May 17, 20233 yr I am getting myself completely overwhelmed by all these watts, kilowatts, etc. I need to get a portable power station for my shop. I need to just run some lights off it. So, I just want to make sure I am on the right track here. If my lights total 70W I must then multiply that by 4 (hours of loadshedding) which then gives me 280W. I therefore need to find a power station that will give me a minimum of 300w output. I hope I am right with the above. Don't want to buy something that won't work or run out of power after 1 hour.
May 17, 20233 yr 18 minutes ago, kathy said: If my lights total 70W I must then multiply that by 4 (hours of loadshedding) which then gives me 280W. I therefore need to find a power station that will give me a minimum of 300w output. If your lights have an output of 70W, then you need an inverter that can handle 70W with a margin of safety. Maybe a 100W inverter, better maybe 200W so the inverter is not always running near max output. If you want to run 70W for 4hours, that's 280 Watt-hours of available energy needed from battery storage. But the inverter itself will also use energy. A 12V 100Ah deep cycle battery AGM will probably be okay. If going for Lithium, which is better and will last more cycles, a 12V 60Ah battery should be okay with some to spare. More or less, at own risk.
May 17, 20233 yr Author 4 hours ago, GreenFields said: If your lights have an output of 70W, then you need an inverter that can handle 70W with a margin of safety. Maybe a 100W inverter, better maybe 200W so the inverter is not always running near max output. If you want to run 70W for 4hours, that's 280 Watt-hours of available energy needed from battery storage. But the inverter itself will also use energy. A 12V 100Ah deep cycle battery AGM will probably be okay. If going for Lithium, which is better and will last more cycles, a 12V 60Ah battery should be okay with some to spare. More or less, at own risk. Thank you!!!
May 17, 20233 yr 4 hours ago, GreenFields said: If your lights have an output of 70W, then you need an inverter that can handle 70W with a margin of safety. Maybe a 100W inverter, better maybe 200W so the inverter is not always running near max output. If you want to run 70W for 4hours, that's 280 Watt-hours of available energy needed from battery storage. But the inverter itself will also use energy. A 12V 100Ah deep cycle battery AGM will probably be okay. If going for Lithium, which is better and will last more cycles, a 12V 60Ah battery should be okay with some to spare. More or less, at own risk. Also be carefull to make sure it is an inverter/charger, else you going to need to add a charger to the shopping list as well
May 17, 20233 yr Something similar to this would be ideal. https://www.takealot.com/elecstor-300w-portable-power-station-80000mah-296wh/PLID91634880 Both have close to the required watt hours https://www.takealot.com/gizzu-300w-296wh-portable-power-station-1-x-3-prong-sa-plug-poin/PLID73065823 Edited May 17, 20233 yr by WannabeSolarSparky
May 17, 20233 yr If budget allows try aiming for something a little more robust/permanent. Loadshedding is not going away anytime soon.
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