144vdc charging [RE-wrenches]

Matt Tritt solarone at charter.net
Fri Jul 16 12:48:47 PDT 2004 

 

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Nick,

First question: If there is no restriction on the number of modules you can
use, this must be an aircraft carrier, right?

Just kidding, but you also term this vessel a mini-ship. If it's actually
mini, how will you find the room I'm sure you'll find necessary to mount all
those panels without adding so much windage that it might as well be a mini
sailing ship? Propelling a hull through the water requires a certain,
unavoidable amount of energy to overcome drag and wind forces. I bet that
you can convert this resistance/drag to Watts (through some formula I'm not
familiar with) and size the array to provide that amount plus enough
residual energy to keep the batteries charged, but you will need a very long
waterline to beam ratio (narrow) to make the boat very easily driven. Fat
boats are slow boats that take more energy to move at a similar speed.

A 30', well designed sail hull requires about 25 HP to push it through flat
water @ about 5.5 kts/hr (less if it also has a very narrow beam), so you're
going to need a LOT of solar panels for a ship; small or not. Remember the
displacement required to carry all those batteries!

Happy sailing

Matt T





-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Lucchese [mailto:nickl at sierrasolar.com] 
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 12:14 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: 144vdc charging [RE-wrenches]


 

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Greetings Fellow Wrenches,
  Curious to see if anyone might have any suggestions for charging a 
144vdc battery bank with PV. I've thought of possible breaking the 
battery bank into 3 banks @ 48 volts but was not sure how well that 
would work or possible problems I'm not thinking of. Each 48v bank 
would be able to have an identical array on it with all the same 
modules on the same plane so the charge rate could be consistent 
throughout. There will not be a shortage of modules to make almost 
any configuration work.
  The project is a solar powered boat or mini exploration ship 
designed for the range not to be bound by the amount of fuel it can 
carry on board. Each motor was originally to be 48v but somewhere in 
the design process they switched to a brush-less motor from Pontiac 
(supposedly both Ford and Honda are using the same motor). So, does 
anyone have any recommendations for a 144v charge controller? Bob at 
Outback says I may be able to put 3 MX-60's in series but I'd rather 
not be a guinea pig or use a product that's not intended for the 
application as well as burden them with yet another special project 
(sure would be nice though since the MX-60 is the first choice 
anyway). The MX-60's are one option, any others?

  Another unrelated question regarding class-T fuses. From time to 
time (usually on temporary systems) I'll bolt the fuse directly to 
the battery and then run a bolt through the other side to hold the 
inverter cables. Also from time to time a customer does not want to 
fork out $50-$70 for the fuse with the block. So, is this method 
acceptable if it's in a battery box or must it be installed on the 
block with the protective sleeve? Are there issues with arching to 
the other side of a blown fuse with a 48v system. Where might the NEC 
stand on this?

Sorry to hit the list with so many questions, always appreciate the 
collective intelligence,

Nick A Lucchese


>
>
>Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor:
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>
>Esteemed Wrenches,
>
>An off-grid client is looking to save a few $ by going with a Generac 
>Guardian (air-cooled 12kW model). Any horror stories he should know 
>about with these? Configurable for full-power at 120VAC? Typical 
>lifespan?
>
>Thanks in advance.
>-Nik
>
>
>--
>Nicholas Ponzio
>Vermont Solar Engineering
>PO Box 697
>Burlington, VT 05402
>toll-free 800.286.1252
>local     802.863.1202
>fax       802.863.7908
>www.vermontsolar.com
>www.backeastsolar.com
>
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