144vdc charging [RE-wrenches]

Matt Tritt solarone at charter.net
Fri Jul 16 15:36:14 PDT 2004 

 

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Nick,

OK, so you're not interested in designing yachts. I thought this was the
chisel-pounders list! ;-) (Actually they are doing just what I was
attempting to describe; three hulls (very narrow ones) = three times the
waterline length for a given length on deck plus, since it's a trimaran,
there will be plenty of deck to cover with panels.

So, since you have three hulls, why not talk them into three 48 volt drive
motors? That way they might even be able to turn it around, plus they would
have redundancy in case of motor or transmission failure. You could also
charge three battery banks @ 48 volts without any fancy controllers. Oh,
serendipity.

Matt T

-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Lucchese [mailto:nickl at sierrasolar.com] 
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 2:02 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: RE: 144vdc charging [RE-wrenches]


 

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>Greetings Matt,

  Thanks for the reply about drag and all the 
energy that would go into designing this thing. 
Luckily, I'm not being asked to figure all those 
specs and variables. The group of people on the 
east coast have all the right folks to do that 
figuring. I believe it began with a contract for 
a research team and turned into a much larger 
scale project once some branch of the gov't found 
out what they were doing. They now plan on 
building three of them and they went to a 
tri-hull design for some reason (not my field of 
work or concern for that matter). Anyway, just 
picture a giant pontoon with the emphasis on how 
far it will go, not how fast.

  So, still looking for info pertaining to the 
specific questions I asked although I'm in no 
hurry for any brainstormers out there.

  They are making promises about taking me sailing 
but it's gonna take a while for a pontoon to make 
from the east to west coast. Thanks again for the 
reply Matt,
Nick A Lucchese

>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]
>
>
>
>
>Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor:
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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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>>The fastest - Easiest way to lose weight! Try it now FREE! 
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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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>
>--
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