NASA on Wrenches? [RE-wrenches]

Jeff Clearwater, Village Power Design jeffc at villagepower.com
Sun Nov 4 15:23:26 PST 2007


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Hi Roy,

Well actually they might have pulled it off 
during the night - trouble is their night is only 
90 minutes long!  They do get a 2 minute warning 
though before a very abrupt sunrise where the 
cell temperature changes by a few hundred degrees.

Imagine the Voc calcs!

I had another off-list response:

>I enjoyed reading your report on the space 
>station and the possible inclusion of Scott onto 
>the wrench list. Although his credential seem to 
>be impressive at first sight I just wanted to 
>point out that no inspection was done by the 
>AHJ(as you so stated). So we cannot tell if his 
>work is  done by code.  Also is this his only 
>system?  If it is then he will have to make a 
>couple of more trips to different jobs in his 
>service territory before we should consider his 
>application.

Cheers!

Jeff C.



>Did I miss something?
>What's all the fuss about with working on a live high voltage array?
>Couldn't they do this repair at night? ;-)
>
>Roy Butler
>NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
>NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
>8902 Route 46
>Arkport, NY 14807
>607-324-9747
>www.four-winds-energy.com
>
>Although no trees were killed in the sending of 
>this message, a large number of electrons were 
>terribly inconvenienced.
>
>
>
>
>John Raynes wrote:
>
>>
>>Are these Sanyos?  Seems as if NASA would want 
>>the highest efficiencies, and they could afford 
>>it.  So how do they keep the temperature limits 
>>from voiding the warranty?  And Sanyos are only 
>>supposed to be used in grid tie, but they're a 
>>little ways away from the grid...
>>
>>John
>>
>>
>>At 01:43 PM 11/4/2007 -0500, you wrote:
>>
>>>Probably no warranty as it was installed outside the US, but we can
>>>send in the panels for consideration at our expense....
>>>bob
>>>
>>>On 11/4/07, Steve Johnson <stevejohnson at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  Is this repair under warranty?  Surely a big outfit like Lockheed Martin
>>>>  warranties their work.
>>>>
>>>>  What's the per diem up there anyway?  I suppose the owner puts you up
>>>>  and provides meals.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Jeff Clearwater, Village Power Design wrote:
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Hi Folks,
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Well I think we should invite Scott Parazynski -
>>>>  > the astronaut who repaired the P6 Solar Array
>>>>  > today on the International Space Station (ISS) -
>>>>  > to the Wrenches list.   I mean -  after all -
>>>>  > consider his job and what he works on.
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Customer:  Taxpayers
>>>>  > System Type:  Off-Grid
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Sound familiar?
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Some More Specs:
>>>>  >
>>>>  > FOR THE P6 ARRAY:
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Array Wattage:  32.8 KW
>>>>  > # of Cells:  33,000 with 4100 diodes (Does not come with Evergreen Diode
>>>>  > Kits)
>>>>  > Array Vmp:  124 VDC (must not have consulted
>>>>  > SMA's sizer for optimizing high voltage)
>>>>  > Array Imp: 264 Amps !
>>>>  > Array Dimension:  107' x 38'
>>>>  > Array Area:  4066 ft2
>>>>  > Array Design Life: 15 yrs (Customer plans to replace arrays on his own!)
>>>>  > Racking: Accordion Blankets (engineering calcs
>>>>  > not available from UniRac & no permit required -
>>>>  > snow load not a factor)
>>>>  > Tracking:  360º Single Axis (with 2nd axis pitch
>>>>  > control of 4-5º) (sensor unit said to be better
>>>>  > than even Wattsun's)
>>>>  > Charge Control:  BCDU Battery Charge/Discharge Unit (not from Outback)
>>>>  > Batteries:  Not L16s - They are Nickel-Hydrogen
>>>>  > at 8 KW Charge Rate. 6 KW Discharge Rate.
>>>>  > 38,000 rated C/D cycles at 35% DOD.  Actual Ahrs
