Thanks, I was somewhat aware of the increased use of copper, but not to the extent that you specify, so it looks like AC is the way to go, even for off-grid solar.
On Tue, Jun 7, 2016 at 9:06 AM, robert winfield via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: > my inverter (Omnion 2200) has 2 legs. +/- 186v DC (~370v) small wires., > inverted to 110v AC about ~8 amps with a 20 amp circuit breaker (made back > around 1995 - 1997 or so) > > From: Robert Bruninga via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> > To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List <ev@lists.evdl.org> > Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 10:39 AM > Subject: Re: [EVDL] Off-grid solar house and electric car charging > > > If you build an off-grid solar house and use it for both your house > > and charging your electric car, are there any disadvantages for using > > DC current (household appliances can all be converted to DC) and > > avoiding AC since you are off the grid? You avoid the cost, > > maintenance, and (slight) inefficiency of inverters, but are there > > significant disadvantages to this approach? > > A big question is what voltage. Home solar typically uses high voltage > 300 to 600 VDC so that currents are less and smaller copper wire can be > used (think #12 standard wire). > > Remote, Off -grid DC systems typically operate no higher than 48 volts. > Right there is a 10 to 1 drop in voltage so a 100 to 1 increase in cable > losses. Now think big battery cables everywhere and a huge investment in > copper. > > Some people then drop to 12v to use many common 12 camping accessories to > live by. That then further multiplies wire losses by another eight to one > factor, or almost 800 times more losses for the same wire. > > So In most cases, it is far, far easier to accept the 5% Inverter lossess > and keep your house at the 120 VAC standard so you can use all existing > home wiring techniques and all existing home appliances and all existing > electrical things in the home than to deal with ALL specialized much more > expensive DC appliances and HUGELY expensive specialized wiring. > > Bob > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20160607/76fd9acb/attachment.htm > > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -- Larry Gales -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20160607/42526ed5/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
