Inverter-how much can it take?

Bob - I'm only asking $550. for my spare APC SURT6000XLT (pickup or plus shipping) as I'm trying to buy some solar PV panels and need the cash. (I paid $700.)

 

I get the impression this unit also puts a charge on the battery when it has line power?

I read the user's manual and found it a little thin in this area.

FYI, no problem on a fair price. Just I need more technical details:

• What voltage level would it put a charge on the traction battery? - I may want to pre-charge the car in the mornings. Also, I don't want to get in a mode where the car and UPS are 'fighting' over what the traction battery level should be.
  
• What are the signal pins for the RS-232 port? Is this some sort of special APC cable?

Bob Wilson

 

It's not hard to figure out; the power has to be stepped down to 12V, then back up to 125V. The more times you convert power, the more losses there are.

 

This is what I measured:

However, I'm not really worried about efficiency until we get a natural gas feed to the engine and heat exchangers for the engine cooling and exhaust. Co-generation, the ultimate solution.

Bob Wilson

 

Modern inverters are vastly more efficient than they used to be.
My guess is that the 12v method is less efficient than 240vdc to 240vac into the breaker panel but it could be negligible depending on efficiencies.
It also depends on how the energy is used - if 125vac is the target voltage (direct to appliances rather than via the breaker panel) then that's a different variable - my 240v inverter would require a step-down transformer to 125vac for direct appliance use vs via the breaker panel (a phase conversion transformer is needed between it and the breaker panel).
Available power differs between the methods as well.

 

In the case of the 1 kW inverters at full power, the NHW11 vehicle overhead is still ~450 W. Just keeping the car in READY has this overhead. But as the AC kW load increases, the vehicle overhead fades to obscurity.

I am interested in the unit but this is a bad month (wife medical bills coming due.) We may be able to do business in January.

Are there any more technical specs or an O&M manual available for the unit?

Do I remember correctly, you are using a step-down transformer too? That would resolve the ground-fault signal issue as well as keeping the car from being part of the ground circuit.

Bob Wilson

 

January works - it's only 3 weeks away ...

I have Doug Gaede's instructions for setup (he has been very helpful via email).

Tons of info here:
Buy APC Smart-UPS RT 6000VA 208V - Technical Specifications and Information | APC

The APC SURT003 is recommended but there may be other devices that will work as well.

 

Bob - Can we talk off the Forum?

My forum name at nevils-station.com

David

 

Hey Bob - How's the new year looking re. the APC inverter? David

 

In the interest of accuracy and completeness, ConVerdant Vehicles has offered Plug-Out Inverter products for the Prius for years. Look into the Prius-Chat Shop for products for 12v and HV power sources. The Prius is designed to provide this power, without modification. One simply diverts the power to an inverter for AC use.
Randy Bryan - ConVerdant