WISP Solar Power Backup

I’m planning on purchasing the Ubiquiti Edgepower + solar charge controller and panel + batteries to make a complete power backup solution for WISP purposes. What would be the ideal combination to ensure at least 18 Hours of runtime? An alternative solution would also be welcome.

generator? Talk to @Kingilbert yeye ndio mtaalamu wa solar

Generator will be too loud and expensive

Why not just use an inverter charger with VRLA batteries? Since unasema ‘backup’ I assume you rely on KPLC and you only need sth for standby… If that’s the case, no need for solar panels, you’ll charge the batteries straight from KPLC mains na zikipotea system inaruka to the battery via the inverter. Just size up the system for possibly 4X100 Ah batteries as you haven’t specified the nominal power consumption of your WISP

Explain with diagrams

The solar power is necessary since in my area there are times when power goes off for over a week due to a faulty kplc transformer. Was avoiding the inverter charger because ubiquiti radios run on DC and there’s no need to convert the battery power to AC and then have the ubiquiti POE adapters convert yet again to DC.

Oooh ok I get you my nigga, basi you don’t need an inverter, if you gave me that power consumption spec naeza kupea rough estimate for sizing everything else (panels, charge controller, batt), and thereafter if your PoE equipment uses 12V DC you can just do a 12V DC system without converting power or upping voltage (easier, cheaper and minimise losses) in fact the charge controller mob hua na terminals for 12V DC load you can find a way to jack the power from those screw terminals if you are fairly technically competent…

In a nutshell, hii system ya inverter charger is as per the pic… AC mains comes in, is rectified to charge the batt, and thereafter is inverted as needed when mains goes out to power AC loads. But this is superfluous to your needs as stated above, you just need to shoot straight DC

That being said I double proofed critical communications equipment for just those unreliable KPLC moments through solar too

The power consumption is three rocket ac gen 2 each consuming 10 Watts( Supports 18- 26V), two LiteAP each consuming 10 Watts (supports 24V), three power beam M5 each consuming 9 Watts (supports 24V) and a router consuming 20 watts at 24V. Ideally the backup should run for at least 18 hours on battery and also be able to charge the battery during the day while supporting the load above simultaneously. This is to ensure the batteries are fully charged by the solar during the day when there’s no power from KPLC for the night’s operation.

How does this system work by the way?

Kuna mains connection (which I normally keep disconnected) and then there’s the solar panels nimeanika nje (which I prefer since it’s basically paid for equipment and it’s free energy). There’s those two power sources. Most of the time it operates on solar power via the batteries, and that way it is usually sufficient to ensure the batts hua fully charged at least every other day even in the cloudy weather prevailing this July and if not, I never discharge the batts to >70% to protect them. In the rare event some extra equipment is Brought in for system configuration, display units etc na consumption jumps too high I may engage the mains to supplement the panels to charge the batteries, but these events are rare. Of course one could really oversize the system(eg huge battery bank) to ensure ata inaeza fanya for a week plus but these batteries esp are expensive and everything has a lifespan so you try and get a balance between size and value

Ok… Use a 24V DC system since equipment yako is based on that level. The nominal power rating is about 100W. For a system efficiency of sat 90%, ipee yote 110W. 18hr runtime ni about 2000Wh. Like I mentioned, optimally do not discharge your batteries below about say 60% in this case. So by consuming 2000Wh you drain 40% of the bank. So you need a battery bank of kitu 5000Wh. Tuseme get four 12V 100Ah batteries, make two parallel ‘strings’ of 100Ah batteries in series for getting the system to 24V then connect these two strings in parallel (24V @200Ah = 4800Wh as a compromise). If the sun shines for 6 hours average total in the worst month, and u need it to both charge the previous usage and power the equipment for 6 hours then 110W X 6 hrs plus 2000Wh already consumed gives about 2700Wh to be supplied in a 6hr window. 2700Wh/6hrs weka tu 500W panel for safety (can be any combination of panels mradi ifike hiyo punch, and as these have significantly dropped prices unaeza weka ata 600W/700W as these things are usually overrated and will not produce rated power for a number of reasons eg temperature but you can’t go wrong, they last 25+ years). Power the equipment from the about 30A rated charge controller terminals as it will help protect your batteries. You can find a way to make a DC ‘bus’ to connect all the equipment as hazitatosha kwa hutwo tushimo. Some charge controllers ‘sense’ au umeweka batteries worth 12/24V or you select via a switch. Pole for the long post

Ni besha ngapi

So ifai kuenda less than 60% ya charge…iyo series ukisaeka ni battery ngapi ndio ifike iyo kipimo champ…battery gani msuli, kiuliso tu

I find that generator ni cheaper. Hizi batteries tayari ni 10k * 4 + 20k ya inverter.

get a simple panel a mid size battery and ubiquiti solarmax and you are good to go the radios don’t consume much power

Mi niliendea dealer wa Chloride Exide nikaweka zao za solar. So far so good. Each ilikua 12K for 100Ah. Kuna zile zinaitwa Ritar pia hua smart. Usizoeshe kudischarge sana, kuna levels ukizoesha itapata hiyo form ya kuzama ikatae kuweka full charge.

Wueh, hii unless ile kazi inafanya ni critical and inaleta pesa, it might put you off… Hii inverter charger ya Victron ni about $935. Charge controller pia ni about $300. There are much cheaper alternatives bora ifanye job n iwe fairly good sine wave inverter sio lazima hizi premium brand.

From my experience the WISP equipment all run from DC POE power and it does not make sense to introduce an inverter to the works it will not only waste power but bring a point of failure. Their are many inexpensive 12v to 24-48v Poe switches out there and they can even handle vlans, all you will need is an inxpensive charge controller. Don’t go for the inverter way for a wisp on a remote site it’s not the best option it’s expensive and unreliable.