How many solar panels would it take to run an electric motor the needs 480 volts and pulls about 45 to 50 amps?
Maybe you should call up a local solar installation company and ask them. They'll be able to give you the most accurate answers - I did that too, and it was the smartest thing. Just be sure that they're reliable and they know what their talking about it! This is the company I used -
It depends on the size of the solar panels you are intending to use for this project. Do a quick search on google and you'll find plenty of information on what you are looking for. Good luck!
Quite a bit to run 480 volts @ 50 amps. Ohms law will give you the basic level your looking for but also you need to consider power storage ... Conversions .... Start up power vs running power levels ... it can be done but this is a bigger system then what I need so I cant just give you an number your panels will be rated in wattage and amperage you then take that power and put it in storage (battery) to inverter system (mine is 20 volt) you will need to have a 480 inverter for your power level. good luck hope I was of some help.
If you have 480 volts, it might be 3-phase, and not a simple matter of multiplying volts and amps. However, that's in the ballpark of 25 kW, very doable for solar. That's on the high end of a residential installation, but very small for an institutional installation. What will influence the size of the array more is where you are geographically (that is, how much sun you get), and how often the motor runs (that is, how much energy in kWh does it use per day)? 480 volts is nothing to be trifled with. You should really get a power engineer to architect your system.
