Video Ideas for Will

[Dan23456]

Cell/battery Lifetime/degradation Auto-Tester. The idea is to to have an appropriate charger powered on and 'connected' via a voltage sensitive switch. Ditto for a load. The concept would be to start with a fully charged battery (or probably better, cell). Starting the test would activate the load switch which would stay locked until a predetermined low voltage is reached. At that point the 'monitor' would deactiveate the load switch and activate the charger switch to begin a charging cycle.
Once the high voltage disconnect is reached, the charger would be switched off, and the load switched on. 1 full cycle.
Preferably, the auto-tester would be monitoring power in and out during the cycle.
Even more preferably, it would be logging that data. An event would be defined as charger switch activation (charge run) and Load switch activation (Discharge run) (or vice-verse, depending on POV). so the log would look something like:

Date | time | Volts | Watts (since last event)
2020-07-01 | 0041 | 3.28 | unk
2020-07-01 | 0101 | 2.80 | 97
2020-07-01 | 0116 | 3.28 | 99
...

this would allow fairly rapid and consistent cell cycling and analysis' especially if only one cell was done at a time, limiting the amount of power cycled in each test.

oh... and probably cell and ambient temperatures.

Given a setup, start it and come back in a couple weeks to see, at least in early cycles, how much a cell (and thus pack of cells) degrade over usage.

 

[HRTKD]

Solar Charge Controller Death Match
What happens to the various charge controllers when you exceed specifications or do something stupid. Will posted that he couldn't kill an SCC by connecting it out of order, but what will the various SCC do when the solar panel voltage/watts/amps exceeds the specifications? This question comes up somewhat often. This is especially important for those folks that put together a string that is within 10% of the limit by the book but may exceed specs when cold weather hits.

 

[nictrix]

What to do in various emergency situations. How to replace parts in a system (what to disconnect first, etc..)

 

[Dan23456]

Cell/battery Lifetime/degradation Auto-Tester. The idea is to to have an appropriate charger powered on and 'connected' via a voltage sensitive switch. Ditto for a load. The concept would be to start with a fully charged battery (or probably better, cell). Starting the test would activate the load switch which would stay locked until a predetermined low voltage is reached. At that point the 'monitor' would deactiveate the load switch and activate the charger switch to begin a charging cycle.
Once the high voltage disconnect is reached, the charger would be switched off, and the load switched on. 1 full cycle.
Preferably, the auto-tester would be monitoring power in and out during the cycle.
Even more preferably, it would be logging that data. An event would be defined as charger switch activation (charge run) and Load switch activation (Discharge run) (or vice-verse, depending on POV). so the log would look something like:

Date | time | Volts | Watts (since last event)
2020-07-01 | 0041 | 3.28 | unk
2020-07-01 | 0101 | 2.80 | 97
2020-07-01 | 0116 | 3.28 | 99
...

this would allow fairly rapid and consistent cell cycling and analysis' especially if only one cell was done at a time, limiting the amount of power cycled in each test.

oh... and probably cell and ambient temperatures.

Given a setup, start it and come back in a couple weeks to see, at least in early cycles, how much a cell (and thus pack of cells) degrade over usage.

ok. So there are already devices that do this. from www.zketech.com. There are a couple reviews on youtube. The 'cleanest', seems to be

. The available control software is shown starting at time 21:56. I think it would be an awesome addition to your test suite, and would look forward to some re-do's or addendums to some existing test videos.. Probably going to pull the trigger on one myself.

 

[Sky-HHI]

Install solar panels on his electric golf cart and then take it to the Las Vegas strip at night to see if it will charge from all the lights that is wasted from the casinos strip lighting. When I have been there the nights seem almost as bright as the days.

 

[Mike Jordan]

I would like to see a tear down and inspection of an Amped Outdoors LFP battery.

 

[Rocketman]

A video of different high end BMS’s:
Batrium, Rec, Orian jr, and many more.

 

[Rocketman]

I would like to see how other people set up their systems:

In a MotorHome with12v (high amperage 500 to 1000 ah) batteries.

 

[svetz]

@Will Prowse - @paul12345 recently posted on the Gemini Project, this isn't far from you (it's ~35 miles NE of Las Vegas):

The estimated $1 billion Gemini Solar Project could be the eighth-largest solar power facility in the world when finished.

A video tour would be way cool. I'm not sure where they are in the construction or if they're generating power or collecting data yet, so this might be a future thing or possibly a yearly thing.

I'd be interested in:

1. seeing their trackers (and why they think they'll be economical, is this a new generation of tech?)
2. Their 1,400-MWh Lithium Ion battery
3. Bifacial panels - what do they see in terms of real world power generation? How high are the arrays mounted, what's the albedo? Did they do anything to enhance it?
4. What's with the 7100 acres? Seems like they could have plunked a lot more fixed panels in the same footprint.
5. Transmission - just how the heck are they getting all that power out of there?

 

[Deleted member 23531]

I agree that would be cool, Will. You could model your YouTubing after other successful science / engineering channels (ex: Veritasium, SmarterEveryDay) who started off in their own garages / experiments and branched out to visiting facilities and interviewing others out in the real world, more like a real TV show on Discovery or similar. In particular, SmarterEveryDay recently visited ULA (a rocket factory) and a Navy submarine in the arctic! You could try to do the same thing for power plants or other energy stuff like PV equipment companies, the researchers who work on molten-salt power plans or fusion power plants, PV cell manufacturers, PV installers, community energy projects, micro grids, etc.

 

[Freep]

Has he done anything on solar trackers? If you're closer to the poles your energy harvest can be helped dramatically by having your panels track the sun.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

If you're closer to the poles your energy harvest can be helped dramatically by having your panels track the sun.

True, but the mess of maintenance and keeping them going over winter with all the snow and ice is not worth it. Adding more panels is cheap and less of a headache. Mechanical moving parts and winter over here don't mix very well.

 

[HRTKD]

@Will Prowse ,
Like the solar charge controller shootout, I would like to see one on AC-DC converters. The topic of what converter to use and if an existing converter designed for a lead acid battery is OK or marginal for use with LiFePO4 comes up frequently. There are arguments for using what is already there and similar arguments for ditching the old school converter and switch to newer technology designed specifically for the LiFePO4 chemistry.

Topics to explore:
Most effective charge - Does the charger limp along and eventually get the battery charged, or does it take a more aggressive approach to getting the battery charged in the least amount of time. This is important for folks that use a generator.
Safest charge - Is it charging to 14.6 volts every time?
Programmability - Not many of the common converters are programmable. Some allow a choice of battery chemistry. Even fewer allow you to set the voltage parameters.

I would like to see the IOTA Engineering DLS-55 with IQ4 LiFePO4 module as part of the shootout. I have one that I can send you that I recently took out of service because it was replaced by a Victron Multiplus.

 

[WYtreasure]

I would like to see a video on what happens to a cheap disconnect switch that is rated for 100 Amps when someone repeatedly uses it under a 50 to 100 Amp load.

Suggested safety gear:
Eye protection, welding curtain, really long insulated rubber gloves and a proper Safety Switch for when the disconnect fails.

 

[HRTKD]

I would like to see a video on what happens to a cheap disconnect switch that is rated for 100 Amps when someone repeatedly uses it under a 50 to 100 Amp load.

Suggested safety gear:
Eye protection, welding curtain, really long insulated rubber gloves and a proper Safety Switch for when the disconnect fails.

Will needs to hire an intern for that. Or Beaker.