ac - 800 watts
water dispenser - 0.3 kwh/day
Suppose i need them to run for 24 hours
Responses (1)
First you need to measure the insolation (solar power coming in) at the site where you plan to install this system. Then you must plan the actual installation to miss trees, buildings, and other sources of shade and dust. Now you can estimate average power availability, allowing for cloudy days, trash and dust on the collector, bird poop, and other obstructions. Having average and peak values, you can then choose a charge controller that will handle the large variations in charging current and produce a constant charging voltage for the batteries. The battery bank must be large enough to power all your equipment for some period of darkness, which might last several days. Then you need an alternator to produce the ac power needed by your equipment. Your supplier of solar panels can help with this process, or maybe do it for you. It is going to cost a lot. If you are in the USA, check with your local electric company to see what they can offer, and ask about subsidies. There are a lot of subsidies for solar power, and your supplier will probably tell you about those.
Any panel you buy has specs. No specs - no sale. It is up to you to figure out whether the specs meet your needs.
Insolation is about 2,500 watts at the top of the atmosphere. How much of that reaches the ground is anybody's guess, and that is why you need to test your exact location for several days. Solar panels run about 12% efficiency, I think, so you might get 100 watts per panel at noon on a clear day. I think that is a typical figure, and that is the maximum; you don't get that much all day or every day. When you realize how many panels it takes to power an air conditioner, you start thinking about evaporative coolers, which only need power for the fan and the water pump.
I meant to say 2500 watts per square meter.
Thank you so much! I tried to do my own research and calculations and based on that I chose a specific inverter and batteries. But when it came to the number of solar panels I was in disbelief that I needed that many to only power an ac and a water dispenser. (My calculations gave me something around 19 panels!) so I felt like I went wrong somewhere. Unfortunately I'm in the United Arab Emirates and suppliers here are more interested in getting you to buy their products instead of telling you exactly what you need :|