Using the VE-MPPT-Calc-3_2.xlsm and SuperPack battery specs it seem that:
- the BlueSolar MPPT 100/30 controller will work well together with
- two 175W 12V Victron monocrystalline solar panels (SPM041751200)
- and a SuperPack Lithium battery, 12.8 V, 60 Ah (768Wh), discharge power min 300W continuously (30A x 10V) and 800W peak (80A x 10V).
Questions:
1) is that really all that is needed (since the SuperPack has integrated Battery Management System)?
2) will it be “enough” for powering a system with power consumption of about 1000Wh per day in Darmstad, Germany?
3) is the below approach a correct one to size the system?
| Power | h daily | Power use/supply | |
| W | h | Wh | |
| Standby | 30 | 21 | 630 |
| Low power ops | 150 | 2 | 300 |
| High power ops | 500 | 1 | 500 |
| Total Wh/24h | 930 | ||
| Solar panels | 350 | 4 | (1400) |
| Efficiency = 70% | 980 | ||
| Battery capacity | 768 | ||
| Total Wh/24h | 1748 | ||
| Avaible/Req. ratio: | 1.9 |
The long story:
Why?
For a small project: a 1.25m offset dish for S-Band LEO satellite tracking. The antenna will be “movable”, and thus the choice of solar power. Victron was chosen because of open protocols (we want to monitor battery levels with a Raspberry Pi).
What?
The main “consumer” will be the rotor Spid SPX-03-HR and its controller. A real world power consumption of a “bigger” model from the same company is 111W (both max continuous and peak), and 20.5W in standby. However, that was in benign conditions (low wind, etc.). Nominally, the rotor should be powered by at least a 400-500W power supply. Other consumers: Raspberry Pi 4 (WiFi on), LimeSDR Mini transmitter/receiver, a web cam (all together it should be less than 50W peak and maybe 10W in standby).
