Perfect explanation. Less current requires smaller wire. Simple as that. Larger wire has lower resistance, which is needed for high current draws.
Perfect explanation. Less current requires smaller wire. Simple as that. Larger wire has lower resistance, which is needed for high current draws.
It all makes perfect sense!
At some point Id like to have a 12 volt system with solar charging, set up to monitor mains.. when that drops an inverter will kick in and provide 110ac to a few LED lights.
Btw, LED lights are much better than CFL, though I want to measure and chart.
If the bank is big enough and I have a big enough inverter, I could run the fridge too, but that would be for short term until I get the genny running... 10 hours at most I figure.
EB
If you ran your lights off of a different panel than your main appliances you wouldn't need an inverter for the LED's. Almost anything that doesn't have a spinning motor is run off of DC rather than AC. From what I have read though, DC will generate MUCH more loss through the wires than running AC does but unless you are transferring it to a second building, the losses should be minimal. Even if you do, using a 24 volt system at the bank and then stepping it down with resistors should make up for it and also create less of a loss than the 12 volt system would over distance.
I'm absolutely devouring this book I picked up. It goes way more in depth than I thought I was ready for but I can make the links in my head with minimal searching online. This book is supposed to be an electricians reference to solar power I assume because it makes the assumption that you have a base knowledge of how "normal" power works. The only basis I have off our normal power system is because of the research I did on Tesla vs. Edison and the original "power wars". (pun intended)
Originally Posted by Gunfixr
What book did you get James? I may have missed the title in a previous posting.
Solar electricity handbook 2013
I just ordered the 2015 book on Amazon.
My plan is to build a small cabin up north on our property, about 20x24. The lighting will all be LEDs so the draw will be low, then have a propane refrigerator and stove. This should be a good start. Since all my power tools are pretty much battery operated building should not be a problem. I have a generator which I can use to run the larger tools. So we will see what happens, I'm only a year behind getting things started. I meet with my brother-in-law next month to go over my rough plans. The nice thing is we did a remodel on the house so I have cabinets left over to go in the cabin.
If it is predictable then it is preventable....... Gordon Graham
So if it is predictable and preventable then you better prepare.
I had a large sale on eBay last week, so I started buying materials for the solar powered portable power station. I bought 2- 12 volt 100Ah batteries, 1- 1000w inverter, (1500w peak power) 1- 20A charge controller, and various switches and gauges. I still need to purchase the solar panels, but I might be able to borrow some for the week I need them. I will start assembly next week when the equipment arrives, and keep you posted on what I short out or blow up.
thread keeps getting better!!
Chief, for the 24 volt setup, where in circuit do the stepdown resistors go? At the battery? at the point of use? Midcircuit someplace?
Stepdown resistors should go as close to point of use as possible so as to obtain proper voltage and amperage. You won't know the amount or size of the resistors until you see what your loss is from the DC over distance.
ie.
You have a solar panel bank set up on your garage roof because it gets better sunlight. So you keep the battery bank there as well. If you want to run an inverter you would go straight from the batteries to the inverter and then do a line to your house with no resistors because there is almost no loss in AC. If you want DC only then you run from the batteries to an automatic regulator at the house because of the loss from running the distance in DC plus the variance in the voltage of the batteries would change the amount of resistance you need. So you can't use a static resistance system and you would have to make the voltage far greater because of the drastic loss. (am I making sense?)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks