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"24-7 Power Systems"

Small Portable Systems     Large 3 Phase Systems

PV Solar Systems     Custom "24-7 Power Systems" up to 300 kVA

These systems were designed with one thought in mind: Reliability. Because you and your family, and your business depend day and night on electricity, your electrical system has to be reliable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year after year. These systems are engineered with matched components for optimal performance. They are easy to set up and maintain with minimal attention and are ready to provide power continuously 24-7, reliably, quietly, while greatly reducing pollution in the air.

With unpredictable and unreliable power supply outages, rolling blackouts, brownouts, etc in California and other locations around the world, this could be the solution. This system can also be used without a generator or automatic transfer switch. By using the electric grid to charge the storage batteries and then switching electrical power automatically to the inverter whenever the power fails.

This could be a viable solution for offices, where generator use is not possible. This is also a much more desirable solution instead of commercial UPS systems that measure their backup time in minutes, rather than the hours or days of a "24-7 Power System". Also a future option is fuel cells fueled by tanks of hydrogen that can run inside a building, ready to go at a moments notice. An electrical generator and automatic transfer switch, wind generator, solar panels, etc can also be added onto the system anytime later if desired.

A "24-7 Power System" is basically a large "Uninterruptible Power Supply" inverter backed up by a generator with a very large storage battery, that's large enough to power a whole house or business. This would be very desirable option for any business that requires an uninterruptible power supply for computers, phone system, cash registers, security systems, lighting, medical equipment, etc to stay in business. Also, people that require life support medical equipment at home "24-7", or anyone needing an efficient, reliable, and uninterruptible steady power source, etc.

"Special instructions for life support patients - If someone in your home is on life support equipment and you experience a power outage, call the Power Company immediately."

"Registering with the Power Company does not mean they will automatically be informed of a power outage at your home, nor does it mean that they can restore your power first. But it does allow them to be aware of your situation and do all that they can to help you in a power outage. Please remember that while the Power Company works to restore power as quickly as possible to all customers, it is the responsibility of the care giver to have a backup power system and a plan of action to use in the event of a power outage or other emergency."

"No one can predict when a power outage might happen. That's why anyone who depends on life support equipment or refrigeration for life sustaining medications should seriously consider owning a backup power system. While most life support equipment does have built-in backup systems, the backup period may not be long enough to cover a major outage. With a backup power system, the equipment will continue operating, and the patient will not have to be relocated to a temporary shelter."

By coupling a generator to an inverter/battery charger, and a battery bank, efficiency is greatly increased, and operating costs are decreased. Also you can use a much smaller generator to help offset the cost of the "24-7 Power System". This electrical system is very similar to how a RV, sailboat, "hybrid" electric car, etc operates by storing power in batteries for later use off a small generator.

Conservation is key to the efficient use of home power. Unlike the utility line, the power that is provided by yourself is ultimately limited to the size of your generator, solar PV array, wind / water power generator, batteries, inverter, etc. By simply eliminating or choosing appliances that conserve power, the size of a system can be greatly reduced saving you money. Major savings can be obtained by using appliances that don't use electricity can be also substituted, such as a kerosene / heating oil / propane / natural gas stoves, ovens, water heaters, clothes dryers, air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, etc. Another option is to get a Diesel engined compressor, "Reefer" unit from a tractor trailer refrigerated trailer to use as a home air conditioner.

"24-7 Power Systems" can also be used on a "full time" basis, year after year in remote locations. Producing your own power this way reduces costs down to very affordable levels. It's also much cheaper to buy a complete "24-7 Power System", rather than paying the electric power utility company their exorbitant rates to run a powerline over a mile to your remote location.

If you are seriously interested in a long term independent uninterruptible power solution for 365 days a year continuous operation, a "24-7 Power System" is the most efficient and economical way to go. Whichever way you chose to go, the consolidated resource information that follows will help you greatly, to decide what size system you need.

GENERATORS

The most common power source for homes is a gasoline, propane, natural gas, or diesel generator. Diesel is the best there is, for a number of reasons, but prices tend to be higher and are usually very hard to find in the smaller sizes. This Chinese diesel generator is about half the cost of your local Honda, John Deere, Kubota, etc diesel generator dealer. German, Japanese, USA, etc generators are also available here and in much larger sizes at very reasonable prices.

If you are looking for emergency backup power for just a few hours a day a week or weekend to run a few lights, etc, then you probably would be better off getting a cheap gasoline or propane "toy" generator locally. But be sure to follow the duty cycle limitations religiously or the generator will self destruct very rapidly from heat buildup, etc.

The typical air-cooled gasoline or propane / natural gas "Toy" generators with a throw away "lawn mower" type engine with splash oil lubrication available at your local hardware center will only last about 750 hours, (~3 months @ 8 hours/day), or about 1,500 hours, (~6 months @ 8 hours/day) if it has overhead valves, oil filter, and pressurized oil lubrication. But only if you baby them, and don't overheat them by strictly following the manufacturers "duty cycle" limitations. During last years ice storm in Canada, the local Fire Departments had to setup Triage Centers to fix all the "Toy" generators.

A "High Speed" (3,600 rpm) aircooled diesel will use less fuel and last thousands of hours. But a "Slow Speed" (1,800 rpm) diesel, will run tens of thousands of hours. One "Slow Speed" Diesel Generator that we heard of has now run over 50,000 hours recently, that's over 17 years @ 8 hours/day and 34 years @ 4 hours/day in a "24-7 Power System"! Probably the last generator you will ever need to buy versus many "toy" generators. Another easy way to tell if it's a "slow speed" generator, is to check to see if it has a 4 pole generator instead of the usual 2 poles.

