Solar Powered Generators?

[Mike J]

I think Scott may be looking for something like this?  

Lazada - search for "Portable station power".  Price from quite low, basically a solar flashlight, to as much as 167K for home use depending on capacity.  Size and price are going to depend on what you need to keep running and for how long.  The advantage of being able to charge via solar panels is for blackouts that last longer than a single day.  And of course the power from solar is free if you do not count the cost of the panel(s).

Edited October 23 by Mike J
Damn dyslexia

[hk blues]

On the subject of UPS...I have been in the habit of always turning off my UPS when not in use i.e. at night (on the unit and at the outlet) - I understand that this may prevent the battery from fully charging if there was an outage earlier but it will catch up in the morning when it's turned back on.  I have read many comments that a UPS should be left on 24/7 but I'm wary of doing this here.

Anyone any advice on how bad it is to turn it off every night?

[Mike J]

14 hours ago, hk blues said:

On the subject of UPS...I have been in the habit of always turning off my UPS when not in use i.e. at night (on the unit and at the outlet) - I understand that this may prevent the battery from fully charging if there was an outage earlier but it will catch up in the morning when it's turned back on.  I have read many comments that a UPS should be left on 24/7 but I'm wary of doing this here.

Anyone any advice on how bad it is to turn it off every night?

Found this via Google.  Sounds sort of logical I guess as I think most batteries in UPS are still sealed lead/acid?

<snip>

it is recommended that you leave the UPS on even when you shut your computer off. it is designed to be running all the time and turning it on and off frequently will probably shorten the overall life of the battery since the UPSs generally do a battery self test when being turned on and off. over time, if you did that each day, the battery would be used more often and thus need to be replaced sooner.

<end snip>

<snip>

No, unplugging a UPS at night can shorten its lifespan. When a UPS is unplugged, its battery self-discharges. When it's plugged back in, the battery has to recharge, which can increase wear and tear on the battery and make it work harder.

<end snip>

[hk blues]

7 hours ago, Mike J said:

Found this via Google.  Sounds sort of logical I guess as I think most batteries in UPS are still sealed lead/acid?

<snip>

it is recommended that you leave the UPS on even when you shut your computer off. it is designed to be running all the time and turning it on and off frequently will probably shorten the overall life of the battery since the UPSs generally do a battery self test when being turned on and off. over time, if you did that each day, the battery would be used more often and thus need to be replaced sooner.

<end snip>

<snip>

No, unplugging a UPS at night can shorten its lifespan. When a UPS is unplugged, its battery self-discharges. When it's plugged back in, the battery has to recharge, which can increase wear and tear on the battery and make it work harder.

<end snip>

Yep...all of that is what I've been reading too...but, given where we are and the issues with electricity,  I'm not sure it's a great idea to leave it plugged in 24/7.   The fridge we do, because we have no choice but...

[scott h]

On 10/22/2024 at 3:34 PM, Mike J said:

I think Scott may be looking for something like this?

Yep, that is exactly what the wife was asking about. But when shown the price, and that brown outs here are rare, and mercifully short (knock on wood ) as was also mentioned we could get the old one fixed 5 or 6 times over. I think we will take a look and see if any advances in size of have been the ole fashioned gas generators. 

Thanks everyone for all the input 

[hk blues]

6 hours ago, scott h said:

But when shown the price, and that brown outs here are rare, and mercifully short

That's what I would have said a few days ago but we have just had 3 consecutive days of 3 x 4-hour long brownouts.  Sure, we have been in the midst of a typhoon so repair times have been much longer but such logic didn't help me sitting in the dark with no TV! 

Still, I'll have forgotten all about this by Monday...until the next time. 

[scott h]

3 hours ago, hk blues said:

no TV

 

[Mike J]

7 hours ago, hk blues said:

That's what I would have said a few days ago but we have just had 3 consecutive days of 3 x 4-hour long brownouts.  Sure, we have been in the midst of a typhoon so repair times have been much longer but such logic didn't help me sitting in the dark with no TV! 

Still, I'll have forgotten all about this by Monday...until the next time. 

It feels great to have a solar system with battery backup.  No more brownouts and our electric bill has dropped dramatically.  The last one was only 192 peso. 

[jimeve]

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

It feels great to have a solar system with battery backup.  No more brownouts and our electric bill has dropped dramatically.  The last one was only 192 peso. 

Yep me too but the battery never got full due to the consistent rain we had for 4 days. Good job I have an hybrid inverter. Going for another battery to extend to 12k watts.

We only use 60 kwh per month on average this should easily cover it.

[Mike J]

7 minutes ago, jimeve said:

Yep me too but the battery never got full due to the consistent rain we had for 4 days. Good job I have an hybrid inverter. Going for another battery to extend to 12k watts.

We only use 60 kwh per month on average this should easily cover it.

Same here, not enough sun the past 4-5 days.  Normally we are back to full charge by noon.  If the battery does not get full wouldn't you need additional panels instead of another battery.   We use about 350 kwh per month.   Our battery is 10.2 kw.