Very helpful Shawn, thanks. —Katie
On Mar 17, 2008, at 2:29 PM, Shawn Waggoner ((FLEAA)) wrote: > It is possible to do regen on a DC conversion, but it is very rare and > requires special controllers. The commonly available controllers like > Alltrax, Curtis and Café Electric's Zilla do not do regen. > > Regen is very commonly done with AC controllers. Overall AC > conversion tend > be a little pricier than the DC conversions, but (usually) offer > higher > efficiency. > > AC controllers can control the frequency and amplitude of the sine > wave > delivered to the motor which controls the RPM and torque, where DC > controllers take the DC power from the batteries and 'modulate' the > DC power > to the motor. This is called Pulse "Width Modulation". There is > more info on > PWM located on the Wikipedia here: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation. Controllers > that vary > the frequency on AC motors are also called "Variable Frequency > Drives" or > VFD: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable-frequency_drive > > There is also a good article on how electric cars work here: > http://auto.howstuffworks.com/electric-car2.htm > > Hope this helps! > > Shawn > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kathleen > Robinson > Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 2:15 PM > To: FLEAA Mailing List > Subject: [FLEAA] Question about Regen. Braking and AC vs DC > > What are the differences between an AC conversion and DC? Doesn't the > DC electricity get chopped, simulating AC? Is it possible to get > regenerative braking in a DC conversion? I thought it wasn't usually > done/couldn't be done? Why or why not? DC conversions are what most > people do, because they are cheaper, correct? > > Thanks in advance for clearing things up. > > —Katie > _______________________________________________ > Florida EAA mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.floridaeaa.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Florida EAA mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.floridaeaa.org _______________________________________________ Florida EAA mailing list [email protected] http://www.floridaeaa.org
