Onan 3.6kw 120vac generator. [RE-wrenches]

Tue Sep 17 15:09:57 PDT 2002

Matt:

While low cost generators may have bad power factor but you also have to
look at the power factor of the inverter when charging.  In my
experience the US inverter chargers present a low power factor load to
the generator.  This means the inverter / charger is asking for current
at the wrong time (out of phase with the voltage).  Low power factor
loads make it very difficult for the lower cost generators to deliver
significant power through the charger to the battery.  

In Europe they have requirements for power factor correction.  Power
factor correction does add some additional cost to the inverter charger
but it also reduces the problems of interfacing Generator A with
Inverter B etc.  IMHO, power factor corrected chargers (when they become
available) will eliminate the vast majority of these types of problems.
Yes, we will still have to deal with lousy generators but more of the
common ones will work reasonably well with battery chargers in the
inverters.

If you have any questions, or if I can be of any further assistance,
please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best Regards,

John Berdner

SMA America, Inc.
20830 Red Dog Road
Grass Valley, CA  95945
530.273.4595 (voice)
530.274.7271 (fax) 

-----Original Message-----
From: matthew tritt [mailto:solarone at charter.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 7:36 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Re: Onan 3.6kw 120vac generator. [RE-wrenches]

Ezra,

The same thing happens when trying to charge batteries with a 3.5 Honda
through a DR 2500! I believe that they (Hondas) have a really bad power
factor because the generators will act like they're attempting to start
a
too large motor load. Normally a generator with a rated output of 1.5
the
expected load is required to start a motor load without bogging down,
but
with Hondas, who knows?

Matt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ezra Auerbach, Xantrex" <ezra at lasqueti.net>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 7:01 AM
Subject: Re: Onan 3.6kw 120vac generator. [RE-wrenches]

> Hi,
>
> Having just had to listen to my darn old Honda for hours yesterday I
want
to
> chime in on this one.  I agree with Frank, my experience shows me that
you
> really need about 6.5 kW of good generator to get max charging
performance
> from the SW.  My 3.5 kW (sort of) Honda has a plug rated 30 amps and a
30
> amp breaker but if I set my max AC amps any higher than 23 it actually
> stalls the Honda.  With that generator I get the best performance at
about
> 16 AC input amps, any higher I lug the generator down and it really
labours.
>
> Ezra Auerbach
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Frank Fowler, Crystal Pines Alt. Energy " <cpae1 at aol.com>
> To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 6:23 PM
> Subject: Re: Onan 3.6kw 120vac generator. [RE-wrenches]
>
>
> > In a message dated 9/16/2002 11:21:57 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> > cvsolar at aol.com writes:
> >
> >
> > >  I just installed an SW4024 system with 8 L16 batteries and an
Onan
> 3.6kw
> > > generator.  It will only produce 10-12 amps AC input charging the
new
> > > batteries.
> >
> > In my experience with generators for charging battery banks using an
> > inverter/charger
> > from Trace/Xantrex, nothing less than a quality  5kw generator will
> suffice.
> >
> > SUNcerely,
> > Frank Fowler
> > Crystal Pines Alternative Energy
> > 530-532-1972
> > cpae1 at aol.com
> > www.solarenergy-alt.com
> >
> > --
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
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