SolarFamulus System I

The latest addition to our lab is a charge controller from Steca, the Power-Tarom 2140. This SCC would be installed as the 3rd PV system, using the modules on the SolarFamulus.

Steca SCCs utilize a shunt controller which is a distinctive method of PV output regulation: this means that the PV array is shorted whenever the battery bank is fully charged. Most of the other SCCs make use of series controllers.

Solar Charge Controller
Installed: Steca Power-Taron 2140
http://www.steca-solar.com/en/art/uid_kategorien/0000581/id_matchcode/up_telekom_laderegler/id_artikel/0000012/bop/0/chksum/9658bc671972d27483dc3be077da8737/beetools.html

Product Specifications
Nominal system voltage: 12/24V
Max module current: 140A
Max load current: 70A
Overvoltage protection: >65V

The Power-Tarom would be compared to the Apollo T-80 in terms of PV output, battery charging efficiency and management of overloading. As such, we would be connecting identical battery banks, inverters and loads on these SCCs in future.

For today, the Power-Tarom would be wired up to top-up the battery bank. No loads would added at this point in time.


Inverter
Installed: SunTechnics STW 700
http://www.conergy.de/en/PortalData/2/Resources/products/photovoltaics/pdf/MIC-TD-ENG-0702.pdf

Product Specifications
Nominal system voltage: 24V
Continuous output power: 700VA
Max output power: 800VA
Peak output power (for 500ms): 1400VA
Power consumption under no load conditions: 13W
Maximum input current: 45A


When placed along-side the Conergy MIC 700W inverter:

The STW inverter from the Thailand office is based on the same design as the Conergy MIC, hence the similarity in appearance and technical specifications. Two STW inverters would be used as loads to compare the performance of the T-80 and the PT2140.

SunForte System II (updates)

Remote monitoring system
Installed: FatSpaniel (FST) Web View communicator
http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/TriStar/info/TS_WebView_DataSheet.pdf

The FST communicator (yellow device) has a dedicated power converter to the left which steps down voltage from 48 to 24VDC. However since our battery system was already running on 24V, we could power up the device directly from the battery cables. This gateway has to be operational for 24hr in order to send real-time data.

Installed: GPRS modem router GR-3001
http://www.taikonetwork.com/gprsRouter.asp

The wireless router (bottom device, with antenna) provides the necessary internet connection. Like the communicator, this would be turned on for 24 hours. Since it is running on AC power, the MIC inverter would also have to be left switched on.

The FST communicator is connected to the TS-60 via a serial connection cable (RS-232) and the GPRS router via the blue ethernet cable (Cat 5). Data would be sent from the SCC to this communicator, and then uploaded onto the internet by GPRS:


This is a rough summary to how the remote monitoring system would work (taken from the Morningstar website). In our system, we're utilizing a GPRS router instead of a GSM modem:

Real-time information from the system can be obtained from the following website:
http://morningstar.fatspaniel.net/tristar/view?&id=07240329

Battery Room Interior

Recap of the installed components, and how the wooden mounting board gradually evolves over time. The first SCC (Apollo T-80):

The first installed load:

The second SCC (Morningstar TS-60):

The connection box:

Rearranging the wires:

The remote display for the T-80:

The remote monitoring component for TS-60:

The overall layout: