I thought this graph might be of interest to those who want to see what happens when you run a large Nissan leaf pack down to zero state of charge. (SOC) It’s been consistently 90 degrees during the day and still about 75-80 at night, the last few days have been cloudy, I left the […]
power
Internet and Network Overview
Internet was one of the most challenging technical implementations I had to solve on the bus. For me, it was more difficult than building the battery and energy systems, or the roof raise. Here is a brief tale of my journey. While building the bus, I placed a spare wireless router in it that just […]
Skooliepalooza 2020 Solar Discussion
Here’s the slide deck for the presentation. I’ll be presenting at 3:00 PM MST on January 26, 2020 right about here:
Completed Lithium Battery Overview
25kWh of total capacity. Charge and discharge limits fence this to 19kW of usable capacity with an expected lifetime of 14-18 years before replacement of cells is necessary. 3kVA in split phase. So about 6kW total outputish. Recharges via 50 AMP RV connection or 2.5kW of roof solar. Remote monitoring via cellular data with packet radio fallback. Weighs about […]
Washer and Dryer
The other reason for the 230 volt power system was to select the most efficient washer and dryer combo I could stand to afford. They are made by Blomberg, which is actually a sub-brand of Arçelik A.Ş., a Turkish appliance company. The dryer is clever – it’s basically a fancy dehumidifier. The heat pump vents […]
Air Conditioner Install
This was another “big moment” for the bus. The primary reason for the enormous battery is to be able to power everything without care, but also operate the air conditioner for many hours after solar harvest has stopped for the night. The location shown here was just a big open hole in the engine bay, […]
Electrical Cabinet Commissioning
So as it sits at this point, the electrical system is fully functional. In this photo all the major components are hooked up and programmed. I had gotten a good day’s worth of solar, shore power is functional, and all the circuits in the bus are energized. I’m pleased with the arrangement of equipment. If […]
Victron Programming
This was a pretty great moment. After figuring out Victron’s nomenclature for configuring inverter virtual groups, I got this display from the Venus GX. Not shown is the programming software screens, but you get the idea. This was the first time that the batteries had taken on electrical charge since I had disassembled them from […]
Victron Inverter Connection
Wiring the inverter pair up was pretty satisfying. It’s interesting to see how Victron specified 2x 2/0 lugs for the power connection. I tried to make all the DC cabling exactly the same length. For the AC cabling, crimp ferells were used to keep the terminals clean and neat. The terminals with the orange tape […]
DC Electrical Distribution
I built a new DC distribution panel to replace the old temporary stuff I removed. Shown here are various photos during the wiring and installation inside the panel. The primary purpose of this panel is to distribute the power from the buck converters that take the 48 volt DC power and output 12 volts. They […]