William, The LRA of an A/C system is the peak current demand. The inverter must be sized for that and all other potential loads if using a single inverter. For that reason, we have almost always used a dedicated inverter for an A/C systems and leave the primary inverter for all other loads. That way the A/C will start no matter what other loads are on the primary inverter.
Install a hard start capacitor unit (sometimes now called soft start) if it is not factory equipped with one. Using Li-ion batteries is also recommended due to voltage sag using LA. Otherwise, you may want to size a LA bank larger for the additional current demand while starting. We have been doing separate inverters for 120V RV A/C’s and 240V mini splits this way for years and it has been trouble free. Larry Crutcher Starlight Solar Power Systems On Jun 23, 2021, at 9:30 AM, William Miller <[email protected]> wrote: Friends: In the old days when a client suggested they might want to run air conditioning equipment on an off-grid system we would just laugh. Now I find I get that request more frequently and clients are willing to pay to acquire enough system capacity to run AC equipment. This means I need to size off-grid installations appropriately for the loads. I have a job pending with a 5 ton AC unit. I cannot find real-life energy specs. I do have a new, fairly efficient 3 ton unit at my grid-connected home and I do have energy monitoring. On a real hot day recently we used a little less than 11kWh in this unit. The max power draw was about 2.5 kW. Here are my questions: 1. Can I linearly extrapolate my usage to a 5 ton unit? 2. Do any of you have real-life, measured energy data on modern AC condenser units that you would be willing to share? Thanks in advance! William Miller Miller Solar 17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422 805-438-5600 www.millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/> CA Lic. 773985 _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org <http://re-wrenches.org/> List Address: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org <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/[email protected]/ <https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org> List rules & etiquette: http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> Check out or update participant bios: http://www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org/>
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