[RE-wrenches] Generator choice for Sunny Island

Tue Jul 25 07:07:52 PDT 2017

Drake,

I believe that the charging methodology that Howie described applies when
the Sunny Island is offgrid or ongrid, although there are some parameters
that are individually adjustable. SMA has long touted how good their
charging algorithms are and how well they maintain the batteries. We've
been installing Sunny Islands in grid tied battery backup applications
(with AGM batteries) for over 10 years now and they have been very solid.

August

*August Goers*

Luminalt Energy Corporation

o: 415.641.4000

m: 415.559.1525

www.luminalt.com

On Tue, Jul 25, 2017 at 3:16 AM, Drake <drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org
> wrote:

> If there is a grid connection, does the built in battery charger in the
> Sunny Islands sufficiently make up for any deficit in the AC coupled
> charging algorithm?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Drake
>
>  04:59 PM 7/24/2017, you wrote:
>
> I have had generally a good experience with Sunny Island battery
> charging.Â  There are definitely way too many parameters to set, but their
> charging algorithm is designed to bring batteries up to ~90% on the "boost"
> charge (every 1-2 days), 95% on their "full" charge (typically every 10-14
> days) and 100% on their "equalize" charge (typically 120 or 180 days for
> flooded batteries). It is a different algorithm than any other battery
> inverter that I've programmed, and I was very skeptical when I first used a
> SI, but over the years, it does seem to maintain the batteries well
> (equalize is generally disabled on sealed batteries).Â  They claim it is
> the best method, but I do not have enough data points to determine that it
> works better or worse than the more traditional "bulk/absorb/float" setup.
>
> Howie
>
> On Mon, Jul 24, 2017 at 4:26 PM, Tom Duffy <Tom at solar-biz.com> wrote:
>
> 8 hours at least but 24 would be more accurate
>
> Â
>
> Kind regards
>
> Â
>
> Tom Duffy
>
> Senior Solar Design Engineer
>
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> From: RE-wrenches [ mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
> <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org>] On Behalf Of Ray
> Sent: Monday, July 24, 2017 3:24 PM
> To: re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Generator choice for Sunny Island
>
> Â
>
> My experience with Sunny Islands are that their SOC can be off by quite a
> bit. Unfortunately with sealed batteries, you can't check SG with a
> hydrometer to confirm, and tweak the settings.Â  Probably the best you
> could do, is shut the system down and let the batteries sit for long enough
> to take voltage readings to double check the SOC.
>
> I found systems that the SI thought it was close to full, but the
> batteries were actually only at 60%.
>
> R. Ray
> Walters
>
>
> Chief Technical Officer,
> RemoteSolar.com
>
>
> BS Mech Engineering,
> 1988
>
>
> Former NABCEP Certified,
> 2004-2016
>
>
> Licensed Master ELectrician,
> Colorado
>
>
> 303
> 505-8760 <(303)%20505-8760>
>
>
> On 7/24/17 2:16 PM, August Goers wrote:
>
> Hi Drake,
>
> Â
>
> Good questions. Yes, the taper charge appears to be working well. I've
> been to the site a couple of times where loads were low, irradiance was
> high, and battery SOC was ~90% and the Sunny Boy was just covering the load
> and a little trickle charge.Â
>
> Â
>
> I have noticed that the SOC seems to max out around 90 to 92% - that seems
> to be the case with Sunny Islands in general. I'm not enough of a battery
> expert to know if this is a good thing or not. I do know that I custom
> programmed in all the AGM battery parameters and set max voltages. I also
> disabled equalize mode since I couldn't find any literature from US battery
> on recommendations for their AGM.Â
>
> Â
>
> August
>
>
> August Goers
>
> Luminalt Energy Corporation
>
> o: 415.641.4000 <(415)%20641-4000>
>
> m: 415.559.1525 <(415)%20559-1525>
>
> www.luminalt.com
>
> Â
>
> Â
>
> On Mon, Jul 24, 2017 at 5:36 AM, Drake < drake.chamberlin@
> redwoodalliance.org> wrote:
>
> Are you getting a good taper charge with this system? Are the batteries
> reaching a decent state of charge from the AC coupled connection with the
> inverter?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Drake
>
>
>
>
> At 11:08 AM 7/23/2017, you wrote:
>
> August,
>
> Â  Â  Â  Â  Â  Â  Of course the genny itself has its own emission of noise
> but the environment its in certainly will affect its overall "annoyance
> level".Â  Backed up to metal container is a negative, I can't tell from the
> photo if the Kohler is on the side away from most of the public, probably
> don't have to go on, you must have thought of these things....it could have
> its own (partial?)enclosure with some sound deadening qualities.Â  Hondas
> are a little quieter but not that much, hopefully the darn thing doesn't
> have to come on, eh?
>
>
> Nice set-up.
>
> Bill
>
> Feather River Solar Electric
> Bill Battagin, Owner
> 4291 Nelson St.
> Taylorsville, CA 95983
> 530.284.7849
> CA Lic 874049
> www.frenergy.net
>
> On 7/21/2017 11:39 AM, August Goers wrote:
>
> All,
>
> I thought I'd provide an update on our setup since we've completed the
> install and commissioning. More or less, the installation went well. We did
> have one of the US Battery AGM L16 batteries dead on arrival with a bad
> cell. That bad battery screwed up the state of charge (SOC) calculations in
> the Sunny Island and made the SOC reading jump from ~ 80% to 19% in just a
> couple of minutes. It was easy to find the bad battery - all the batteries
> were about 6.5 v with the bad battery reading about 4.5 v. We pulled that
> battery out of the string for warranty replacement and are currently
> running it with seven batteries at 42 v nominal. It's cool that the Sunny
> Island allows for this. Other than that, the frequency shift derate between
> the Sunny Island and Sunny Boy is working perfectly and the system has more
> than enough capacity to run the loads during the summer months. I'd say the
> Kohler generator is the nice unit although it is a little loud for this
> application. If I had to do this portable application again, I'd probably
> just go with the Honda 7000.
>
> Thanks for your help! August
>
>
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