question

babweupatree avatar image
babweupatree asked

Generator to bypass high startup power

Hi there, I'm not an expert in solar/electrical technology so please bear with me.


I have a MultiPlus 48V/5000kVA/70A inverter and want to run a 2.2kW single phase borehole pump off the solar. I have been running this pump off a 7.5kVA petrol generator as there was no infrastructure up until now (this is a remote farm that I have been building on).


The problem is I am not sure if the inverter will be able to handle the startup power of the pump thus causing the inverter to trip. The same inverter has been tripping ocassionally when I run a power tool. It most often trips when I run a 2,400W circular saw. Sometimes it runs fine, sometimes it trips. I can't seem to find the peak power of the saw in the manual but it's definitely tripping the inverter.


So my question is can the following be practically done (should I not be able to run the borehole pup directly off the inverter)?


1. I have the 7.5kVA generator (with AVR) running and connected to the inverter.

2. I switch on the borehole pump and let it run for a few seconds to come down to a steady 2.2kW.

3. I switch off the generator.


Will the pump continue running on the battery? Will the inverter be able to make the switch to battery fast enough to keep the pump running?


Thank you very much!

Generator
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2 Answers
JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

Hi @babweupatree

Yes, you can do this. The changeover should be seamless. Like, you shouldn't even see a light flicker.

As an aside, do you know exactly what's causing it to trip? An actual inverter overload, or maybe a downward spike in battery V, perhaps with the trip level set too high?

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babweupatree avatar image
babweupatree answered ·

Thank you very much @JohnC this is good to know!


I don't know exactly what is causing it to trip, I think it is an overload as the inverter shuts off but not actually sure.

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