help with 4000 usd electric setup

Hey guys!, I'm trying to figure out what do I need for building a energy setup for running some 600w hps for 18 hours a day.
I was thinking in hopefully running at least three 600w hps, I'm in the position that I have no energy source so I have to decide between buying a solar energy setup or to buy a 5000w or 6500w generator, in both cases I will need (I think) an electrical inverter with charger and the battery bank.
The pros and cons of solar energy vs diesel generated is, for me, is that i'll not spent extra money on solar energy daily but the initial inversion can be lot higher and I'll depend on sun, and considering the amount of energy I'll use in the 600w hps it can be not reliable 100%, on the other hand with the diesel generator I'll have enough energy to feed the 600w hps and some extra to charge the battery bank, but i'll spend around 15 usd daily to keep up the system which means 450 usd a month which is more than acceptable for the first few grows, then I'll upgrade to fully solar and eolic system (ideally).
The variables that I think i'm not fully understanding and the reason why I'm asking for your help or ideas is firstly understanding the battery capacities, I know that deep cycle batteries are measured in aH (amper per hour) eg. 150aH battery, considering that I wanted to convert the 600w consumption into aH I converted 600w x hour = 600wh which I converted to aH = 600wh / 12v = 50aH meaning that a 600w bulb will consume around 50aH from a 12v deep cycle battery in 1 hour. Please correct me if I am wrong!!
Now considering that a diesel generator autonomy can vary from 5 to 12 hours ~ and most of them need to rest for about 1 hour before continued use I wanted to include a battery bank to save that extra energy generated in order to complete a light cycle of 18hours. Now, reading and trying to understand a little more the full perspective I learned that some diesel generators autonomy can be extended if they consume less than their maximum watts output as for example this one https://hyundaipowerequipment.co.uk/generators/hyundai-dhy6000se-5-2kw-silent-diesel-generator/ says that at @50% of usage it can last 16 hours of autonomy which I consider pretty decent light cycle, personally I like 18h cycles but I must adapt to what is available.

I want to read some opinions of people who had to build something similar or somebody that knows electricity and can give me any advice.

the main questions I have right now is should I buy a high performance diesel generator around 2000-3000 usd and just depend on it or buy an 1000-2000~ usd diesel generator plus an inverter and a battery bank and how many of them for each 600w light?

So you'll run a generator 24/7 to grow weed

That's some spendy weed


And solar is expensive. Storing that much energy will take a LOT of batteries


Good luck

I know, but at the end it totally worth it, I have been paying about 1000 usd monthly for 2400 watts running 20/4, so it's like the same in my country (Chile)

wow that crazy high for that amount of electric.. i run two 1k bulbs and everything in my house is electric and my total bill was 120.00 running them at 12/12
but back to your question i guess i would be looking at if you went the battery way. how long the generator would run to completly charge your batterys and how long would they last till the generator would need to kick back on to recharge. it would be interesting to put the math to it of course it would depend on the size of the batterys and how many i would guess. maybe someone here can figure all that out for ya.. good luck

ha, sorry it looks like your already working on that.

Holy shit that's some expensive electricity.

Have you thought about led lights? They use about 40% less electricity. You would only need 1440 watts instead of 2400. I'd go with a diesel generator over solar. Renewable energy isn't cheap, and you're counting on factors out of your control to produce energy.
Find a nice used diesel generator. Diesels are simple and reliable engines. Before you buy one, make sure you can find parts. Seems like Onan and Yanmar pop into my head as quality brands. Sometimes you can find a nice generator in big older boats, rv's, and busses.
If it was me, I would spend $1500 on led lights, $1500 on a generator, and $1k on a battery bank and charger. Like you said, if you can get a generator that is rated for 4k or 5k watts, and only require half that, it will sip fuel. I would think that as long as it was kept cool, you could run a diesel generator up until you needed to change the oil. My buddy ran a Honda is2000 gasoline generator for over 2 years straight. The only time it wasnt running was for maintenance. Diesels are perfect for running for long periods. I would have a battery bank as a backup, just in case the generator needed repair.
1 of my best friends has family in Chile. Eventually I'm gonna take him up on his offer, and head down for vacation. Good luck whichever route you choose

GrassBurner said:

Have you thought about led lights? They use about 40% less electricity. You would only need 1440 watts instead of 2400. I'd go with a diesel generator over solar. Renewable energy isn't cheap, and you're counting on factors out of your control to produce energy.
Find a nice used diesel generator. Diesels are simple and reliable engines. Before you buy one, make sure you can find parts. Seems like Onan and Yanmar pop into my head as quality brands. Sometimes you can find a nice generator in big older boats, rv's, and busses.
If it was me, I would spend $1500 on led lights, $1500 on a generator, and $1k on a battery bank and charger. Like you said, if you can get a generator that is rated for 4k or 5k watts, and only require half that, it will sip fuel. I would think that as long as it was kept cool, you could run a diesel generator up until you needed to change the oil. My buddy ran a Honda is2000 gasoline generator for over 2 years straight. The only time it wasnt running was for maintenance. Diesels are perfect for running for long periods. I would have a battery bank as a backup, just in case the generator needed repair.
1 of my best friends has family in Chile. Eventually I'm gonna take him up on his offer, and head down for vacation. Good luck whichever route you choose

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GrassBurner said:

Have you thought about led lights? They use about 40% less electricity. You would only need 1440 watts instead of 2400. I'd go with a diesel generator over solar. Renewable energy isn't cheap, and you're counting on factors out of your control to produce energy.
Find a nice used diesel generator. Diesels are simple and reliable engines. Before you buy one, make sure you can find parts. Seems like Onan and Yanmar pop into my head as quality brands. Sometimes you can find a nice generator in big older boats, rv's, and busses.
If it was me, I would spend $1500 on led lights, $1500 on a generator, and $1k on a battery bank and charger. Like you said, if you can get a generator that is rated for 4k or 5k watts, and only require half that, it will sip fuel. I would think that as long as it was kept cool, you could run a diesel generator up until you needed to change the oil. My buddy ran a Honda is2000 gasoline generator for over 2 years straight. The only time it wasnt running was for maintenance. Diesels are perfect for running for long periods. I would have a battery bank as a backup, just in case the generator needed repair.
1 of my best friends has family in Chile. Eventually I'm gonna take him up on his offer, and head down for vacation. Good luck whichever route you choose

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I have around 1200w on clu058 COB leds, they work nice, but I just reached around 1kg per 1200w with those COB LEDS, using MH and HPS I always get around 1.2kg and 1.4kg per 1200w, on the same working area and variables. that's why I rather use HID lights, for me works better.
It's nice to read that your buddy was able to run a generator without problem for over 2 years straight, that give me more trust on the generator option. I'm still studying the variable of deep cycle battery, I'll update any thoughts or progress, it's nice to have more opinions!

Lenin1917 said:

Holy shit that's some expensive electricity.

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after you spend more than 350kwh a month, the price raises drastically, and running 2400w 20/4 its 48kwh a day, 1440kwh a month just in lights so I have to pay lot more expensive electricity than a regular user plus that I can get extra attention that nobody wants :')

clay32 said:

wow that crazy high for that amount of electric.. i run two 1k bulbs and everything in my house is electric and my total bill was 120.00 running them at 12/12
but back to your question i guess i would be looking at if you went the battery way. how long the generator would run to completly charge your batterys and how long would they last till the generator would need to kick back on to recharge. it would be interesting to put the math to it of course it would depend on the size of the batterys and how many i would guess. maybe someone here can figure all that out for ya.. good luck

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Still doing the maths