Using inverter for a string of CFL lights

[KBwind]

Hello Otherpower,

I was wondering if anyone had any experience using an inverter to light up a series of lights which all turn on at the same time. I imagine there would be a large surge current that may give some inverters problems. For instance, if powering a lighting circuit consisting of 20, 15 watt light bulbs, the instant load on the inverter would be 300 watts ---are there special considerations to be taken into account when selecting an inverter to reliably power these kind of loads?

I am working on some off-grid lighting for my workshop and the 1750 watt inverter I have been trying has been faulting whenever I turn on the lights. It doesn't do the low voltage"beeep' but just faults almost immediately. I only plan to use the lights for maybe an hour or two a day while burning the midnight oil in the evenings. The system consists of a 235 watt panel, a C40 controller, a 250 Ah 12 volt battery bank and the 1750 watt inverter.

Any input would be greatly appreciated! thanks

- kbwind

[hydrosun]

Try starting just half of the light s and see what happens. Check all your dc wireing for high rissitance connections. Check the voltage at the inverter when trying to start the lights. Turn on one or two lights first to wake the inverter and then turn on the rest of the lights.
Chris

[OperaHouse]

All those lights represent a veth latge capacitive load representing a dead short.  I actually run CFL lamps on DC form old inverters that had defective H bridge outputs.  CFL lamps work fine on 140V DC.   Many electronic power supplies solved this problem by using a negitive coeficient resistor, 10 ohms when cold and about half ohm when hot.  These resistors may not be easy for you to find but a standard 5 ohm 20W in series wit the lamps would likely work with a time delay relay that shorts it out after 3 seconds.  Something else to try would be a motor run capacitor in series.  That would limit inrush current and not have much effect after a few seconds.  Sequencing the lights would be the easiest.

[KBwind]

Okay, so it's the capacitive load that seems to be causing the problem...that makes sense. It looks like I will have to re do some of the wiring and add a few more switches. Thanks for the help!

[Mr_T]

I actually run CFL lamps on DC form old inverters that had defective H bridge outputs.

I've been doing the same thing for a good two years now, it's good to have an use for all those old inverters that would otherwise just end up in the bin. Works fine for running computers or other equipment with switchmode PSUs as well.

About the surge:
Most inverters have a builtin soft-start mechanism that ramps up the secondary voltage slowly, effectively eliminating any inrush current surges that could otherwise trip fuses. Hence, starting a whole bunch of CFLs at once shouldn't be too much of an issue :)


Cheers

[srivishnu]

Hi,

i am facing similar issue, by connecting series of cfl lamps, 1450VA inverter trips by shortcircuit.

Inverter works normal with other loads like fans and computers.

Pl. Suggest suitable solution.

[bob golding]

Hi,

i am facing similar issue, by connecting series of cfl lamps, 1450VA inverter trips by shortcircuit.

Inverter works normal with other loads like fans and computers.

Pl. Suggest suitable solution.

LED tape lights? cheaper and much better than CFLs you can get them in 12v 24 v and 240 volt. i have ditched all my CFLs and changed to LEDs.

[Mary B]

Inrush controller, resistor in line with the power that has a relay across it to short it out after a second or two. Lets the caps charge slowly and then they get full power when the relay shorts the resister out.

[OperaHouse]

Many PC power supplies solve this problem with a disk shaped resistor.  It reads about 20 ohms when cold and goes down to about 2 ohms when hot.  Finding one in an old power supply would be a two lead solution.  If you are over 400W, you really need a timer relay solution.