David A's posts

If the output is AC and not DC the cheap method is to use a 120vac to 240vac transformer from any electrical supply.  24 in will produce 48 out.   Make sure the current of the transformer is high enough to cover your needs.   Any transformers with a 1:2 ratio with a voltage higher than 48V should work, the above mentioned is an off the self item.  There will be a small power lost as is normal in any transformer.   If it is DC all the rules change.

I work at the University of West Florida and we currently have 3 students that are designing and building a wind generator.  Anyone interested in seeing what they are doing can visit
http://uwf.edu/windenergyteam/

David

I finally found the answer so not need to answer.
David

I agree it is better to error on the larger side.  I am doing a lot of number crunching and measuring load to determine battery capacity than adding a 25% forgot something factor. 

My question was calculating the amps required to charge the battery bank.  Should I have enough PV array to charge the battery bank in one day (6hours) of sun or two days from a discharged state?  How do I determine the best charge rate?  Is it a percentage of battery bank size for example say 10% of battery capacity ie 500AH battery bank charges best at a 50A rate?

I can determine the home energy  needs but would need to build some capacity into the PV array  for battery charging over and above what the home is using. This number is what I have not been able to find.

Thanks guys,  I noticed that most of the trackers I have seen look like they require attention however given proper installation did not see any other major problem areas other than the lighting issues. 

I am just starting to design the PV system so I will have a lot of questions.

Speaking of batteries.  how do you determine the amount of amps needed from the PV array to charge the batteries properly?  i would think to small an array the batteries would not fully charge and to large is a waste.  assume no load.

What is the most common point of failure for a photovoltaic system.  PV panel? connection point? PV panel?  wiring?

My control system monitors the sun intensity and compares to PV array output.  A problem is reported if the output is out of range.  Currently I assume that this is rare so I only monitor the Array as a whole. Is that a fair statement?

DavidA

The XW manual shows a network connection.  Is this just for the XW remote control station or is this by some chance an information port also?

I am designing a embedded control system to control and monitor all energy sources in the home therefore it needs information about all systems in and around the home.  I was going to do this with sensors external to the inverter however if the XW provides some stats it would be very nice.


DavidA

I see the Xantrex hybrid inverter says it is a inverter and charger.  In the manual it shows the system with and without the solar charge controller.  What is the difference between the charger in the XW unit and the solar charge controller?

I was also going to run a 24voltDC and 120AC both and like James said did not seem worth the wire cost and effort.

I than sat in each room of my current home to determine what was truly AC and what was DC.   TV, radios, network switch, computers and all other electronics devices are DC.   I took some of these apart and found converting most of them to DC was a simple task.
Now I am running DC most places and the AC only the few places it was needed.

Some items were interesting for example a LinkSys network switch.   Wall transformer says 7.5volts DC at 1.5 amps.  The power circuit was rated for 3volts to 30volts DC.  At 14volts DC it draws .015amps.