URI:
   DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Renewable Revolution
  HTML https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       *****************************************************
   DIR Return to: Renewables
       *****************************************************
       #Post#: 3451--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: July 12, 2015, 3:18 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Get the MOST out of your PV system! Learn how in this video.
       [img width=100
       height=60]
  HTML http://cliparts.co/cliparts/Big/Egq/BigEgqBMT.png[/img]
  HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjDpBpqyauM&feature=player_embedded
  HTML http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-OFF-GRID-SOLAR-SYSTEM/?ALLSTEPS
       #Post#: 3479--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: July 17, 2015, 6:04 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [img width=640
       height=520]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-170715190115.png[/img]
       [quote]www.victronenergy.com
       Why lithium-iron phosphate?
       Lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO4 or LFP) is the safest of the
       mainstream li-ion battery types. The nominal voltage of a LFP
       cell is 3,2V (lead-acid: 2V/cell). A 12,8V LFP battery therefore
       consists of 4 cells connected in series; and a 25,6V battery
       consists of 8 cells connected in series.
       Rugged
       A lead-acid battery will fail prematurely due to sulfation if:
       • If it operates in deficit mode during long periods of time (i.
       e. if the battery is rarely, or never at all,fully charged).
       • If it is left partially charged or worse, fully discharged
       (yacht or mobile home during winter time).
       A LFP battery does not need to be fully charged. Service life
       even slightly improves in case of partial charge instead of a
       full charge. This is a major advantage of LFP compared to
       lead-acid. Other advantages are the wide operating temperature
       range, excellent cycling performance, low internal resistance
       and high efficiency (see below). LFP is therefore the chemistry
       of choice for very demanding applications.
       Efficient In several applications (especially off-grid solar
       and/or wind), energy efficiency can be of crucial importance.
       The round trip energy efficiency (discharge from 100% to 0% and
       back to 100% charged) of the average leadacid battery is 80%.
       The round trip energy efficiency of a LFP battery is 92%.
       The charge process of lead-acid batteries becomes particularly
       inefficient when the 80% state of charge has been reached,
       resulting in efficiencies of 50% or even less in solar systems
       where several days of reserve energy is required (battery
       operating in 70% to 100% charged state).
       In contrast, a LFP battery will still achieve 90% efficiency
       under shallow discharge conditions.
       Size and weight Saves up to 70% in space
       Saves up to 70% in weight
       Expensive?
       LFP batteries are expensive when compared to lead-acid. But in
       demanding applications, the high initial cost will be more than
       compensated by longer service life, superior reliability and
       excellent efficiency.
       Endless flexibility
       LFP batteries are easier to charge than lead-acid batteries. The
       charge voltage may vary from 14V to 16V (as long as no cell is
       subjected to more than 4,2V), and they do not need to be fully
       charged. Therefore several batteries can be connected in
       parallel and no damage will occur if some batteries are less
       charged than others.
       With or without Battery Management System (BMS)?
       Important facts:
       1. A LFP cell will fail if the voltage over the cell falls to
       less than 2,5V (note: recovery by charging with a low current,
       less than 0,1C, is sometimes possible).
       2. A LFP cell will fail if the voltage over the cell increases
       to more than 4,2V.
       Lead-acid batteries will eventually also be damaged when
       discharged too deeply or overcharged, but not immediately. A
       lead-acid battery will recover from total discharge even after
       it has been left in discharged state during days or weeks
       (depending on battery type and brand).
       3. The cells of a LFP battery do not auto-balance at the end of
       the charge cycle.
       The cells in a battery are not 100% identical. Therefore, when
       cycled, some cells will be fully charged or discharged earlier
       than others. The differences will increase if the cells are not
       balanced/equalized from time to time.
       In a lead-acid battery a small current will continue to flow
       even after one or more cells are fully charged (the main effect
       of this current is decomposition of water into hydrogen and
       oxygen). This current helps to fully charge other cells that are
       lagging behind, thus equalizing the charge state of all cells.
       The current through a LFP cell however, when fully charged, is
       nearly zero, and lagging cells will therefore not be fully
       charged. Over time the differences between cells may become some
       so extreme that, even though the overall battery voltage is
       within limits, some cells will fail due to over- or
       under-voltage. Cell balancing is therefore highly recommended.
       In addition to cell balancing, a BMS will:
       - Prevent cell under voltage by timely disconnecting the load.
       - Prevent cell overvoltage by reducing charge current or
       stopping the charge process.
       - Shut down the system in case of over temperature.
       A BMS is therefore indispensable to prevent damage to large
       Li-ion battery banks.[/quote]
  HTML http://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-12,8-Volt-lithium-iron-phosphate-batteries-EN.pdf
  HTML http://www.victronenergy.com/batteries/Lithium-battery-12,8V
  HTML http://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2015/07/17/energy-positive-house-ecolek-wales-ltd-installs-victron-energy-equipment-in-solcer-house/
       #Post#: 3505--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: July 26, 2015, 5:06 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
  HTML https://youtu.be/LPKuyQZ--X4
       DIY Lead-Acid to Lithium-Ion battery conversion
       Rinoa Super-Genius
       Published on Sep 15, 2013
       [quote]Well my favorite battery died on me, so i decided to
       refit it with old 18650 cells that i have laying around. and now
       i finally have a use for those old cells too. right now it's
       running at 8v and as i add more battery cells i'll cahnge the
       voltage to whatever works best. i plan on using a voltage
       step-up transformer with it to run whatever i need.
       this Duralast battery was from my greatgrandparents 1981 Mercury
       Zephyr (witch i got and may convert to electric someday) and its
       one of the first batteries i really messed with when i was
       younger. so since it's helped me so much i'll help it back by
       refitting it with a more useful battery chemistry.[/quote]
       #Post#: 3562--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: August 5, 2015, 7:17 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
  HTML https://youtu.be/Lt6oKRQqoSc
       How Lithium Batteries are made and where they mine Lithium in
       the USA
       #Post#: 3972--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: October 8, 2015, 9:31 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]How Solar-plus-Battery Systems Insulate Customers from
       Rising Retail Electricity Prices
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/8.gif
       [/center]
       Oct 5, 2015
       David Labrador Writer / Editor
       [img width=75
       height=50]
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/reading.gif[/img]
       
  HTML http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_10_05_how_solar_plus_battery_systems_insulate_customers_from_rising_retail_electricity_prices
       #Post#: 3974--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: October 10, 2015, 6:32 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Planning on using a diesel or gasoline powered generator to
       recharge your batteries in a collapse scenario is a really
       STUPID idea. See below for a common sense applications of
       mechanical leverage and advantage.
       [center]Young humans using mechanical leverage are RENEWABLE
       ENERGY back up generators[/center]
       Here's an idea:
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183515.bmp
       [center]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-301014182902.gif<br
       />Ride one of THESE inside a large wheel that generates
       electricity.
  HTML http://www.coh2.org/images/Smileys/huhsign.gif[/center]
       [center][img width=640
       height=480]
  HTML http://oddstuffmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MadeinChina11-650x498.jpg[/img][/center]
       Now that's a REALLY cheap generator that DOES NOT use fossil
       fuel POISONS. When you are in a hole, you are supposed to stop
       DIGGING!
       There will ALWAYS be energetic types (while they are young, of
       course  ;D) available to generate electricity after the collapse
       of civilization. That is, until the big homo sap die offs
       occur...  :P
       But let's take this in chronological order, shall we? There are
       STILL over 7 billion of us around, and a HUGE chunk of that
       population is young and will soon work for food.
       It's gonna be REAL HARD to find distillates after the collapse,
       comprende amigos? Please discard your irrationally optimistic
       views of back up fossil fuel generator help for you and yours.
       They are NOT going to work in a collapse for more than a few
       months.
  HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_6869.gif
       When the common people, post collapse and well into the global
       warming caused vicious weather, FINALLY do the math on cause and
       effect from fossil fuels, you can expect a lynch mob to visit
       you if they get wind that you are STILL using fossil fuels...
       #Post#: 3975--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: October 10, 2015, 8:18 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=Eddie link=topic=5750.msg87824#msg87824
       date=1444524255]
       Where can you observe one working? I'd like to see it.  Are
       there videos?
       [/quote]
       This is not running a generator, but Ferris wheels like this are
       turned by powerful internal combustion engines or electric
       motors in the USA. There is no way a person riding a bicycle
       generator could supply the energy needed to turn this Ferris
       wheel. consequently, you can assume that the power these humans
       are generating, if said Ferris wheel was turning a generator
       head, would be substantial. They are not world class athletes.
       They are probably very cheap labor. With heavy weights around
       the Ferris wheel and a race inside with people riding bicycles,
       the torque you could exert would be even more than is being
       produced in this video.
