# Can battery bank provide both AC/DC power



## jessearl (Aug 30, 2006)

Hello,

I'm in the beginning stages of setting up an off-grid cabin and am looking at my options for solar power.

I'd like to setup a small DC-powered mini split air conditioning system in addition to running an inverter to provide regular AC power. 

How do you wire a battery bank to provide power to both AC and DC appliances at the same time? Or do I need two separate systems?


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

One of my neighbors has a 12vdc battery bank, he went off-grid in the 1980s. He wired his whole house for 12vdc power, and his appliances are all 12vdc.

Modern systems commonly use higher voltages. My battery bank is 48vdc. So powering 12vdc appliances is more difficult, you would need a voltage divider circuit.


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## Offgrid48 (Jul 28, 2016)

jessearl said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm in the beginning stages of setting up an off-grid cabin and am looking at my options for solar power.
> 
> ...


The battery bank itself is DC power (12/24/48 volt typical), the inverter connected to the battery bank converts DC power to 120/240 volt AC (depending upon inverter). If your DC battery bank it 12V you can pull 12v DC directly off the battery bank. If your battery bank is 24 or 48 V, you will need to run through a voltage converter to drop down to 12v to run 12v applications.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

In my opinion, it's just not worth is to have a dual AC/DC system. I assume this air conditioning unit is out of an RV? The problem with this idea is that that unit was made with serious compromises to fit into a 12V environment. I'd give up that idea completely

For my own system I went with 48VDC, mated with a 48V 120/240VAC inverter. Performance is excellent and there are no compromises unless I'm running the 240V well pump.


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

Where does one find a DC-powered mini split air conditioning system?


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## Clem (Apr 12, 2016)

Amazon, of course. They have everything at Amazon!! Here's a link to DC mini splits
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_8_8?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=dc+mini+split&sprefix=Dc+mini+,undefined,370&crid=1A6FS6KETUBZ5


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

Thanks......


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