>>>>  > or KWhrs not clearly stated (that I could find).
>>>>  > Design life:  6.5 Yrs.
>>>>  > Dump Load:  14 KW per array. (Not yet available from AEE)
>>>>  >
>>>>  > TOTAL INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PV: (8 Arrays)
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Wattage:  262 KW
>>>>  > Array Vmp:  124 VDC
>>>>  > Array Imp: 2116 Amps!
>>>>  > Array Area: 32,528 ft2
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Contractor: Lockheed Martin Space Systems,
>>>>  > Sunnyvale, CA (Doesn't even have a C-46 License!)
>>>>  > Total Contract Cost for 8 Arrays:  US $450
>>>>  > Million (2000 dollars) (payment required upfront)
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Price/Watt:  $1715/Watt (it's a lot more if you
>>>>  > want a ground mount - but UniRac will take a
>>>>  > while to get back with you)
>>>  > >
>>>>  > Well much of this is just like our work - well
>>>>  > except maybe the price - and the view.  But the
>>>>  > part about him hanging out on the end of a 110'
>>>>  > arm.  That feels just like some of our work!
>>>>  >
>>>>  > I really think he's a candidate.
>>>>  >
>>>>  > What do others think?
>>>>  >
>>>>  > Jeff Clearwater
>>>>  > Village Power Design
>>>>  >
>>>>  > PS A complete description of the power
>>>>  > electronics/storage on the ISS PV system (on the
>>>>  > P3-P4 truss array)  can be had from:
>>>>  >
>>>>  > 
>>>>http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/components/docs/P3-P4.pdf
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  > and a good paper on space PV trends can be had at:
>>>>  >
>>>>  > http://www.aec-able.com/corpinfo/Resources/PAJ-IEEE-98.pdf
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  >
>>>>  > The Space Systems ISS solar arrays are the
>>>>  > largest deployable space structure ever built and
>>>>  > will be by far, the most powerful
>>>>  > electricity-producing arrays ever put into orbit.
>>>>  > When the Station is completed a total of eight
>>>>  > flexible, deployable solar array wings will
>>>>  > generate the reliable, continuous power for the
>>>>  > on-orbit operation of the ISS systems. The eight
>>>>  > array wings were designed and built under a $450
>>>>  > million contract from the Boeing-Rocketdyne
>>>>  > Division in Canoga Park, Calif., for delivery to
>>>>  > the Boeing Company and NASA.
>>>>  > Each of the eight wings consists of a mast
>>>>  > assembly and two solar array blankets. Each
>>>>  > blanket has 84 panels, of which 82 are populated
>>>>  > with solar cells. Each panel contains 200 solar
>>>>  > cells. The eight photovoltaic arrays thus
>>>>  > accommodate a total of 262,400 solar cells. When
>>>>  > fully deployed in space, the active area of the
>>>>  > eight wings, each 107 by 38-feet, will encompass
>>>>  > an area of 32,528-sq. ft., and will provide power
>>>>  > to the ISS for 15 years.
>>>>  > --
>>>>  > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>  > Jeff Clearwater
>>>>  > Village Power Design
>>>>  > Sustainable Energy & Water Solutions for Home & Village
>>>>  > http://www.villagepower.com
>>>>  > gosolar at villagepower.com
>>>>  > NABCEP (tm) Certified Solar PV Installer
>>>>  >
>>>>  > 877-765-2784
>>>>  > FAX: 530-466-3663
>>>>  > 425 Nimrod St,
>>>>  > Nevada City, CA 95959
>>>>  > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~
>>>>  > --
>>>>  > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>>>  >
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Steve Johnson
>>>>  LightWave Solar Electric
>>>>  Nashville, Tennessee
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff Clearwater
Village Power Design
Sustainable Energy & Water Solutions for Home & Village
http://www.villagepower.com
gosolar at villagepower.com
NABCEP (tm) Certified Solar PV Installer

877-765-2784
FAX: 530-466-3663
425 Nimrod St,
Nevada City, CA 95959
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~


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