Beware: Microwave wattage vs consumption on solar

[TheHubbardBus]

Every once in a while you have one of those head-slap moments. Here's one that almost threw our solar system calcs way off. I was using the output (cooking) wattage to base energy consumption estimates on. Nope. Apparently microwaves are ~ 40-60% efficient.

[john61ct]

Any device using electricity to produce heat will drain even a big bank (800+Ah) pretty quickly.

Often as much as aircon!

So you need to put a coulomb counting wattmeter on and test using it realistically, including inverter overhead, to see if your energy budget (Ah per day) can support it.

Plus the inverter needs to be the right type (MSW vs PSW) and sized to handle the startup surge not just ongoing.

A good inverter can cost lots more than the devices it's powering.

[Ronnie]

Does it matter if the inverter is MSW or PSW for start up surge? I mean does one handle that better then the other?

[john61ct]

Startup surge requirement is just raw wattage needed.


Separate issue from the shape of the AC wave.

Some devices won't run at all on MSW.

Some run much less effectively, or inefficiently.

Some are fine.