wires. Instead use the data from the manufacturer.
Im learning and about to upgrade to Lithium ion batteries, BUT now hearing about 25v holds higher wattage???? What does this mean? I have 4x100watt solar panels. If the 100Ah 24v nattery holds double from the 100 12v does this mean i can't run something higher than 2560wh appliances? What if I had 2 24v 200ah batteries? Im wanting to run music gear some LeD lights and 38qt fridge freezer in my trailer and wish to have at least 800Ah and was going to buy the 230ah, 280ah, or 300ah single batthery and slowly buy tue rest later.
Higher voltage does not hold higher wattage. A 24V 100Ah battery holds double the energy than a 12V 100Ah because if we multiply them we can see they hold more energy. 24V*100Ah=2400Wh, and 12*100Ah=1200Wh. Wh or watt hour is an indication of energy stored, not power. I suggest watching my video about 12V, 24V or 48V battery systems.
@@cleversolarpower I decided to stick with a 300ah battery at 12volts. I watched a video by Will Prouse and got me so confused and frustrated as he said Id need 24v panels and all this other stuff so its easier to just stick with 12v and a 300am Lithium Iron battery. I already have 4x100watt panels with a renogy 40 amp Rover conrtoller and a 700watt inverter. I dont have the luxury to build any new system either, Im' in a van on a fixed income.
When calculating the cable size, how do you get to 10AWG? The calculator in the video shows 40V and 13.12A. How did you work out those values, please? I would have thought they would be 60v and 7A (400w/60v).
Thanks
vmp = 20.2V
Imp = 9.65A
two panels in series = 40V @9.65A*1.56=15A
(it should have been 15A instead of 13.12A -> my mistake)
1.56 is a safety factor for outdoor cables, otherwise it would have been 1.25 for indoor cables.
@@cleversolarpower Ah Ha, you were getting the info from the solar panels, I see, thank yuo
Nice information. If I have lead acid battery with C10 rating, then can i charge the battery in onday. You can consider 100Ah 12volt battery
Lead-acid batteries are generally C20 or 0.05C. C10 is 0.1C so: 100Ah*0.1C= 10A max charge for optimal efficiency (no heat generation). 400W/14.6V*0.8=22A. 0.8 = actual power generation at noon with sun. So you should have 200W.
Thanks for reply.
you should do the same for how long can you run an air conditioner on your batteries. with the assumption that the person gets something more common like a 12 thousand btu model. I'm trying to explain to a customer of mine that putting them on batteries along with her house would be a whole lot of extra power and battery storage that could otherwise be avoided by running a generator for a few hours a day. but she wants them to last all night. i am personally not sure about the surge wattage and so i can't tell her exactly what to do.
running ac on batteries can be done, but its expensive. I don't own an ac so i cannot tell accurately.
@@cleversolarpower i used the calculator on your website to show her that trying to design a system that can run two 21 seer 12 thousand BTU ACs( estimated to run at 571 watts apparently though im not sure for the surge) for 12 hours a day, with 3 days of autonomy would be prohibitively expensive. so i managed to convince her to keep the air conditioners for when they run the generators or to build a seperate solar array and battery bank for each one individually.
i did that in part due to my fear and lack of knowledge in estimating larger systems. i don't know how many batteries in parallel are too many. particularly in regards to LiFePo4. i know for Lead acid ones going past three strands in parallel is not recommended due to the uneven charging as a result of the resistance in the connectors, and the subsequent formation of eddy currents. and i know that the BMS for the lithium batteries will help to mitigate that, but i have no idea how far that goes for them.
like if her battery bank is 48vdc,583ah, i say 6 48v 100ah batteries, but she chooses to get the bigger system so she can have extra power leading to the system to become 48vdc,3212Ah, does that mean she should get the 32 batteries? ( we assume she has the money to do this at this point)
250watt panel.. which battery lithium battery suitable..?
250W*3 sunhours =750wh. A 12v 100ah battery is 1280wh.
So if i have 2 12.8 volts 100 amps lithium life po4 batteries i need 800 watts of solar or will it stay 400 watts of solar when i put them in parallel?
Greets from belgium
If you double the battery capacity, you need to double the solar. Greetings from Antwerp 😉
What will happen if I use a 20amp mppt charge controller?
Then the max charging current will be 20A
You did not link da pvwatts website in da description 😒
He did
@@edwardcouch9969 ahh I c
Hi, Why are you not taking 12.8 V instead of 12 V during the calculation
12V x 100 Ah x 0.5??
The nominal voltage of a lead acid is 12V, not 12.8. lifepo4 is 12.8V.
Awesome video I appreciate it. Got a new subscriber. Keep up the videos everyone learn something. A question I have is my lithium lifepo4 batteries. They are all 12v 100ah batteries. First question is to charge those types of batteries is there a maximum amps that should be used to charge these? I know that the more amps the harder it could be on the battery instead of slow charging it but I would like to know if I want to get it done quickly bc of time what is possible? I also wonder if having them together in parallel changes this answer or if in series if it changes anything?
Another question I have is in regards to the possibility of having two batteries in parallel and the third in series so I have a 12v 200ah section and a 24v type or would this just make it all uneven bc it is not the same AH and would need to have the 3rd battery be a 200ah 12v battery to work if it’s possible? Thank you
It depends on the BMS of your battery. Most batteries are 0.5xcapacity or 1xcapacity. So in your case 50 or 100A per battery.
