The solar panel is connected to the Tristar Solar Controller. It has three functions. See the datasheet:
1. In Charge mode, all of the energy input sources (like solar panels or wind power) connect to it. The charge controller makes sure that the batteries are not being charged too fast or too much. It also prevents power from going backwards into the solar panels.
Although it is rated for 60A, to comply with the National Electric Code (NEC), the current rating of the controller for solar charging must be equal or greater than 125% of the solar array’s short circuit current output (Isc). Therefore, the maximum allowable solar array input to the TriStar controller for compliance with the NEC is 48A with our model. This means up to 8 solar panels.
If the battery system can handle it, they can be put in parallel in charge mode so multiple ones can charge the batteries at the same time.
Also, if their temperature sensor is purchased at around $30, it will also monitor the battery temperature, and if it gets too high or too low it will compensate with less power or more power.
Below you can see 2 wires (positive and negative) from coming through the wall from the solar panel and 2 wires going out to the batteries.
2. In Load mode, it acts as the provider of power from the batteries to whatever is connected to it. It does not prevent too much current from being pulled from the batteries since it is rated at up to 60A, therefore, one must be careful that the battery system can output the amperage required by the load. 60A from 2 batteries will nearly destroy them.
They cannot be put in parallel in load mode on the same load. For example, if a machine requires 80A, one should not connect 2 Tristars to it. However, they can be put parallel on the same battery system to provide power to different machines.
Here is the Tristar in Load mode. 2 wires go to the batteries and 2 wires go to the Arduino. In the previous blog post, we show it connected as well.
3. Diversion control will take any extra power and divert to it to something else chosen. Extra power is that which is not currently being used and not put into batteries. Usually this extra power can go to a water heater or space heater, since it will store the energy pretty well, but it cannot be guaranteed to always receive power. If a diversion control Tristar is not used, extra power is wasted.
We do not have a third Tristar to use it for diversion as we have no need just yet.
Any number of Tristar controllers can be hooked up to the same system keeping the restrictions above in mind.
Below is the schematic of our simple system.
The solar panel is hooked up to the Tristar in Charge mode which is connected to the batteries. Another Tristar in Load mode is connected to the same batteries and to the Arduino board.
Eventually, the system will be finalized with proper wiring and grounding, and it will be connected to a electric lines with circuit breakers. The Tristar only outputs a DC voltage of your choosing, or it automatically detects the battery voltage. These voltages are 12V, 24V and 48V.
We would like to power the lights which run on AC power. To do so, we either purchase an inverter and connect it to the battery separately or convert the lights to DC power, using DC ballasts.
The batteries in parallel. In parallel, the voltage of the battery system stays the same, but the capacity (how much energy can be stored) is added together. If we wanted a 24V system, we would have connected them in series, but then we do not gain any extra energy capacity.
Nick working on the wiring.
Nick and I moving the panel to the roof of the tool shed so it receives more light throughout the day.
The rudimentary Tristar software.
Load control is green! When it blinks green it is charging. Solid green means battery is 80%-100% charged. There is no way to exactly know battery capacity unless a sample of the acid is taken to measure its specific density. Otherwise, a voltage reading is taken and battery charge is estimated.
Our clock now has numbers
Leeder continuing to clean the press.
I have just recently left my job to focus more on our work. So you will hopefully see much more progress much faster in the upcoming months. Maybe I can keep up with blog posts in a more timely fashion too.
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