  HTML https://youtu.be/1Le1DsSdiBE
       #Post#: 3991--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: October 13, 2015, 5:34 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center][img width=640
       height=540]
  HTML http://www.victronenergy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Matsko-730x558.jpg[/img][/center]
       [center]Motor Yacht Matsko: Quiet, inexpensive energy [/center]
       SNIPPET:
       [center]
       Design brief: Quiet energy onboard with fuel savings[/center]
       The aim of Matsko’s investment company (Fuego Ltd.) was to have
       an AC power supply on-board, without using a generator or shore
       supply. The project was assisted by the fact that Fuego had all
       the necessary skills to wire the installation. Based on this
       information SCHRACK TECHNIK were able to develop a solution and
       supply the system components. All of the new essential
       components were manufactured and supplied by Victron Energy.
       Originally the vessel’s electricity was supplied by the on-board
       generators or shore supply. This resulted in the generators
       having to be used in quiet places in nature when anchored, as
       obviously no shore supply was available. This was particularly
       unwelcome at night when trying to enjoy a peaceful evening in
       some quiet hidden bay. Whilst no air conditioning was required
       throughout the evening and night, the generator was required to
       cover refrigerators and some lighting. Although electricity
       consumption was relatively small, there was always the
       irritation of the generator ‘muttering’ all night. Furthermore
       it is known that when a generator is operating in this way it is
       substantially under loaded, i.e. well below rated load, so
       unfortunately it is not running in a fuel efficient way.
       Generator fuel consumption was around 4 l/h at idle, i.e. with a
       light load, and 6 l/h at full load. The idea was therefore to
       completely shut down the generator in the evening and the
       morning and use ‘quiet energy’ to power the refrigerator and
       lighting. Then if the vessel were to sail during the day, the
       main engines would run, with both generators working which you
       can then load for any additional battery charging.
       This can achieve two objectives: when the generators are
       operating, they are working in the area of higher loads, so the
       better efficiency in terms of the number of litres of fuel with
       energy being produced more efficiently. Now any persons on-board
       can enjoy a peaceful sleep with ‘quiet energy’ being supplied
       for the night maintenance of the vessel, when at anchor. But it
       is also clear that by paying attention to the energy consumption
       at sea and when berthing in a marina connected to the shore
       supply, that instead of using the generators such an approach
       can reduce overall power consumption even further by using the
       silent low-cost shore energy to charge batteries, in order to be
       ready for sailing the following day.
       All of these goals can be achieved by adding a suitable battery
       bank to store energy which can then be used later. This desire
       for tranquility on-board also decreases the overall operating
       costs of the system too.
       
  HTML http://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2015/10/13/motor-yacht-matsko-quiet-inexpensive-energy/
       #Post#: 4241--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: December 30, 2015, 10:55 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]
  HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvlolmFX-rc&feature=player_embedded[/center]
       [center]
       Tesla Powerwall – A Battery Powered Home
       [/center]
       By: Owen Geiger
  HTML http://www.naturalbuildingblog.com/tesla-powerwall-a-battery-powered-home/#more-11453
       #Post#: 4580--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Batteries
       By: AGelbert Date: February 25, 2016, 3:03 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center] [img
       width=150]
  HTML https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/527210744178167809/z6CbCdS5.jpeg[/img][/center]
       Feb 24, 2016
       Authors Margaret McCall Associate
       [center]
       Water Heaters: As Sexy as a Tesla?  ???[/center]
       How grid-interactive water heaters are joining the battery
       revolution
       Of all the new tech emerging on the energy landscape, water
       heaters seem an unlikely contender. Alongside battery players
       like Tesla, with its Model X and Powerwall, water heaters look
       like even more of a stretch. However, the growing industry
       consensus is that grid-interactive water heaters have serious
       potential. They just might be the unexpected battery in your
       basement.
       Why the buzz about water heaters?
       Water heaters and batteries have one fundamental feature in
       common: they both store energy, batteries as charge and water
       heaters as heat. This ability to store energy gives water
       heaters flexibility. For example, they can be heated at night
       when power is cheap without jeopardizing your ability to take a
       hot shower in the morning.
       Grid-interactive water heaters (GIWH) are electric water heaters
       that the grid operator or the local utility can control in real
       time (or the customer, automated software, or a third party
       could control them in response to granular retail price signals
       from the utility). This controllability makes a GIWH valuable
       for more than just hot showers. For example, in addition to
       heating water when power is cheap, it can also shut down during
       yearly system peaks, help integrate renewables, and provide
       services to the electric grid like frequency regulation.
       Optimizing water heaters like this can significantly reduce
       carbon emissions and, as explained below, create billions of
       dollars in value.