Series and parallel splits the current.
No you cannot, you need two seperate batteries.
So if the bms is the same as the AH you can use the same amps to charge it? So for the example it would theoretically take only an hour to charge one? I’m assuming that doing this all the time would be horrible for the battery. What would you do if you weren’t in a hurry but maybe getting ready for a trip and needed to get them fully charged?
Also to make sure I get your response about having 3 in parallel, if they all have the 100bms and I charged at 100 amps it would split evenly among the batteries so 33.33amps each? And take 3X longer approximately?
Hi Nick what if I have a 300ah 12v lifepo4 and can charge it back up over 2 or 3 days then I won't need 3 x 400watt panels, maybe I can swap out the battery with another 300ah battery?
Off grid design says you should be able to recharge the battery in one day. Otherwise, you don't have days of autonomy. If you want one day of autonomy, then you can spread the charge over 3 days.
Ok thanks, that makes sense
How many panels i need for a 460ah lythium battery. With 5888 WH. To charge it in 4 hours? Thank you.
that is more than 100 amps per hour.
can you explain MPPT and PWM please
I made a video about it already. Check it out on my channel.
I'm fine except from November through February. Short days and low sun angle really hurts.
How long will a 12 volt 100 ah power a mighty mule gate opener solar
replace the power rating from this video with the power rating/usage of your gate opener.
Can a 48 V barrery replace 4 12 V batteries connected in series ????
Yes
tqvm
What about solar panel voltage? Mine are 40v voc I've seen 24v voc and of course 12v too.
You replace the voc with the value of your panels.
@cleversolarpower that's my point. So a 40v 200 watt panel is almost 4 times better than a 12v 200 watt panel then right?
@@NigelM18 did you get an answer to that last question..?? Because my best guess is. NO . as its not 4 times better, its just more useful if you need 40volts, because the "work" or "energy output" its going to do, is still only 200 watts.
Im in Houston TX
Great info
Thanks for watching!
how to combine solar and battery charger together to charge the battery ?
Just wire both to the battery. Checkout my diagram videos to see examples.
@@cleversolarpower
Can you have both sources charging the battery at the same time ?
Can I use solar panel direct to the battery without a controller
@@BrendaMwakachienyi A controller is usually recommended to be safe and effecient.
great video
Thanks!
You are amazing
Sir a 1 kw solar system is 4 unit in a day how ?
By unit I assume you mean kWh. If you have 4 sunhours, then a 1kw solar panel system will produce 4kwh or 4 units of energy.
3:49
Way too complicated for me I’ll just keep paying my electric bill which is never more than 260 for two months😂
@davidmann4533... I agree that (for myself) & I don't know why, but this subject is hard to wrap my head around, I guess out of curiosity or just a want to understand how & why things work how they do; not just this subject but other subjects too; must be thick skull or a subject over my head, but for some reason I spend a lot of time beating my head against the wall working on understanding this or other subjects; my father loved tools buy them all the time; but he never really knew what to do w/ them (much ❤️ Dad 🙏) besides ever getting to thinking things out in like some series of logical steps
If you are grid connected and there are no blackouts, then keep using the grid. It's the cheapest. 😉
Hahaha.
Its 0% to 100% ,but for the best make it 80% usage
Before I would agree, but now i disagree. Since most lithium batteries are now 8,000 cycles, it will take 22 years for them to reach 0 cycles (if you cycle every day from 0-100%). And then the capacity is still 80%. So it's actually more cost effective to use them from 0-100%. Like Will Prowse says, calendar aging will destroy these batteries before the cycles are met.
@@cleversolarpower really 8000 cycle for LifePo4?
@@mfnp99 Yes, check the datasheet for lifepo4 cells.
@@cleversolarpower i have LifePo4 12v 100ah for MINI SOLAR SYSTEM, but the Voltage stuck in 13.2v or 13.3v
@@cleversolarpower Whoa.....didnt knoe that. Thanks
Where did you come up with 23.7 volt?... U need to include all the mathematical figures. Cuz it looks like ur just throwing numbers out there.
It's written above in the formula. It's the Voc of the solar panel.
Still you did not make it clear explaination.. 😂😂😂😂.. Newbie like me got nose bleed.😅😅😅.. You should clearly say every end of the explaination thar therefore, each 12v/100ah you need blah,blah,blah panel watts and blah blah blah SCC... not no need to mention.. technical term.. 😢😢😢😢
It's not difficult.
I do my best to make it easily understandable. If you don't understand it the first time, i recommend watching it again. Then you will get it.
😮🤔.😢..🥱...😴🌀
That's a lot of emotions for one video 😄
These are all calculations based on your assumptions now please do one on a realistic case. I want a 2 unit air conditioning system and I want off grid solar, I want one unit working in the daytime and the other at night, so what full system will I need. This is the problems we need not all your calculations, or is that all you will do on the videos ?
Buy his book. Thats what I did.
Do your own assumptions then
The information you need is in his videos. Watch them, think about it and then use it.
@@fibber2u I am not an expert on electronics and calculations, so I am unable to do as you say, it is OK for you electronic experts but not for dumbos like me, we don't all understand these calculations
@@brianOcurradhin How can I if I don't understand how he calculates, not everybody that wants air conditioning via solar is as clever as he is.