If you need assistance, please send an email to forum at 4hv dot org. To ensure your email is not marked as spam, please include the phrase "4hv help" in the subject line. You can also find assistance via IRC, at irc.shadowworld.net, room #hvcomm.
Support 4hv.org!
Donate:
4hv.org is hosted on a dedicated server. Unfortunately, this server costs and we rely on the help of site members to keep 4hv.org running. Please consider donating. We will place your name on the thanks list and you'll be helping to keep 4hv.org alive and free for everyone. Members whose names appear in red bold have donated recently. Green bold denotes those who have recently donated to keep the server carbon neutral.
Special Thanks To:
Aaron Holmes
Aaron Wheeler
Adam Horden
Alan Scrimgeour
Andre
Andrew Haynes
Anonymous000
asabase
Austin Weil
barney
Barry
Bert Hickman
Bill Kukowski
Blitzorn
Brandon Paradelas
Bruce Bowling
BubeeMike
Byong Park
Cesiumsponge
Chris F.
Chris Hooper
Corey Worthington
Derek Woodroffe
Dalus
Dan Strother
Daniel Davis
Daniel Uhrenholt
datasheetarchive
Dave Billington
Dave Marshall
David F.
Dennis Rogers
drelectrix
Dr. John Gudenas
Dr. Spark
E.TexasTesla
eastvoltresearch
Eirik Taylor
Erik Dyakov
Erlend^SE
Finn Hammer
Firebug24k
GalliumMan
Gary Peterson
George Slade
GhostNull
Gordon Mcknight
Graham Armitage
Grant
GreySoul
Henry H
IamSmooth
In memory of Leo Powning
Jacob Cash
James Howells
James Pawson
Jeff Greenfield
Jeff Thomas
Jesse Frost
Jim Mitchell
jlr134
Joe Mastroianni
John Forcina
John Oberg
John Willcutt
Jon Newcomb
klugesmith
Leslie Wright
Lutz Hoffman
Mads Barnkob
Martin King
Mats Karlsson
Matt Gibson
Matthew Guidry
mbd
Michael D'Angelo
Mikkel
mileswaldron
mister_rf
Neil Foster
Nick de Smith
Nick Soroka
nicklenorp
Nik
Norman Stanley
Patrick Coleman
Paul Brodie
Paul Jordan
Paul Montgomery
Ped
Peter Krogen
Peter Terren
PhilGood
Richard Feldman
Robert Bush
Royce Bailey
Scott Fusare
Scott Newman
smiffy
Stella
Steven Busic
Steve Conner
Steve Jones
Steve Ward
Sulaiman
Thomas Coyle
Thomas A. Wallace
Thomas W
Timo
Torch
Ulf Jonsson
vasil
Vaxian
vladi mazzilli
wastehl
Weston
William Kim
William N.
William Stehl
Wesley Venis
The aforementioned have contributed financially to the continuing triumph of 4hv.org. They are deserving of my most heartfelt thanks.
Registered Member #190
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567
Grid-tie inverters have a strick input voltage range. If the voltage is exceeded the inverter can be destroyed. If I wanted a voltage range of say 75-150v, what would be a simple way to limit the voltage to no more than 150v?
My question, just to clarify, is not about inverters, but how one would ensure that if the input to the "regulator" exceeds 150v, the output will put out no more than 150v and sink the rest. I build a simple device for my solar charger using diodes and a transistor to sink excess current. 150v, though, seems like a lot of diodes so I wanted to know if there was a simpler way.
Registered Member #175
Joined: Tue Feb 14 2006, 09:32PM
Location: Sudbury, ON
Posts: 111
I was under the impression that solar cells are pretty much incapable of causing voltage spikes. ie, if the maximum voltage of your bank is 150V (which is rather high, but I guess if you don't have batteries...) you will under no circumstances get a voltage higher than that off the cells. But that could just be me.
Registered Member #190
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567
I don't have any actual plans in mind, yet. It was more of a general question. With regards to what is providing the power, I am looking at a wind turbine which can generate spurious voltages. During a high wind the voltage could get out of hand and hence the reason for protecting the inverter.
Registered Member #162
Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 10:25AM
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3140
Then a shunt regulator is the thing for you, as the wind blows too strongly the shunt regulator will prevent the blades turning too quickly by loading the generator. One type of electric brake.
If you don't want to dissipate all of the energy in the transistor you could put one or more electric light bulbs in the colector/drain etc. depending upon power levels maybe an electric heater etc.
Registered Member #190
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567
So, if I wanted to prevent any voltage over 150v dc to the inverter would I set the base of my transistor to turn on at around 140v so it sinks the current, and is maximally open at 150v? Are there diodes with breakdown voltages this high or do I have to string some together? Thanks
Registered Member #190
Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567
The generator is going to potentially put out 1kw. I know I can shunt small currents with some BJTs and I guess MOSFETs (though I haven't personally used the latter for this purpose, yet). I am still at a loss as to how to handle such large currents. Would I need to run a few of the devices in parallel to split the load and dump them into some high wattage resistors?
Registered Member #63
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:18AM
Location:
Posts: 1425
Yep, you can put them in parallel -- just choose MOSFETs with a high current rating, but the correct breakdown voltage. I can't imagine you really wanting to waste more than a few hundred watts from the generator... :P
Registered Member #89
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:40PM
Location: Zadar, Croatia
Posts: 3145
Why don't you just go for a larger series string of TVS's? like 15x10V or so? They'l happily shunt large voltage transients and if they last too long they blow a fuse and protect themselves and the circuit.
(Although I too don't see what could cause large voltage transients on a solar array?)
This site is powered by e107, which is released under the GNU GPL License. All work on this site, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License. By submitting any information to this site, you agree that anything submitted will be so licensed. Please read our Disclaimer and Policies page for information on your rights and responsibilities regarding this site.
voltage protection for inverters