       Better yet, this functionality is not dependent on future
       technology: any electric water heater with a tank—be it
       old-school electric resistance or newfangled heat pump—can
       become grid-interactive. Making modifications to an existing
       water heater to install a grid-connected communications device
       takes a couple of hours and could cost a few hundred dollars.
       However, building in grid-interactive capabilities at the
       factory only costs a few dollars and provides much more value to
       the grid and to the customer.
       A high-value source of demand flexibility
       In our 2015 report, The Economics of Demand Flexibility, RMI
       analyzed the potential of flexible loads to provide significant
       economic value to the grid, finding at least $13 billion per
       year from common residential loads like water heaters and air
       conditioners. We found that water heaters, especially, have the
       potential to be an easily-tapped and high-value source of this
       flexibility.
       A new study by the Brattle Group provides an in-depth
       exploration of the economic benefits of GIWHs. The fact that the
       study was jointly commissioned by utilities, environmental
       advocates, and industry groups highlights the diversity of
       groups interested in the potential of GIWHs. Brattle analyzed
       the potential of multiple scenarios, calculating that up to $200
       in net system benefits may be realized annually for every GIWH
       participant. Ultimately, the authors concluded that GIWHs are a
       resource with significant opportunity for reductions in both
       costs and emissions, and one whose operational viability is
       already being demonstrated in pilot projects around the
       country—an exciting endorsement for the mild-mannered water
       heater.
       Full article:
  HTML http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2016_02_24_water_heaters_as_sexy_as_a_tesla
       Agelbert COMMENT: Good article but here's the state electric
       rate board elephant in the demand flexibility room.
       Most power companies use demand flexibility ONLY for their
       benefit and offer the customer no savings from lower rates at
       low demand times. I live in Vermont and that is the case with
       GMP (Green Mountain Power). A glance at their different rates
       gives blatant evidence that they continue to give lower rates to
       industries that actually DO contribute to higher peak loads!
       This volume pricing 20th century antiquated approach is
       wrongheaded in the light of our climate change and carbon
       footprint crisis. But they insist it is "good for the economy".
       Sure, if you ignore he externalized pollution costs!
       Meanwhile, GMP is partnering with Tesla to sell us the Powerwall
       as a back up to power failure without offering us a NICKEL (i.e.
       a penny or so off the normal hourly rate of about 15 cents per
       Kwh) in lower rates savings if we use an installed Powerwall
       during off peak hours to run our water heater or wash clothes,
       etc.
       This type of power company ONE WAY PROFITS street is precisely
       what you at RMI should address more often. As your article
       points out, it's in their best interests to give lower rates to
       non-corporate customers during off peak times because the power
       company can then avoid buying extra power that they aren't
       generating or budgeting for some added plant and equipment. But,
       in most places in the USA, Vermont being one of them, the
       stranglehold of power companies on the state rate setting boards
       guarantees that no variable rates for residential customers are
       available. This is 20th century 'greed is good' biosphere damage
       promoting stupidity that favors the burning of fossil fuels for
       peak loads. This is insane.
       Please contact GMP and let them know that many customers
       ([I]that WILL NOT buy that Powerwall if it's just a glorified
       backup generator to be used for a few hours a year[/I]) WOULD
       buy the Powerwall they are marketing if we were offered a penny
       or lower hourly rate discount from our rather high fixed rate
       during off peak times. Better yet, contact Tesla. I'm sure they
       will get the appropriate message
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/2mo5pow.gif
       to GMP, if you know
       what I mean.  ;)
       GMP could provide flexible residential rates that if they wanted
       to. They are just too greedy to. As your article makes clear,
       that does not make economic or energy sense. I'm sure Elon Musk
       would agree.
       [center]
       [img
       width=100]
  HTML http://pm1.narvii.com/5869/6a64193d6770c3afd17406c78686c0eda32ded1c_hq.jpg[/img][/center]
       Green Mountain Power of Vermont Rates:
       RESIDENTIAL = 14.852 cents per kwh
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183312.bmp
       (that's straight off my most recent power bill WITHOUT the added
       charges)
       INDUSTRIAL   =   9.88   cents per kwh
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/acigar.gif
       Green Mountain Power rates paraded as  slightly lower than the
       other area rates in a New England Comparison Rate Chart
  HTML http://www.greenmountainpower.com/customers/payment/new-england-comparison-rate-chart/
       There is no excuse for these power companies to not provide
       flexible rates to residential customers or to provide the
       ridiculously low rates to the [I]industrial customers that
       significantly add to peak load demand.[/I]
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/301.gif
       *****************************************************
   DIR Previous Page
   DIR Next Page