Trace Charge Controller Ratings [RE-wrenches]

[William Miller]

Travis:

Here's the power flow:  I posted a drawing of this on my web site.  The web
address is listed below in my signature area.  Click on downloads and on
JPG drawing of current PV project (excuse the pun).  The drawing may be
easier to follow than the text description.


-80 KC120 modules in racks of 8
-1 Connect PCB-10 combiner for each two racks (4 strings)
(28.4 amps rated and 46.49 at 156% from each combiner)
-Each combiner feeds on C40
-Each C40 feeds a 50 amp QOU breaker
-Each QOU feeds a power distribution block
-Power distribution block feeds 250 amp class T fuse 
(142 amps rated, 232 amps at 156%)
-Class T fuse feeds Heinemann GJ250
-GJ250 feeds small battery bank
-Small battery bank feeds two SW5548 inverters
-Each SW4458 feeds a 60 amp breaker
-Each breaker feeds a pole of a utility required disconnect
-Each disconnect pole feeds a separate utility meter

Travis, how do you protect the wiring to and inside charge controllers from
over-current?  It seems to me that you need something to protect yourself
and the equipment in case, for example, you drop a wrench in one of the
charge controllers.  Is there any over-current protection between the
battery bank and the DC buss in your designs? Or between the DC buss and
the charge controllers?

This is the first time I've had to combine the output of combiners so I'm
just puzzling through this for myself and I appreciate all of the feed back
I've gotten.  The original question is this:  If the GJ250 is not
acceptable as over current protection from a battery bank, is it still OK
to use it upstream of the Class T fuse?  I say yes because the Class T fuse
is located so close to the breaker.  The benefit of routing battery power
this way is that the GJ250 can be used as a disconnect to de-energize the
fuse for replacement.

All comments are welcome.

William


At 08:51 PM 4/27/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi William,
>
>Wow, that sounds like a pretty ambitious amount of amperage.  You said you
>were going to feed a battery bank?  Is that via a charge controller?  I'm
>not second guessing, I'm just curious what it is you're doing.  When I've
>done systems of any size, that require multiple charge controllers, it
>always seems to work out pretty well to use one combiner per charge
>controller then feed a common DC buss.
>
>Travis
>





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William Miller
Miller Power and Communications
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