Hello Wrenches,
An owner of an existing system has a bank of twenty, 100 AH, 12 V
Deep cycle batteries of the
<http://www.xstaticbatcap.com/what-is-a-batcap-.html>Batcap<http://www.xstaticbatcap.com/what-is-a-batcap-.html>
brand.
The bank is made up of four sets of 5 batteries in parallel to
produce 500 AH battery sets at 12 V. These four parallel sets are
then wired in series to give a 48 V nominal bank.
The battery voltages vary from around 13 to 15 volts. The bank is
about 5 years old. The CEO of Batcap told the system owner that these
batteries have lasted up to 30 years in solar applications, so he has
high expectations for these batteries being around for a while.
My first impulse is to rewire the bank in a normal series - parallel
configuration. But there are too many strings to do this without a
bus bar. Besides, the batteries are likely damaged, and rewiring them
might cause the bank to exhibit unsuspected problems. How much money
is worth putting into this bank? $0?
The owner seems like a reliable guy who likely hired the wrong
installer. He could use some help. What would you do in this
situation? Rewire the bank, leave it well enough alone or run for the hills.
Thanks,
Drake
Drake Chamberlin
Athens Electric LLC
OH License 44810
CO License 3773
NABCEP Certified Solar PV
740-448-7328
<http://athens-electric.com/>http://athens-electric.com/
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