AC Diversion Load: Added Capacity, Part 3
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Building a 3rd variable AC diversion load for the solar power system in the house.
I had to wait for suitable weather conditions to test out the combined 1200W diversion load operation. As mentioned in an earlier video, pushing this load over 600W is not a common occurrence. But with a good winter storm blowing through, the cloud edge effect did the trick. With this, you have the shaded panels cooling off before the cloud blows by and you get a full shot of sun on the cold panels. I can see several hundred watts of extra power come into the system for a short period of time. Then the panels either heat up in the full sun and return to normal output, or another cloud blows in and blocks the sun.
I uncovered an initial problem, where I had forgotten to update the Line 1 diversion load code to use the conditional expression version of the dimmer settings. As such, when the dimmers on Line 2 went above 100%, the dimmer on Line 1 jumped into Assist mode, thinking Line 2 was overloaded. That one line of code was quickly fixed and the testing resumed.
So far, the operation of the combined dimmers seems to be working well. The setting moves smoothly up through 100% and went as high as 121% and then smoothly dropped back below 100% as designed. Will conduct further testing in various conditions to see how the system works.
Simple plan is to add a radiant oil heater, as a 600W resistive load, to a Z-Wave controlled light dimmer and use that as an additional diversion load for the solar power system. This will increase the capacity of the load on Line 2 to 1200W with the original 600W load on Line 1. Note Line 1 and 2 are the two 120V split phases of the 240V house power circuit.
As far as installation, I have outlets in the family room that are on the Line 2 side of the breaker panel. Both the original DIversionLoad2 and the new DiversionLoad3 are plugged into one of those 20 amp outlets. Likewise, my original DiversionLoad1 is plugged into an outlet in the living room that's on the Line 1 side of the breaker panel. That way, each of the diversion loads, only uses up excess power on the side of the breaker panel they're plugged into.
Parts used:
600 watt Z-Wave light dimmer:
amzn.to/4aeyOF5
Used the Utra-Pro model: amzn.to/3ViUmMS
Picked up a dual gang electrical box, cable clamp and cover plate at a hardware store. I had an old PC power cable for the cord and an old receptacle left over from swapping in a GFCI outlet.
Radiant oil heaters, you want a simple heater, no digital display or push buttons:
amzn.to/3Vdnbdz
Used the Kismile unit: amzn.to/43lr81F
In the next video, we'll look at the updated system in operation...
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Intro/Outro:
Louisiana Fairytale by Austin Rogers
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Since the automation code for Line 1 and 2 are identical, I usually try modifying Line 2 code and leave Line 1 original in case I need to revert back to it. But this can cause problems like seen in this video, where I hadn't updated the Line 1 code and it kicked into Assist mode by thinking that the dimmer on Line 2 was overloaded (i.e. over 100%).