rugercpl
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# Posted: 3 Dec 2015 21:50
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I bought a solar genny from Be Prepared Solar two years ago. It's been providing 75% of the electric to my off-grid seasonal cabin. I just emailed them about some things. Maybe you have something to share as to how to upgrade? Thanks!
"Hello...about 2 years ago I purchased a 3000 watt/300ah generator with (2) 150 watt panels from you and its still going strong as my primary electric source at my seasonal off-grid cabin. In the spring I would like to add on to it if possible to make the system more robust.
I have enough space in the bank box for a fourth battery however I've read that adding new batteries to a bank of older batteries isn't wise? I can't gauge the life expectancy left on the batteries or if they should be considered like new or old. I have rarely depleted their power by more than 60%. A rough estimate as to how many usage days with the system would be 100 days in 2 years? Each day the batteries being maintained between 60% and 95%. I have noticed it takes a bit longer to fully recharge the batteries from my electric generator and charger, but not a great deal longer. I will add a fourth battery if you think it isnt too late to add a new battery to a used battery bank.
The charge controller is pretty plain and flawed. it has three LED's that show the battery charge status. 3 lights lit up is about 95%-100%, 2 lights is about 55% to 95%, and one light is below 55%. In order to get a better gauge of how much power I have, i have to hook up the battery charger I bought from you...which is also pretty plain which i'll explain in a bit. When I am away from the cabin, and the batteries are fully charged from the solar panels, sometimes upon turning on the inverter I get a beeping sound and the inverter wont work due to an overcharge warning. In order for me to be able to use the inverter, I have to unplug the wire from the solar panels to the charge controller. I have had to do this about 15-20 times in 2 years. It works fine immediately after and I can plug the solar panel wire right back in. I wrote you about this problem some time ago and you offered to replace the charge controller however I didn't because it wasnt that hard to unplug the wire and plug it back in. I'd like a charge controller that is a little smarter, and perhaps can give me more information than just a few bright or dim LED's.
I'm not sure if the battery charger is underpowered for the system or not. Its a Schumacher 15A blue plastic thing which you sold me upon my request for a charger to use with my Honda eu2000 generator to recharge the batteries as needed. I set it to its fast charge setting and AGM batteries. Depending on how much power has been depleted form the batteries, it can take 5 to 10 hours to recharge the batteries to from 65% to 95%. What I don't like about it is after many hours of recharging, it doesn't accurately update itself as to the new battery percentage while its charging. It tends to get hung up on one number for a long time. When I restart it, it will jump to a higher number for its first reading. For some reason it seems to linger at 95% for a very long time after many hours as well. I have read and noticed that it takes the longest to go from 95% to 100%, sometimes as long as it takes to go from 65% to 90% I would also like a smarter, more powerful battery charger. The Honda is 2000/1000 watts, I have (3) 100ah batteries (soon to be four possibly). Is there a faster/better/smarter battery charger? It seems like i am using very little power from the generator but for a very long run time to recharge the bank.
Thanks for your suggestions and advice. Your system has been a great way to get into solar power and it's been very successful in my book thus far for the price. Just a few more tweaks and I think it will be flawless.
Tim - Windham NY"
I am also wondering about advances in pure sine wave inverters and minimizing/eliminating phantom power usage, for instance If i leave the system on overnight but I am only running a few 1/4 watt LED nightlights from power outlets, am I really just using a watt or two? Oh, and how much power does everything else use even though it's off (but plugged in)...such as that little red "off" light on my flatscreen TV.
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