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Re: Solar Charging Port
by Doug Weathers
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Disclaimer: this is from my memory of old EVDL posts. I've never done
it myself.
Higgins wrote:
> I am assuming that the way to go is for the carport to charge some flooded
> cells, which then run thru an inverter, to a 110v charger...
That would work, but would add some inefficiency from the inverter.
Also, to get high current charging, you'd need an expensive inverter.
However, you can leave out the inverter. This is sometimes called "dump
charging" - discharging a large battery pack into a smaller one.
If you pick your voltages carefully, you can just connect 'em up
directly with no charger needed in between. Make the dump charge
voltage be the same as your EV pack's charge voltage. Put in a beefy
contactor and/or big DC circuit breaker and go. The advantage is it
really doesn't take very long to charge the EV to 80% full.
Disadvantage is that there's a bigger potential for excitement - arcing,
boiling batteries, melting posts at loose connections, etc.
Rich Rudman, John Wayland, and Steve Clunn have all described their dump
charging experiences on the list. It's been a few years, so you might
need to hit the older archives.
Another way to do this without the drama of high amp dump charging, is
to put a Manzanita Micro PFC charger between the dump pack and the EV
pack. Again, no need for an inverter. The PFCs can run on a wide
voltage input range, and don't mind DC. A PFC-50 can accept 50 amps
from the dump pack, which should also be a pretty fast charge.
Advantage is you get the full charge routine so you can get to 100% full.
Oh yeah. You need to replace the PFC's on-off breaker with one that's
rated for breaking the DC volts and amps you'll expect from the dump
pack. The one that's included is for AC and expects the voltage to hit
zero 120 times a second, which extinguishes any arc in a hurry. DC
doesn't do that, so the arc might not extinguish until the charger has
burned away.
_______________________________________________
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Usage guidelines: http://evdl.org/help/index.html#conv
Archives: http://evdl.org/archive/
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it myself.
Higgins wrote:
> I am assuming that the way to go is for the carport to charge some flooded
> cells, which then run thru an inverter, to a 110v charger...
That would work, but would add some inefficiency from the inverter.
Also, to get high current charging, you'd need an expensive inverter.
However, you can leave out the inverter. This is sometimes called "dump
charging" - discharging a large battery pack into a smaller one.
If you pick your voltages carefully, you can just connect 'em up
directly with no charger needed in between. Make the dump charge
voltage be the same as your EV pack's charge voltage. Put in a beefy
contactor and/or big DC circuit breaker and go. The advantage is it
really doesn't take very long to charge the EV to 80% full.
Disadvantage is that there's a bigger potential for excitement - arcing,
boiling batteries, melting posts at loose connections, etc.
Rich Rudman, John Wayland, and Steve Clunn have all described their dump
charging experiences on the list. It's been a few years, so you might
need to hit the older archives.
Another way to do this without the drama of high amp dump charging, is
to put a Manzanita Micro PFC charger between the dump pack and the EV
pack. Again, no need for an inverter. The PFCs can run on a wide
voltage input range, and don't mind DC. A PFC-50 can accept 50 amps
from the dump pack, which should also be a pretty fast charge.
Advantage is you get the full charge routine so you can get to 100% full.
Oh yeah. You need to replace the PFC's on-off breaker with one that's
rated for breaking the DC volts and amps you'll expect from the dump
pack. The one that's included is for AC and expects the voltage to hit
zero 120 times a second, which extinguishes any arc in a hurry. DC
doesn't do that, so the arc might not extinguish until the charger has
burned away.
_______________________________________________
General EVDL support: http://evdl.org/help/
Usage guidelines: http://evdl.org/help/index.html#conv
Archives: http://evdl.org/archive/
Subscription options: http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev
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