Allan,
 
Your mention of the Todd TS30 prompts this response. According to Aaron Tribble of Todd Engineering, Todd closed their doors as of Friday 2-2-01. No details given.
 
 

Backwoods Solar Electric Systems www.backwoodssolar.com
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2 miles from utility lines,
powered entirely by our catalog products.
IF UTILITY POWER IS 1/4 MILE OR MORE FROM YOUR SITE,
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----- Original Message -----
From: Allan Sindelar, Positive Energy, Inc.
To: RE-wrenches@topica.com
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2001 1:37 PM
Subject: Re: Generator Control- A Doozie [RE-wrenches]

Travis,
    Not knowing William Miller's approach, I think Phil has hit it well, once you add that relay on the signal circuit.  I like relays--simple, reliable, can be a long distance away, and lets DC control AC for phantom load mgt.  Anyway, put the relay on the ATS' genstart circuit, then design your controls on the coil circuit of the relay.  Use combinations of series and parallel logic to (for example): let one of the Trace's auxiliary voltage relays allow gen start based on voltage, OR the E-meter's LLO to base on % SOC, AND/OR a load-based switch start on the client's gennie-only loads (turning on the device also sends a start signal to this relay to start gennie), OR an exercise timer (Trace or separate). You can add a Todd TS30 or TS50 to one or more AC gennie loads to provide time-delay and multiple load switching (MORE relays! Yummy!) You can even sequence relays, so that big load A both starts the gennie AND disconnects AC to the inverter, if the total load is too big, but smaller load B allows BU charging as well.
    Generic, but I hope this helps.
Allan   
----- Original Message -----
From: Phil Undercuffler
To: RE-wrenches@topica.com
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2001 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: Generator Control- A Doozie [RE-wrenches]

How about this:
Grid power goes through ATS to the main load center, which has a 2 pole 60A breaker sending power to AC1.  Inverters feed a critical load panel.  Generator's start circuit is removed from the ATS and wired to the inverters. 
 
Power outages transfer ATS to emergency power position, but cannot start generator.  Main load center is not powered, but the inverters feed the critical loads.  At a programmed voltage or amperage point, the inverters start the generator, which feeds thru the ATS to the main load panel and therefore AC1 for charging.
 
Possible problems:  too much load on main panel to leave power for charging. 
 
Also, does that ATS sense generator input and executes a time-delay before latching,  or does it latch after a time delay from losing grid power?  One allows the generator to warm up, the other doesn't.  Also, are your inverters in sell mode?  could we have the inverters attempting to "sell back" to the generator, and what would that cause?
 
The inverter should be able to be connected in parallel with the ATS, if you wanted the ATS to govern the excersize cycle, but the inverters can do the same thing with more flexibility. 
 
BTW, why a 12 volt system for a dual SW?  The thought of that much current flowing makes me wince.  Hope all the wire near your shunt is rated 90 degree Celcius or better.
----- Original Message -----
From: Travis Creswell, Ozark Solar
To: RE-wrenches@topica.com
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2001 9:55 AM
Subject: Generator Control- A Doozie [RE-wrenches]

I have a customer who already had a 22 kW kohler controlled by a automatic transfer switch.  We added solar and a dual SW inverter system to the house.  Due to the size of the existing generator and existing house wiring configuration I can't run the generator into AC2 on the SW's.  There are loads on the main panel that he would like to run still that shoudn't be ran of the inverters.
 
I am trying to figure out a way to prevent the generator from running when the grid is down and the batteries are charged while allowing the generator to start when (as) the batteries become depleted.  The customer is adamant about this being automatic. 
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