Sunday, August 14, 2005
Grid-free?
I've been encouraged by the first day and a half running my system on the new batteries. The encouraging thing is that it has been an overcast, rainy weekend, but I haven't come close to having to switch to grid power. To be sure, the batteries were fully charged when I started--but they're pretty much fully charged now! I figured now is a good time to start a test--how long can I go without using grid power? Here's a photo of my electric meter, taken about 2:15 PM on August 14:
I think that reads 01347. In any case, I'll try to check it each day or two and see if I've used any grid power. The system is currently configured (at least I hope I did it right!) to run off of the batteries until they get down to 46.4 volts, which is approximately 50% charge for the eight nominally 6-volt batteries in series, according to the manufacturer. At that point, the inverter will automatically switch to grid power until the battery charge has recovered somewhat. Given what I've seen from this weekend, it shouldn't have to switch to grid power any time soon!
I think that reads 01347. In any case, I'll try to check it each day or two and see if I've used any grid power. The system is currently configured (at least I hope I did it right!) to run off of the batteries until they get down to 46.4 volts, which is approximately 50% charge for the eight nominally 6-volt batteries in series, according to the manufacturer. At that point, the inverter will automatically switch to grid power until the battery charge has recovered somewhat. Given what I've seen from this weekend, it shouldn't have to switch to grid power any time soon!
