Friday 3 February 2017

DAY: 25 INVERTERS ; THE INTRODUCTION.








Day 25 of #100daysofsolarnuggets

Inverter
Over the course of the program, we’ve discussed on the basic components of a solar system, we have talked about Solar panels, batteries, and charge controllers. 

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Today we would be introducing Inverters.
   Inverters are like the brains of the solar energy system. Their main function is to take D.C. current from the Solar panels or the batteries and convert them to AC current that can be used by our appliance, this is to say that we can’t use our solar system without an Inverter.
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  Things to note.
1.       Inverter does not supply Electric Energy (Power) on it’s own, it merely converts from one form to another (From D.C. to A.C.). The Inverter must be connected to an energy source (Battery) for it to function. If it is not connected to a battery bank it simply cannot be used.

2.       There are inverters and there are Inverter/chargers.
i.                     Inverters: All they can do is to convert D.C. energy from the batteries to A.C. Energy that can be used by our appliances and devices, they do not have inbuilt charges in them to charge the battery bank from an A.C power source.


ii.                   Inverters/charges: They convert D.C. Energy from the batteries to A.C. Energy that can be used by our appliances and devices, they also come with in-built chargers. The chargers enable them to charge the batteries from an A.C. power source (Utility power supply or maybe Generators).
   Inverter/chargers are particularly very useful for solar systems that are also connected to the grid. What this means is that you have the option of charging your batteries with your solar panels and you also have the option of charging your panels with either the utility or your generators.

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3.      Inverter ratings
Inverters are rated in this format 1.5kw 12V, 2.5kw 24V , 6kw 24V,48v and so on
Let me explain in terms of power and voltage..
i.                     Power(Kw)
1.5kw 12V. This means that the maximum power that your system can take is 1.5kw (Please note 1.5Kw is equal to 1500 watts, 1kw =1000watts; kw=Kilo watts).If your system supplies a higher power than yourIinverter capacity, let’s assume 2kw, not only would the extra 500watts of energy be wasted, the higher power could damage your inverter if care is not taken.
ii.                   Voltage(V)
2.5KW 24V.This mean your Inverter works with a 24 Volt system. The voltage rating of the Inverter you buy is depended on the system voltage of your solar system. It is very important that you do not purchase an Inverter with a different voltage rating from your system.
You determine your system voltage from the voltage of your batteries and Solar panels in your solar system.
Some modern Inverters can work with two or more voltage systems for example 7KW 24V, 48V



Now there are three different types of Inverters used in solar installation..
(To be continued).

IMPORTANT NOTICE
This is day 25 and we are through with the first quarter of our online solar class, It has been an interesting journey so far as we have covered the basic of solar energy systems and a few other things.
 Solar Nuggets would be going on a 3 days break, this is to enable everyone that has followed me so far properly revise and understand what we have learnt so far.
 We would resume officially on Tuesday morning as we continue in the second quarter of the online solar class.
Feel free to ask questions concerning any area you do not understand, I would be available to answer any of your questions.




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