FAQ

A: Sulfuric acid is no more than chemicals dissolved into a water based solution. Pure distilled water has a specific gravity, or weight of 1.000. When we dissolve chemicals in that water, the solution becomes heavier. Battery electrolyte is a solution of water and sulfuric acid with a specific gravity of 1.265 for flooded batteries and around 1.310 for sealed (absorbed glass mat) batteries. Which means that with AGM batteries, the acid solution is 1.310 times heaver than water alone. The specific gravity can be easily measured with the use of a battery hydrometer, nothing more than a tube with a calibrated float inside. The higher the specific gravity of the solution in the tube, the higher the float will ride in the solution. Just as you are more buoyant in salt water than fresh, the salt being like the dissolved chemical in the water. With that said, as a battery becomes discharged, the dissolved chemical clings to the lead plates. When the battery is charged, it returns to the water. When this becomes hardened on the plates, it is called sulfation.

A:

First, you should determine the power requirements of your equipment as follows:

Insure that the equipment plugged into the battery power-supplied outlets does not exceed the UPS unit’s rated capacity. If rated unit capacities are exceeded, an overload condition may occur and cause the UPS unit to shut down or the circuit breaker to trip.

 

If the power requirements of your equipment are listed in units other than Volt-Amps (VA), convert Watts (W) or Amps (A) into VA by doing the calculations below. Note: The below equation only calculates the maximum amount of VA that the equipment can use, not what is typically used by the equipment at any one time. Users should expect usage requirements to be approximately 60% of below value.

 

Second, estimate the power requirements as follows:

• _______ Watts (W) x 2.0 =_______ VA or _______ Amps (A) x 230 = _______ VA
• Add the totals up for all pieces of equipment and multiply this total by 0.6 to calculate actual requirements. There are many factors that can affect the amount of power that your computer system will require. The total load that you will be placing on the battery-powered outlets should not exceed 80% of the unit’s capacity.

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An Inverter is able to convert battery voltage (DC) to alternating current (AC) e.g. 220V AC/50Hz. This may be achieved in several ways. This may be achieved in several ways depending on the available technology and the intentions of the designer. Basically we have three major types of power inverters, namely: Square wave, Modified Square Wave and Sine Wave.

More details to learn Prostar inverter:

http://www.prostarpower.com/inverter

The output of these inverters is a square voltage of 220V AC/50Hz. The regulation of the output voltage is often very inaccurate and directly depending on the input voltage and on the output load. Square Wave Inverters may have very high efficiency for purely resistive loads ( cos phi = 1, e.g. heaters). Switch mode power supplies like he type in computers (as load) may also give good results if the EMI regulations are met by the inverter.
Loads that have problems when used with square wave inverters:

All of these inverters have in common the sharp voltage slopes of the square wave inverters. The word “sine” is only introduced by marketing people. The only advantage of these inverters is the regulation of the output voltage independently of input voltage and load.

This technology is state of the art for several years now. There is no reason for any other inverter technology except price. The pure sine wave is a “natural” waveform as created by any power station available at your home wall socket.
ANY MAINS LOAD AVAILABLE WAS CREATED FOR USE WITH SINE WAVE ELECTRICITY!
Sine wave inverters are more complicated to build thus resulting in increased manufacturing costs. The sine wave shape is synthesized by an additional PWM filter at the output of the inverter. Idle consumption is slightly higher than square wave inverters. The biggest advantage is found in the high efficiency and hassle free operation of almost any load.

MORE TECHNICAL DETAILS (OVERVIEW):

Inverter or Solar battery like any other battery is a piece of device for storage of energy for use when needed. To this end an inverter battery or solar battery must have the ability to charge and retain charge very fast. I will also be able to deliver the charge as needed during usage.

Types of Batteries:

There are several types of batteries, but we can only explain the major types based on our topic here. There are basically two types: Deep cycle and shallow cycle.
6.  Deep Cycle batteries have fewer and thicker cells. This ability gives it the resistance to deliver charge to the inverter to a larger extent, up to 60% or 80% dept of discharge without a defect on the plates or the cells.
7. Shallow cycle batteries or traction batteries have high numbers of thin plates or cells with the ability to discharge with high current for a short time. Prolonged discharge will normally cause the cells to damage. The shallow cycle batteries are best for car starting.

Batteries for inverter or solar energy usage are best rated from 100ah.
Inverters should be operated on batteries of appropriate size. The battery should be cycle proof. Generally, for lead acid batteries: the shorter the discharge time, the lower the energy usable. E.g.: If a battery can deliver 10 Amps for 10 hours, it will deliver 100 Amps only for 20-30 minutes. You should choose the battery size for an operation time of several hours with your estimated load. Additionally you should only allow for a discharge down to 60 to 70% of full capacity in order to increase battery lifetime. E.g: Lifetime of a battery may be 5000 discharge cycle with 20% discharge per cycle. The same battery will only live for approximately 2000 discharge cycles if every cycle is 40% discharge.
Please visit for more information:  http://www.prostarpower.com/batteries 

Battery fuses should be placed as close as possible to the batteries in order to protect the whole battery cable. In case of cable short, fire might occur! It must be rated 25% above the expected maximum energy draw from the battery bank. DC rated fuses are the best for inverters.

DC current in battery cables causes voltage drop according to Ohms law V=R*1. As general guidance: 1m of cable 25mm2 has approximately resistance of 0.001 Ohm. This value multiplied by battery current results in voltage drop. Example: PRC 3000/24 with nominal load, DC current approximately 125Amps, 1.5m distance from batteries, V=2*1.5*125*.001=0.38 volts, heat dissipation in Cables 60Watts approximately! This application should have 35mm2 or even 50mm2. Place the inverter as closely to the battery as possible. Use inverters with higher input voltage if possible. The higher the input DC value the less the current loss from the cable as the efficiency is increased.

• Stand alone inverters: Paralleling is only possible on the DC side;   AC sides always have to be isolated. Never connect your mains to the inverter output or connect the out puts of two stand-alone inverters together, immediate destruction will result.
• Grid feeding inverters: Paralleling is possible on the AC side. DC Paralleling is not POSSIBLE since MPP optimization has to be performed by every single inverter on its solar field.
• Some inverters are however designed to be connected in parallel with some special connection meant for frequency synchronization and power out put interconnections.
• Check out for some models of Xantrex, ASP, and Victron inverters for more information.

Details to learn:

http://www.prostarpower.com/news/prostar-hybrid-solar-inverter-mixsolar-10kw-parallel-up-to-3-units-to-30kw

No! Fuses for each string of solar modules are sufficient. Use twice the string current for fuse. Series diodes are only heat dissipaters. By the way, parallel diodes are built into the junction boxes of most solar modules.

The main function of the earth connection cable is lightning protection and interference suppression. The solar panel field acts as antenna which may transmit interference caused by switching slopes in the inverter. The inbuilt filter circuitry is only active with appropriate earth connection.

Most of the PROSTAR inverters are available for various frequencies/voltages. Different input voltage range is also possible. Ask your distributor for availability if you need that special inverter.

There are some limits to the load sensing circuitry. Since the internal measuring circuits are used for several different purposes, the sensing of very small loads can cause a problem for the inverter. Drifts of the sense circuitry over temperature and voltage may also cause drift.

Some of the energy saving lamps have a very bad cos phi.
Some loads are detected correctly but turn off after 10 seconds because operating current is lower than inrush current.
Often the problem is solved by using a different brand of lamps. We will improve load  sensing with the next generation of inverters.