Jason, Just using the converter works fine. They are considered a battery charger or a regulated power supply. I am currently running that way now with the battery cables going nowhere. I was thinking of putting the battery back in the system just for triple redundancy when my inverter hits low battery cutoff voltage on a cold winter night and no fuel for the generator (or it won't start). My Iota DLS puts out a regulated 13.4 volts up to 30 amps.
John On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 8:25 AM Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches < re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote: > Ah ha! I didn't consider using a small 12V battery with a charger. I was > thinking of just using a 120V -> 12V converter to handle the DC loads. Is > the 12V battery really necessary, or can I just power the DC loads directly > with a converter? If I just have lights and fans on the DC system, the load > should be pretty minimal. > > I could use a separate 12V battery, but I would like to eliminate that > cost and complexity if possible. > > > And yeah, I am not considering this a money making opportunity. It's > really just a challenge to ward off boredom from the daily grind. > > Jason Szumlanski > Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group > NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP) > Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956 > Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208 > > > On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 8:01 AM John Blittersdorf via RE-wrenches < > re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote: > >> Jason, >> I have a customer with the same situation except he already has a 12 V >> VFX inverter, He has a sunfrost fridge and other small loads with a very >> fancy custom control board >> originally set up to handle AC and DC systems. We are adding a lot more >> solar and I was considering a dual battery system but the owner didn't like >> that idea. We are going with and Iota 12v power supply (i use one at my >> house for my sunfrost) to power up all his DC loads and will be adding a >> large 48 V battery bank and over 4Kw of solar using a VFXR3648 directly in >> place of the 12V inverter. He complained that the existing inverter would >> not handle all his current AC loads very well. My own house is fully wired >> for 12VDC as well as AC (lots of #10 copper not being used) and I have been >> considering getting a small LFP 12V battery to put back on by DC System. >> Then use the Iota as a secondary charging method with some of my large >> stash of older modules hooked up for 12V direct with C40 charge controller >> to recreate my original system just for kicks. I'm only using DC for my >> Sunfrost and one "emergency light" in the livingroom right now. For your >> customer, a small LFP 12v battery (approximately $500 or less) to replace >> his old battery bankm and more larger ones for the new AC side with 48V >> inverter fed by his generator or through an Iota 48 V charger ifusing a >> smaller non charging inverter. Unlike Dave, I like these challenges. Maybe >> thats why I never seem to make money.!! >> >> John Blittersdorf >> offgridvermont.com >> >> >> On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 7:22 AM Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches < >> re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote: >> >>> Fortunately, the owner is pretty handy and is willing to live with any >>> negative consequences. That said, I want to offer him something as simple >>> and bulletproof as possible. I am walking into this with eyes wide open, >>> for sure. >>> >>> Jason Szumlanski >>> Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group >>> NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP) >>> Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956 >>> Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208 >>> >>> >>> On Tue, Apr 23, 2024 at 5:47 PM Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar via >>> RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote: >>> >>>> Not being helpful but I walk away from these. It will come back to you. >>>> >>>> *Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar >>>> "we go where powerlines don't" >>>> <http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/>https://offgridsolar1.com/ >>>> <https://offgridsolar1.com/> <http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/> >>>> e-mail offgridso...@sti.net <offgridso...@sti.net> >>>> text 209 813 0060* >>>> >>>> >>>> On 2024-04-23 2:40 pm, Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches wrote: >>>> >>>> I have an off-grid client who is working on replacing old equipment at >>>> a cabin. He has a lot of 12 volt distribution in the house for lighting, >>>> fans, and a 12 volt refrigerator. He also has 120 volt AC loads that run >>>> through a separate distribution panel where the only source is a 2000 Watt >>>> Honda generator. There is no inverter present. The batteries are charged >>>> through a Trace C40. >>>> >>>> He currently has a few ancient solar panels and a struggling Bank of >>>> AGM batteries. It's time for an upgrade. I can easily supply enough PV >>>> power for what he needs. He currently has a 9 kilowatt hour battery >>>> capacity that he was happy with when the batteries operated optimally. >>>> Nonetheless, I would probably future-proof him with a 10 to 15 kilowatt >>>> hour LiPo to double or triple his usable capacity. >>>> >>>> For convenience, obviously it would be nice to have an inverter to >>>> eliminate or reduce the generator requirement. But he seems committed to >>>> keeping his 12 volt distribution because it would be costly to replace >>>> fixtures. I think he would consider replacing the 12 volt refrigerator if >>>> he has an inverter. >>>> >>>> He definitely wants LiPo batteries. >>>> >>>> I don't like the idea of 12 volt direct from a battery plus connecting >>>> an inverter to that same battery. It is going to be hard to measure and >>>> monitor things. >>>> >>>> I am thinking about using a 48 volt battery with a single phase 120 >>>> volt inverter, getting him to change to a 120 volt refrigerator, and using >>>> a DC converter to give him somewhere in the range of 100 amps at 12 volts >>>> for his existing DC lighting and fan loads. Is this a bad idea? Should I >>>> stick with a 12 volt battery system? He does have a tiny 12 volt pressure >>>> pump which might be an issue for the converter. I'm not sure. I am a bit >>>> worried about the efficiency loss and capacity of DC converters and not >>>> sure how to size it. >>>> >>>> Jason Szumlanski >>>> Florida Solar Design Group >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >>>> >>>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> Change listserver email address & settings: >>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try >>>> the other: >>>> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ >>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> List rules & etiquette: >>>> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >>>> >>>> Check out or update participant bios: >>>> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >>>> >>>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> Change listserver email address & settings: >>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try >>>> the other: >>>> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ >>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> List rules & etiquette: >>>> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >>>> >>>> Check out or update participant bios: >>>> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >>> >>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >>> >>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >>> >>> Change listserver email address & settings: >>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>> >>> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try >>> the other: >>> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ >>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>> >>> List rules & etiquette: >>> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >>> >>> Check out or update participant bios: >>> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >> >> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the >> other: >> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the other: https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: http://www.members.re-wrenches.org
