Solar Power Shed Project

[EddieWalker]

Pat,

I didn't realize it until now, but I meant to say to replace a 4 tonne unit with a 3.5 tonne unit.

Thanks for your explination, it makes allot of sense.

Eddie

 

[Doc_Bob]

Buy good batteries!

I met a fellow who does PV in Little Rock, Arkansas. He uses the huge battery that you see in those electric pallet trucks. The sucker he showed me was "huge". He had his in an insulated, warm and ventilated room in the garage. He had it in the garage so that it could be moved in and out using pallet forks if ever needed. The single monster battery was to big to be moved without a machine.
Bob

 

[Rob-D]

Well, I Have seen catalytic caps in use that worked fine BUT I don't recall what brands they were.

They catalytically recombine the hydrogen generated by charging the batteries with atmospheric O2 and the resultant water drips into the battery extending the time interval between having to add water. Since it uses up a good percentage of the hydrogen it recuces the rish of hydrogen explosion. I have never personally seen a battery case explode but wouldn't want to be close enough to see it either. I have seen the vent caps (regular caps not catalytic ones) blown about 40 ft straight up. These were screw in caps and still they went up like mortar shells.

Pat

I've never seen this either but I would suspect it is due to clogged breather holes in the caps.
I'm very careful about my batteries and how I treat them.

 

[Rob-D]

I met a fellow who does PV in Little Rock, Arkansas. He uses the huge battery that you see in those electric pallet trucks. The sucker he showed me was "huge". He had his in an insulated, warm and ventilated room in the garage. He had it in the garage so that it could be moved in and out using pallet forks if ever needed. The single monster battery was to big to be moved without a machine.
Bob

I like the idea but to me being able to manage my batteries means a lot. Someday those big batteries are going to be changed and I wouldn't want that job or the cost it incurs. To me the 530S Rolls are a nice mix of an excellent battery and a managable battery. 530 AH at 6 volts x 8 = 25kwh / 2 for 50% charge depth = about 12.5k. With my stream,hydro and panels that will do what I need.
Hopefully someday the weak link (batteries) will be replaced by capacitors. They are getting better everyday. I have small 1F caps that would require a freight car to store 30 years ago. Mine are the size of your pinky!

One more thing. Those of you thinking about a system go with 48 volts if you can and 24 volts if you can't do 48. The wire size difference between a 12 volt and 48 volt system is tremendous.

 

[patrick_g]

Ron and Doc, I suppose there is a rationale for using one huge battery (wanna see big bunches of big batteries, look at what they use in diesel-electric submarines.) Anyway I would not personally want all my storage in one unit. It would be convenient for changing out the whole thing but that is not economical. If just one cell opens up or goes bad somehow you are out of business. I would like some parallelism, even with reduced capacity of the remaining good storage, you aren't dead. A good alternative to or adjunct to parallelism is separate cells strapped together in series. You can change out just the bad cell. This is frequently done in larger systems. My Prius has the battery made of clusters of cells. If a cell dies yoiu replace just that cluster.

The vents in the caps prevent the build up of pressure and permit outgassing without building up pressure. The small holes in vent caps do not guarantee all the hydrogen gets out. the Hydrogen-air mix in the head space above the plates can vary in "richness" of the mixture and a small spark (even a small static spark) can set off a powerful explosion if the mix is optimal.

During my free lance consulting phase I was working on a small portable (23 lb) battery operated welder project and often had to burn several stick electrodes (6011-6013) when testing my improvements. One time, apparrently a spark (small piece of hot metal) passed by the vent caps of a 100 AH automotive style battery I was using for power. The batt was on the shop floor and the vent caps hit the ceiling (about 40 ft up) quite forcefully. I guess I came about as close to blowing up the battery but not rupturing the case as was possible. I made other battery layout arrangements subsequent to that episode. A battery explosion is not good. It throws lots of shrapnel and sulphuric acid.

Pat

 

[3RRL]

More about the progress out here. The Watsun Trackers were being installed by my solar contractor. Just a few pics and they did not finish before we had to leave. I am going on vacation and won't be back until Thanksgiving, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the entire system will be up and running 100% when I get back. Then to figure out what to do with it...

Here's Loretta checking it out in the morning.



My dog Coco had to check it out too!

 

[3RRL]

Here is the contractor putting up the frame work that will hold the Sharp modules.



This is the hydraulic arm for the tracking system.



And a close up of the hardware used in the installation.

 

[3RRL]

We also got the 500 gallon propane tank delivered but not hooked up yet. This will also take place while I'm gone with the solar contractor and propane guy working together. I will have separate regulators for each of the lines running to the home, the barn/shop, to the generator and also a wet line to fill my BBQ and camp propane bottles now. I still have to pour about another foot of concrete, because the feet on this tank were spread wider apart than the ones we looked at. But that is not a problem...



We also got the suspension type foot mounts for the generator. This is what they look like.



They are working on all the shed venting and have all the vents painted, but not installed yet. The air vents will open with air draw and circulation and are the "shutter" type. No pics of them but next time ...

 

[schmism]

a wet line to fill my BBQ and camp propane bottles now.

wud the wet tap run ya? when i was calling around for propane "bids" for the new house i mentioned a wet tap for my BBQ and you would have thought i asked him to scrafice is first born.

"oh wicked dangerous, really unsafe, way to expensive for the few refils for your BBQ"

then this sat i had to get a refil of my little 20# tank for the furnace on the popup.... $26!!!!!!! (this was after i called fri and propane was $1.60 a gallon ) so 7$ worth of gas cost me $26!!!!!!!!!

ill be getting a wet tap thankyouverymuch

that and i can convert an old 4cyl toyota pickup to propane for a few hundred bucks (they use the same block in the forklifts) talk about cost savings!

 

[3RRL]

Wet line cost me $20 done with installation. And propane out here is $3.50 at most places! Mine will cost me $1.69 out of my wet line...no driving anywhere too.