L-16s like higher voltages [RE-wrenches]

[Ray Walters]

At 11:23 AM 1/14/02 -0800, you wrote:
>Do you have your customers' charge controller settings for L-16s set too low?
>
>Maybe, check it out:
>
>http://www.sandia.gov/pv/hot/PVQvol_4-2000.pdf 
>  
>Michael Welch
>  

I found 2 major problems with the Sandia study:

1. No where amidst the vast collection of data did I see anything about
Temperature or temperature compensated voltage, so this report doesn't have
me out changing any settings yet.

2. The report's conclusion that its necessary to EQ at 15.3 v (2.55v/cell)
for up to 20 hours on a regular basis ( weekly or less) is totally
impractical offgrid. They mentioned using a generator to do this, but that
would totally negate any  environmental or cost benefits from going solar
in the first place. 

My conclusion:
Sandia Labs should do a cost benefit analysis of shortened battery life and
lost capacity versus total operating costs for small generators (3kw to 20
kw). I think the cost of running a generator 600 to 1000 hours a year would
be far greater than replacing L16s  slightly more often. Also, my
experience is that batteries go bad in the real world because of abuse:
going dry, sitting for months without being fully charged, freezing, or
being contaminated with dirt and baking soda residue.

Solar Ray

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