| Description |
The facility was built as a research camp for the study
of Mount Erebus, an active volcano with a molten lava lake in the
caldera. The peak of the mountain is another 1000 feet (340M) higher
than the camp, and within reasonable traveling distance. The Erebus
camp houses as many as 12 researchers for the austral summer season,
November – February, and collects data year round.
The power system for
this camp consists of a 400-watt Air Industrial wind generator,
operating year round, and 550 Watts of solar panels deployed
in the summer only. Both charging systems feed into a large battery
bank. Up to 4 kW of 120VAC power is available for use in the summer
season for living and lab space, while DC loads are year round to
support data collection and typically run 10-30 Watts. During the
summer, scientists will often bring up a 5-kW gasoline generator to
supplement the power system as necessary.
The battery bank has
sixteen 125 AH, AGM type batteries, connected in 24 volt configuration
to store an adequate amount of power between wind charging events
during the long, cold winter. The battery bank is rated at nearly 1000
AH at 77’ F (25’C) , but is capable of
storing only 300AH in more typical -30’F (-34’C)
ambient temperatures. All charging circuits are temperature compensated
to meet the needs of the cold batteries. Typically charging voltage is
raised 0.03 volts per degree Celsius below the rating temperature.
Winter low temperatures often dip to -50’ F
(-47’C), with wind speeds that can reach 90 MPH (45 m/sec).
In addition to the extreme cold, the power system is challenged by the
precipitation of salts from the volcano, which eventually coat the
surfaces of solar panels and cover all wind equipment. The salts are
slightly corrosive to electrical connections, which necessitates
periodic cleaning of the solar panels. Due to these factors, and rime
icing, the average life of deployed wind generators in this environment
is 2 years and annual system maintenance is required.
Specifications:
- Solar Array: Six BP75, 75-Watt solar panels, Two
Solarex MSX64, 64-Watt solar panels
- Charge Control: RV Power, 5000DL 50-A maximum power
point tracking (MPPT) charge controller
- Battery Bank: Sixteen Concord SunXtender PVX1080T,
valve regulated absorbed glass mat (AGM) type deep cycle batteries,
rated at 126 AH at the 120-hour rate. The batteries are
connected in a 24VDC series/parallel configuration
- Inverter: Trace/Xantrex SW4024, 4000-Watt,
24 volt, true sine wave inverter/charger.
- Wind turbine: South West Windpower, “Air
Industrial”, 400 Watt. Morningstar
“Tri-Star”, 60-A diversion load controllers each
with 40-A diversion loads
- Over current protection:
- 350-A DC breaker protecting Inverter from battery
bank
- Two 30-A DC breakers protecting charge controller
from batteries and solar panels
- Two 20-A output breakers
- Battery Power Monitor: Bogart Engineering, Trimetric
TM-2020 with 500amp shunt connected to meter real net energy production
and battery state of charge.
- 30-A DC output breaker for year round use
 |
Inverter,
charge controller and battery bank (four additional batteries
are behind tne wall). |
 |
Dual
diversion load controllers for backup
battery protection from excess wind generator output. |
|
Photovoltaic/wind
hybrid with battery bank and portable generator back-up.
