Hello! So the last week I have been conducting a system performance load test. The idea is to see how well my batteries hold up while being loaded and charged simultaneously. So I have isolated bank 1 of batteries and currently have bank 2 of batteries on load and charge. Now the days are getting shorter and the last couple of days have been hot as hell (over 100F.!!!). So that tends to decrease efficiency due to increases resistance from the excessive heat.
Well, the system is performing perfectly! I have 4 - 380AH 6V deep cycle batteries in a 24V configuration with 1.28+kW of monocrystaline panels for input. The load as noted in earlier posts are my deep freezer, refrigerator and TV/DVD combination with some smaller charging loads (cell phone for wife, laptop and battery pack for drills).
Now if you remember in previous posts I set the system up to have one bank on charge and one on load. Well the wife challenged me and my systems capability to carry the load. So I took bank 1 off charge after it was topped and equalized (love these new charge controllers!) and placed bank 2 on charge and load. And we are not only carrying the load but when I get home the batteries are showing between 96 - 99% charge, meaning they were topped and floated by the charge controllers.
The problem we will be running into in the near future will be cloudy days and shorter charge times. Fortunately the panels can recover an unloaded battery bank with moderate cloud cover. But we are heading into our winter and while it's short, it's almost like being in Seattle. So I have been "selling" the wife on a wind turbine for winter power production. Where we live we get a great deal of wind during the winter and what I noticed is that if it's cloudy... it's windy. We really do have an off-gridders piece of prime real estate!
Well that's all for now... have to get back to work but just wanted to post an update. And yes, I do have some performance data that I will post as well. It's getting more accurate as I establish my routines and now that I have a thermometer in place I can start tracking weather and temperatures as well. This is all information I will use for the main 48V system I will have to design and build sometime in the future when the house is actually ready. And the data I collect might be of some use to any of you that actually are reading this blog!
Peace, Love and Five Finger Death Punch!
No comments:
Post a Comment