Aloha! Here is a little tip we found while surfing the web which will help those of you looking to create a system using batteries and an inverter to power a device or devices off of the grid. Use this as a general guideline when calculating how much battery power you will need. This “Rule of Thumb” is intended as a general guide for estimating the DC amps required when operating a DC to AC inverter. Since the calculations yield approximate values, an appropriate safety factor should be considered when designing and specifying system components, for example: wire, size, and length. This basically is legalese for oversize your system 12 Volt DC Systems Formula: 12 volt inverters require approximately ten (10) amps DC input for each 100 watts output power used to operate an AC load. Example: How many DC amps will a 12-volt inverter require to operate three 500-watt quartz lights, or a 1500-watt electric heater? Answer: 1) Total watts = 1500 2) 1500 watts/100 (from formula) = 15 3) 15 X 10 amps (from formula) = 150 amps. This is the DC current the inverter will use to operate the 1500-watt load. Note; If these 150 amps are drawn from the battery for one hour, 150 amp hours of battery power will be used. To support 150 amp hours of battery power, 300 amps of battery capacity should be used for maximum battery life and performance. Hope this gives you a little help in calculating your requirements. Mahalo, Battery Bills
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 18:24:37 +0000
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