Modified Solar System.

Author	Message
Turion Newbie Joined: 28/05/2024 Location: United States Posts: 2	Posted: 05:44am 01 Jun 2024       I wanted to let you both know that there were no other components in the setup my dad was running. I know because I helped him put it together and it was based on some things I had been working on, not his work, so he was following my lead, and I was in the dark with no flashlight. All I know is that prior to the changes we made, he could NOT run much of anything during the day and still have enough in his batteries for them to go all night, and would often have to resort to the propane generator. Once we set up the system as shown he reported being able to run loads during the day and almost always having the power reserve in the batteries necessary to get him through the night. Of course that's a generalization because weather is never the same from day to day. I did ask my friend Bob French to draw up what he put together and his drawing pretty much replicates what I posted except he had no need of the buck module. Attached is his drawing and he included his email in case anyone wants to ask him any questions. He used to live in the Eastern US, but now lives in Mexico. We communicate almost daily. He had a VERY small off the grid cabin and did not run much off his inverter. I do remember him telling me that after he set up this way he had to cover one of his solar panels because too much energy was produced. I do NOT remember the specifics of that statement, but if you are interested you can ask him yourself. I should clarify that what I am representing here is basically two things: 1. That an inverter (12 volt) can be run between the positive output of the solar panel charge controller and the positive of a battery bank as long as the output of the charge controller is set to output no more than about 27 volts, which is 14 volts over the voltage of the batteries if they are at 13 volts and wired in parallel as shown in the drawing. 2. That the inverter will run loads while the battery bank charges and more work will be done by the system on the energy input by the panels and the system as a whole, when connected up in this way. The inverter does not "consume" or "convert" the energy that passes through it, but works because of the movement of voltage and current. MUCH of which can be recovered when you run between the positives. That's it. I believe this should be a standardized method of operating charge controllers, inverters and solar panels, but I don't have the technical skills to design that, except in the rudimentary way I have shown here, which you guys have already said lacks sufficient safety precautions. Just trying to share some info. Hope it helps.