[RE-wrenches] PV powered music festival

[Exeltech]

Hi Ray,

Problems?  Nope.  Never.

My "no tube amps" comment is a power consumption issue as you surmised.  Nothing more.  Fact is, if I had unlimited battery reserve, I'd prefer tube amplifiers over solid state, but that's another topic.

I powered Earth Day in Dallas in 2002 with a much smaller set-up back then (525 W PV, 4 kWh in battery, and a 4 kW Exeltech MX inverter).  My equipment was the sole source of power at the event that day.  The last band of the day had a 2500 watt class 'A' tube amp for (as you guessed) their bass player.  It had a ~superb~ sound, but *idled* at 1700 watts.  Also needed a small army to move it.  They proceeded to run the 24V battery system down to 19V.  Fortunately, the inverter under-voltage didn't kick in and shut things down, but it was -> <- that close.

I'd be ok with a 100 watt tube amp at an event.  This is more of a camel-in-the-tent comment.  It amazes me how many performers have absolutely no clue what their equipment is rated or consumes.  Let a small tube amp in, and a 3kW+ beast follows.

If you're ever in the Dallas/Ft Worth area around the end of April any year, stop in.  I have a standing annual commitment to power the Fort Worth Prairie Fest.  They have a Grammy award winning group as their headline band every year.  I'll get you a front-row seat right next to the Shuttle.


Dan


--- On Wed, 4/27/11, R Ray Walters <ray at solarray.com> wrote:

From: R Ray Walters <ray at solarray.com>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] PV powered music festival
To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 11:57 PM

Dan;
Your system sounds great. I'd love to hear it sometime.Just one question: how come no tube amps?You're going to have some guitar players screaming; most of the best guitar amps are all tube these days.

I know they waste a lot of power, but they're usually small compared to the PA system.
I've measured a few with a no load draw in the 20 to 40 watt range, maybe peaking at 100 watts. (Marshall 100w head)
I would think the Exeltech would make it sound better than they've ever heard.
Have you had problems?

R. Waltersray at solarray.comSolar Engineer





Things to
 avoid at all cost:

Incandescent stage lamps.  Period.  (Dan from FoxFire and Jason from Fafco are 100% on target on this.)

* Tube amplifiers of any kind.
* Class 'A' amplifiers (tube or solid state - doesn't matter).
  Most sound people and musicians are clueless about this aspect
  of their equipment. You'll have to either get the make and model of
  the amps and talk with the respective manufacturers .. or go to a lot
  of trouble to measure idle power for each.

Dan


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