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Grid assisted UPS system with Solar as primary source of charge for batteries.

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  • Grid assisted UPS system with Solar as primary source of charge for batteries.

    The Title of this is just buzzwords that are involved in this project.

    I have just began to get into using arduino and have put together a few little circuits using it. It's amazing what it can do!!!

    I'm looking into a system that offers an AC uninterrupted power supply as an output using a solar and wind as a primary source of power.

    It's main input will be from both a wind turbine and a few solar panels (There also could be a generator involved yet). I'm thinking about a 2 kW wind turbine and 1 kW from solar. Both go through a charge controller to feed batteries or to a dump when the batteries are fully charged.

    Usually batteries would then be connected to a DC to AC inverter. However, there isn't a guarantee that there will be a constant supply of electricity to the inverter seeing as though solar only provides energy for daylight hours and the wind turbine will only supply when there is wind. The batteries would keep the inverter or UPS going for a while but would go dead pretty quick if there was a requirement of up to 2 kW!

    I'm thinking the solution for this would be to have a grid assisted UPS. A system that would switch over to mains supply when the batteries began to drain of there energy.

    Basically, I want to use an Arduino or PI and set it up so that it can activate a relay possibly to switch to mains(???). I have seen ATS switches but it's not exactly what I'm looking for. Arduino is a lot more fun and there is a lot more learned from using arduino.

    Although, then there is the problem of that split second when the coil in the relay switches over causing a short period of no power being provided. Perhaps a basic UPS that is used with computers could deal with that sudden dip? (generation>charge controller>batteries>Inverter>(relay with option of grid mains controlled by micro-controller)>UPS> computer, monitor, laptops etc.

    I'd also like to use the arduino to monitor wind speed, lux levels and to monitor the voltage in the batteries.


    Have any of you come across a similar project?

    Has anyone anything to add to this or have any experience with something similar to this?

    Any information shared on this would be greatly appreciated!!

  • #2
    Sounds like a fun project! Just my take on things, but I think the UPS you mention also has a relay to switch from Main power to battery back up, so for a very short perion of time there is an absence of power....milliseconds, but long enough for some computers to sense and drop out.

    i think the only way around that is to power the item from the battery circuit continuosly, while providing a charge to it from other means. that way the power source is never switched.

    thanks

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    • #3
      There is probably 100's of ways it could be done depending on the equipment you own or willing to buy. The simplest way I can think of is VCS ( Voltage controlled Switch ) and a relay. You could either control the AC input to a Inverter / Charger or a separate stand alone battery charger. When the the battery voltage dropped to the set voltage it would energize the relay and when the battery voltage reached the upper set limit it would switch back to the off state.

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      • #4
        What's on the UPS, the house or just some computers? I think you will find it too expensive to try and make the whole house truly uninterruptible. Plus you will find that residential wind projects are just a hobby 99.9% of the time. Even if you have good average wind speed, you will almost always need to get well off the ground. If you can meet these requirements, you will then find that affordable home turbines don't last.
        Not that doing these things needs to be economically justified. Just that your home wind turbine experience will almost certainly involve buying a device that will sit in your garage, and a small company that supplied that turbine that you will come to hate.

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        • #5
          Wind is a nasty maintenance mess, 1 or 2 times a year, you have to either go up in a lift to grease and inspect, or lower the tower to grease and inspect. Plus, much of the commercial gear is just garbage.

          Why complicate it (the UPS) with wind & solar? Just an ordinary UPS powered from the normal grid would be fine. To add enough solar to be useful to extend the power fail run time, will cost a LOT of money.
          Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
          || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
          || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

          solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
          gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

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