Hi Roy,
Hi temperatures will hit the battery capacity but
will the battery efficiency be that much
affected? If the battery capacity is inadequate
then you need to compare the aircon running cost
to the cost of buying a 10% larger battery.
Don't you?
Cheers
Hugh
Bob is correct, I do have an off grid client
that uses an AC unit to keep the batteries cool.
Although we're not in a high temp climate, it
does get into the 80's and low 90's here
in the summer.
By my calculations, he was losing an 'average'
of 10% storage capacity during the 5 month
period from late spring to early fall. In July
and August it was closer to 18%, but for
calculation
purposes, 10% is close enough. His bank capacity
is 4800AH @ 48 VDC. That's 230,400 watt hours
and 10% of that rounds out to 23,000 watt hours lost to heat.
I showed up one day to check something in the
power shed and was dismayed to see a window
AC unit installed there. An interesting customer
discussion ensued and I had to admit he was
correct in his calculations.
The Energy Star rated AC unit consumes no more
than 3,000 watt hours per day, even in the
highest heat. Essentially, he's 'spending" 3
kilowatt hours to 'buy back' 20 kilowatt hours of
storage. He got me on that one!
That reasoning didn't work on the 6 other AC
units that appeared on his house the following
week. But that's another story altogether!
Roy Butler
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer
PA Sunshine Program Approved PV Installer
Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
8902 Route 46
Arkport, NY 14807
607-324-9747
<http://www.four-winds-energy.com>www.four-winds-energy.com
Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message,
a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
On 4/22/2011 7:40 AM, bob ellison wrote:
I believe Roy has a customer with a huge
battery bank that air conditioned the battery
room. He ran the numbers and the air
conditioning actually made sense.
Bob Ellison
From:
<mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org>re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org
[<mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org>mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org]
On Behalf Of R Ray Walters
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 4:50 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Air conditioning for
batteies in high temperature climate
Are you using temperature compensation? It lowers the voltage when its hot.
Also, have you considered setting the batteries
in a below ground vault? I've had good luck
with in floor battery boxes.
Finally, AGMs and L16s just don't last very
long anyway. AGMs maybe 3 years, and L16s I've
seen die in under 5 years and we get to 15
below zero.
My suggestion: temp comp, ground vault, HUP or equivalent cycle life.
R. Walters
<mailto:r...@solarray.com>r...@solarray.com
Solar Engineer
On Apr 21, 2011, at 1:22 PM, Starlight Solar, Larry Crutcher wrote:
Hello Battery Wrenches,
Over the years I have had several battery banks
in Baja and Sonora Mexico fail in just 36 to 48
months. These have been L16 or 8D AGM or
flooded banks, 24 and 48 volt systems. The
charging systems are working properly and
programmed to manufacturer recommended set
points and discharges are rarely over 30% DoD.
Some batteries are only used on weekends, some
are discharged daily. I believe what is
affecting the short life is the high
temperature they live in for 5 months each
year. Temps. can hit 115 F in vented battery
rooms. I have been thinking about a small air
conditioner and insulated battery box to keep
the battery at no more than 80 F. There are
some portable units that draw about 600 watts
and the run time would be very little with a
highly insulated enclosure. There is ample
power to do this on the home I am changing
batteries in now. Has anyone done this and
gained longer battery life?
Best Regards,
Larry Crutcher
<http://www.starlightsolar.com/>Starlight Solar Power Systems
powered by STARLIGHT
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