Automatic Charger Kicking In

This is on my wind and solar setup, if run a heavy load, the battery charger kicks in and supplements it.

Once the load is gone, the battery charger continues to recharge the batteries.

In the frame, left to right:

Analogue -50 +50 Ammeter that displays NET bus amperage. For example, if there is a 20A charge current and 20A of loads, it will display 0. Loads dip toward the red, Charges dip toward Green.

Voltmeter displays battery bank voltage.

Needle on battery charger shows charging Amps. Hard to read - it's about 10-12A when it kicks on.

Kill-A-Watt meter shows AC Watts used by the battery charger.

Watch the relationship between the meters:

When the load is on, the Ammeter dips into the red, and the voltage starts to decline.

When the load AND the Charger are on, the Ammeter rests at around "0", voltage remains pretty much constant, and it consumes about 150 Watts.

Once the load is turned off, and the Charger remains on, the Ammeter points to the Green side, the voltage rises, and the systems uses less and less electricity as the batteries approach full voltage.

Batteries are 2 Golf Cart batteries (6v @ 220AH)

The rate of increase in voltage accelerates as it gets higher. It's really noticeable at 14 volts and above.

In this video, the load is a 120 watt incandescent spot light. (approx 10 Amps at 12v) and an Inverter (approx 250mA at 12v)

This cycling doesn't happen each time. In fact, it doesn't happen after I say, "And On..." and flip it on. It's only when the battery bank dips slightly under whatever number kicks in the charger.

Discoveries:

- This system shows the inefficiencies of running AC from batteries and also of the recharging process. The system consumes over 120 watts to run a 120 watt bulb, and it continues to draw that power after the light is extinguished.

- To avoid this system always kicking on, a better circuit designed for a lower voltage (say 11.9v) from ghurd.info would be better than using the charger's built-in circuit.

- A larger battery bank could also possibly decrease the amount of cycling.

Josh (Valterra on Fieldlines.com)

NOTE: My stuff isn't usually all clumped together like that! I had to find a way to get it all in-frame!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• wind
• solar
• battery
• charge
• circuit