[RE-wrenches] Whole Home UPS, Generator Charging

[Lou Russo]

Jason,

We have had no demand for systems with no PV here in Hawaii but we are just
a small outfit.
As far as generators and Sol-Arks. We have always managed to get generators
charging with Sol-Arks but it seems to be a challenge. I'll state the 2
obvious things which have tripped us up in the past which I am sure you
have already tried.

Battery Setup->Charge-> Amps (Our guys alway forget this is DC Amps)
Always program the voltage setpoint in case closed-loop goes down

In off-grid installs we always install on the grid-input with CTs. It seems
to work better for us regardless of the size of the generator.

Aloha,

Lou Russo
Owner
lou at spreesolarsystems.com
Office - 808 345 6762
Spree Solar Systems LLC
CT-34322



On Mon, Oct 28, 2024 at 10:30 AM Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> We are seeing an uptick in consumers looking for whole home battery backup
> systems without solar panels for shorter grid outages. They either want
> battery only or battery with generator charging capability, either portable
> or fixed.
>
> I was planning on offering primarily Sol-Ark 15k for this scenario. But I
> have had mixed results in getting any appreciable battery charging from
> generators. I had a 48kW recently barely able to provide 3kW within the
> Sol-Ark's parameters, and a 22kW that can charge at 18kW without breaking a
> sweat. Portable generators are all over the map, too. I've used a Honda
> 2200 inverter generator to charge at 1,500W, a piece of junk 8kW cage
> rattler that was happy charging at 8kW, and a 5kW that didn't like giving
> up even 500W.
>
> Is there any rhyme or reason to what generators are best or why this
> happens? Sometimes I'm faced with clients that have existing generators and
> I have to tell them that I can't promise how well it will work. That's not
> a great sales pitch.
>
> Yes, I have adjusted the volt/freq windows and set the Sol-Ark to General
> Standard. I have tried peak shaving with no real positive results for the
> generators that performed poorly.
>
> Also, if Sol-Ark isn't the best answer, I'm open to alternatives. I also
> considered installing these systems with separate 48V chargers connected to
> the generator output, but I'm not sure how much better that will be and if
> there are adjustable chargers I can use on a range of generator outputs.
>
> Any advice would be appreciated, and I would also like to know if others
> are seeing this trend for whole home UPS. It could just be hurricane
> related here, of course.
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Florida Solar Design Group
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