Regulate battery voltage to inverter / load

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Comments

  • Blackcherry04
    Blackcherry04 Solar Expert Posts: 2,490 ✭✭✭
    Re: Regulate battery voltage to inverter / load
    Possibly they are Interstate batteries; they have very high recommended Voltages.
    We'v been down this road before. They'll email you all day long with those 15.5 V Adsorb voltages. I guess they figure that the batteries will last up till the warranty runs out with the voltage high. It makes no sense to have a trigger ending voltage of the Bulk at 14.x and the absorb of 15.5. You're basically equalizing with ever charge cycle.
  • Muskoka
    Muskoka Solar Expert Posts: 103 ✭✭
    Re: Regulate battery voltage to inverter / load

    Didn't know such simple things would ruffle feathers.....

    I've been using these voltages on the batteries for a year and had no issue at all. Topping up with a bit of water once a month proves the batteries are not under undue stress. On the contrary, they are quite healthy. If I was having to put water in them once a week, or they were boiling out the caps, then I would think twice about their recommendations. There not, and never have, so the voltages must be fine.

    You charge your batteries at whatever your battery manufacturer recommends, and I will continue to charge mine at what U.S. Battery recommends and enjoy them for years.

    Besides, I didn't submit this post to discuss charge controller set points, there is no issue there. Niel has steered me in the right direction to get my issue resolved with the inverters and I thank him for that.

    Glen
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Regulate battery voltage to inverter / load
    KJINTF wrote: »
    Download the MsView application from Morningstar. It's free, open it up there are hundreds of configuration settings. The temp compensation is only one of hundreds. I see WAY too many installations not taking full advantage of the capabiltiies of these great controllers. Makes me wonder what folks are thinking sometimes. In the RV Solar business there are several good wire nut guys that stop at the dip switch settings and call it good, but hardly any designers / installers that finish off the installlation w/ the Rs232 / Ethernet interfaces and firmware upgardes, configuration files, etc. needed IMHO.
    Keeps me in business

    I worked with MS View a lot this last week, putting in custom settings. It looks like the temp comp starts with voltage per cell, and you have to multiply it by how many cells in the system ? Does MS have a good explaination somewhere on how all the possible settings work in comboniation, since batteries generally just have the 2 setpoints (Bulk & Float voltage). I ended up graphing out their settings and hoping I ended up in the right ballpark. Any work with NiFe battery programs ?
    Mike
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | 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 ,

  • Muskoka
    Muskoka Solar Expert Posts: 103 ✭✭
    Re: Regulate battery voltage to inverter / load

    Mike, the only setting I have in MSView for temperature compensation is shown in the screenshot below, nothing about volts per cell.

    MSView ver. 1.4.12.0

    [IMG][/img]tempcomp.png By muskoka at 2011-11-29

    For example, this time of year my battery room sits at 10 celsius, so the system adds .45v to the charge controllers voltage setpoints. With my absorption currently set at 15.19v the temperature compensated target voltage now becomes 15.64. Although it dosen't explicity say it for temp. compensation (although it does at the absorption setting) the base temperature is 25 celsius.

    Glen
  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: Regulate battery voltage to inverter / load

    I believe that MorningStar in the specs. talks about -0.005 volts (-5mV) volts per cell per degree C compensation... So at -0.030 volts, that would appear to be compensation for a 12 volt battery bank (5mV*6cell=30mV; although, I have seen other numbers from around 2.5 to 4 mVolts per cell too).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset