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I have been working on an off grid application using PV panels and an inverter-charger-battery to power small mobile installations. The client understood that because of the available space, the area devoted to PV panels and volume available for battery would mean that in Autumn - Winter, the installation would not meet the the load profile so the original LPG generator would have to be run to provide some or all of the power. It has been a success Spring-Summer when the generator has not been run making a £100 a week saving in LPG per installation of which there are 20.
The generators are 3.4KVA induction alternator types with a Honda engine converted to run on LPG. Before PV, they ran 12 hours a day, every day of the year. Because of the maintenance requirement, 90% of the time the engine repair or replacement, the client has learned how to do this for himself and successfully.
The problem with these generators is that the voltage regulation and frequency control are crude and not well suited to connection to the inverter-charger. The load profile is such that for much of the time they are lightly loaded (75W) until a freezer, 2 fridges or a drinks chiller start up.
I have argued that the client should swap to LPG Honda inverter generators - better V regulation and f control, and higher fuel economy because they run up and down depending on the load.
My problem is I have no real-life information on how they perform in terms of reliability if used for long periods (12 hours) every day as would be the case in Autumn - Winter.
And can the engine be repaired/maintained 'easily' in-house?
Do you?
The generators are 3.4KVA induction alternator types with a Honda engine converted to run on LPG. Before PV, they ran 12 hours a day, every day of the year. Because of the maintenance requirement, 90% of the time the engine repair or replacement, the client has learned how to do this for himself and successfully.
The problem with these generators is that the voltage regulation and frequency control are crude and not well suited to connection to the inverter-charger. The load profile is such that for much of the time they are lightly loaded (75W) until a freezer, 2 fridges or a drinks chiller start up.
I have argued that the client should swap to LPG Honda inverter generators - better V regulation and f control, and higher fuel economy because they run up and down depending on the load.
My problem is I have no real-life information on how they perform in terms of reliability if used for long periods (12 hours) every day as would be the case in Autumn - Winter.
And can the engine be repaired/maintained 'easily' in-house?
Do you?
