The actual usage varies with the load, different programs consume different amounts of power. You can get a power meter such as Kill-a-watt or use a clamp on multimeter preferably with the peak hold feature. The ratings on the power supply is only the rated maximum and isn't the actual power draw. The peak levels are what you use to size your inverter, the average values are what you use to size your solar cells and if off grid, your batteries. Many UPS's have a serial or ethernet port ad you can take power draw readings from the UPS but they are usually very coarse readings.
i have a 250 watt max psu that powers a a7n8x-la mobo cdorom dvd drive xp 2800 barton two 256mg kingston dual channel 3200 mem xfx 6200 256mg vid card 3 fans dial modem card a card for faxs psu is a bestec came in a hp pavilion a259e bought sensorsview pro 2.1 off of softpedia.com a & b core volts were fine 3.3 was like 2.43 &5 was like the same adjusted them using the software whorks fine but isnt my psu kind of being overloaded.use clockgen to oc cause all i have to work with at this moment could a hec orion 485 or 585 watt 12volt dual rail help me now and next pc i build.
Every electrical device has a label on it. The label will tell how many amps or even watts its rating is. You can get an electric measuring plug in that will also tell you the moment to moment usage. Most electronic stores will have a meter of that sort.
Computers and monitors are sensitive devices that require perfect sine waves. True or Pure Sine Wave Inverters are highly recommended. Monitors are not recommended to be plugged into UPS unless they are large enough to sustain the wattage required. Depending on the type of personal computer (PC) you have; for instance: gaming computer vs non-gaming computer.
Gaming computers start at 750 watts and higher consumption. My gaming computer is rated at 1,000 watts (1kW).
Non-gaming computer starts at 200 watts and up.
Depending on how many watts you are using you want to times that by 24 hours to give you the total amount of wattage needed for the whole day.
For example: I use 1kw for my pc and about 500 watts for my monitor (LCD HDTV as monitor) a total of 1.5kW or 1,500 watts.
I add 1kW on top of that to make sure I will never overload my solar panel system and equipment: which becomes 2.5kW. So I would need a 2,500 watt system to power my computer for 1 hour.
Then I take 24 hours and times that by 2,500 watts which gives me 60kW per day.
Now I will need to know how many hours of sun light I get in my location which is about 7 hours of sun light per day. I then take 60kW and divide that by 7 hours which will give me the amount of wattage I would need to generate during the day to cover a 24 hour time span. I would need an 8.6kW or 8,600 watt solar panel system to power my computer 24/7. This will provide about 3kW per hour during the day for the computer and tv to run while charging the battteries at aprox. 5kW for night time use. The UPS or Battery Bank will need to be at least a 60kW storage system.
Note: this is only a single phase system if you create a split phase solar panel system the wattage would be the same but you will be able to power your whole house with this system.
Most homes use between 15kW to 60kW per day: between 1kw to 2.5kW per hour. If you have an air conditioner, dish washer, clothese dryer, clothes washer, and other large appliances the consumption would increase between 1kW to 5kW. When I run my dryer and washer my energy usage increases to 4kW's for 1 hour of washing and drying of my clothes. I use a swamp cooler or evap cooler which uses far less energy than an air conditioner.
On average I use between 500 Watts to 1.8kW per hour. The 1.8kW is when I have my computer and monitor on. My battery bank is a split phase system and it stores 450 Amp-Hours (Ah's).
Split phase is 120/240 system; two legs of 120 VAC per leg and when in series produces 240 VAC. Each leg produces 1,800 watts. One leg provides energy to 50% of my house. I use the grid to charge my batteries (I plan on adding a 3200 watts solar panel system soon). The only thing I have that runs off the grid directly is my clothes dryer and washer machine. When I shut off the grid my total consumption is 2,500 watts per hour across both legs. When I have the grid charging the batteries I use about 1,800 watts per hour across both legs.
I use the grid to power my equipment but when the grid has a brown out or black out my equipment runs off the battery bank.
For the battery bank I spent $3,600 using 12 Yellow Top Optima 75Ah batteries: the 450Ah battery bank. I set them up into a 24 VDC battery bank.
For the inverter: I used Apollo Solar 3200 watt inverter/charger in conjunction with their Inverter Switchgear Module (Circuit Breaker Box) for $2,800. This inverter is a 120/240 VAC rated at 30 amps max. It is a stackable inverter as well so you can add another inverter to it via networking and they will double the wattage out. Not only is it an inverter it is also an 80 amp charge controller. I use the grid to charge the batteries via this.
I spent about $6,400 for the complete system not including the wiring/cabling (connecting the equipment to my house). I had to install a separate subpanel system and run each circuit to the subpanels. I used a regular 8' by 8' by 10' shed to store the equipment in.
With that all said: if you only plan to use the computer during the day and run it a few hours during the night I would say a 3kW solar panel system and battery bank will be a good size. I would still use the UPS to tell the computer to shut down when the power goes out.
The link below takes you to the vendor where I bought the Apollo Gear. You can buy the batteries direct from Optima Batteries: link provided below as well.
hi dudes. i want to know run my desktop pc with solar energy completely. before that i want to know how much energy it need? i downloaded joulemeter but it is no use. i connect pc plug and monitor plug to ups. please help me>