One other big advantage of a "Slow Speed" diesel, is that it's fuel consumption and noise is lower, for the same power output of other "High Speed" (3,600 rpm) portable diesel generators. This would make a big difference when storing fuel for long periods. Industrial rated, continuous duty, watercooled, slowspeed diesel generators are also rated for 24 hours / 7 days a week operation. Hooked up to a 275 gallon home heating oil tank, a 12 kW diesel generator can run continuously 24-7 for 1 1/2 weeks at full load or at half load for 3 weeks straight!

K-1 Kerosene and #2 home heating oil are exactly the same as #1 and #2 Diesel. The only difference is that red dyes are added for identification to kerosene and home heating oil for highway tax purposes. It's also about 20-40¢ per gallon cheaper, because there are no road taxes paid on it. Just don't get caught on the road with it in your diesel car or truck or you'll pay some hefty fines. Your local fuel oil dealer can deliver fuel direct to your house, and you can use a 275 or 500 gallon home heating oil tank for fuel storage. Using $1.23 / gallon for Off-Road Diesel, you can generate power for as little as 9 cents /kW/hr fuel cost on a large turbocharged diesel or 12 cents /kW/hr for a small 10 kW diesel generator.

One other major advantage diesel fuel has is safety, it is non-explosive and much safer to store inside a building. Propane, Natural Gas, and Gasoline vapors are very explosive when they collect in low pockets and should never be used inside buildings, especially low areas, like basements, etc. Check your Insurance policy for coverage. Another big advantage diesel has, is that it can be stored over a much longer time without deterioration, unlike gasoline.

As long as the generator is run close to 50% or more of its capacity, efficiencies are maximized and costs are kept relatively low. However, this is usually not the practice. Many generators without battery banks are run 24 hours a day or more at only a small fraction of their potential power. The result is that the cost of operation per kilowatt hour of electricity goes sky high!

To size the generator for optimum efficiency, it requires the generator output to be in the range of 120 - 200% of the maximum charge rate you can deliver to the battery bank from the battery charger. You can run a small generator all out at 100% power with no reserve power or a larger generator at 50% power, but the fuel consumptions will be about equal to each other since they are both producing the same amount of power.

In some instances, sizing the generator up a bit to run occasional very large loads (power tools, washing machine, water pump, air conditioning, etc) directly off the generator while charging the batteries, avoids the need for a larger "24-7 Power System" and additional battery capacity, lowering your overall costs. During a large power surge requirement, the battery charger will drop off line automatically, and the generator and inverter will automatically supply the total power output needed together.

Since the inverter is on all the time, occasional surges are not as big a problem as for the generator. The generator has to pick up all the surges together when it's switched online. But more important, the inverter also has a much higher surge rating of up to 300% vs 25% for a diesel or 10% for a gasoline or propane / natural gas generator. Most gasoline and propane / natural gas generators must be oversized significantly to handle surge loads, but this also increases costs.

INVERTERS

Trace DR Inverter ™	Trace Power Panel ™ (Dual SW Inverters)	Trace SW Inverter ™

The inverter powers the AC loads 24 hours a day directly from the batteries whenever the generator is off. This can greatly reduce daily generator run time and dramatically reduce the cost of maintenance, fuel, and noise!

Trace Inverters ™ combine three of the major components necessary for the "24-7 Power System". The inverter, battery charger and the automatic transfer switch are designed into one compact unit. In all backup power systems, a transfer switch, either manual or automatic, must be utilized to prevent backfeeding the power company's line.

The transfer switch receives power from the generator or the electric power company, but only passes one source at a time to the loads through the inverter. The inverter is online in the background powered by the batteries, to automatically pick up any A/C electrical loads automatically if the power should fail, acting as a very large "Uninterruptible Power Supply".

Therefore, the simplest and most economical method of utilizing this type of system utilizes an inverter, a battery bank and a generator. The deluxe Trace Sine Wave Inverters ™ also include automatic generator start and stop control functions, further automating the system. Solar, wind, and hydro power are easily added onto these systems as additional modules later if desired. All "24-7 Power Systems" now include the prewired and mounted Trace Power Panels ™, this greatly cuts down on the time needed to install "24-7 Power Systems".

BATTERIES

24 Volt HUP Battery	48 Volt HUP Battery	48 Volt HUP Battery

A minimum of 4-6 parallel banks of 6 volt batteries are usually needed to absorb "all" the power from the battery charger / inverter and to provide sufficient storage of power. To compute battery capacity for power storage, use 25% of the watt capacity (volts x amps) under normal conditions, and 50% during emergency conditions. The maximum safe charge rate to prevent battery overheating and damage, uses a C/10 charge rate (capacity/10) or 10% of the battery A/H capacity.

You should never drain the batteries to zero charge, and by using the formula above, it will give you much longer battery life. (see example below) Divide your total daily energy requirement into 25% of the battery capacity to compute how many days you can safely go without running the generator to charge your system.

Only one "Industrial" HUP (High Utilization Positive) Forklift Battery is needed to absorb the power from the battery charger and to provide sufficient storage of power. To compute battery capacity for power storage, use 50% of the watt capacity under normal conditions, and 80% during emergency conditions. The maximum safe charge rate for industrial batteries, is a C/5 charge rate (capacity/5) or 20% of the battery A/H capacity!

Industrial Forklift Batteries can be cycled much deeper, down to an 80% discharge regularly with up to 2,100 cycles in heavy forklift use! In a "24-7 Power System", if the battery is maintained properly and follows the formula above, it should last 150 - 200% longer than the projected 10 year industrial use.

The only drawback is "initial cost", as they average about 40% more than the $60 6 volt Trojan "Golf Cart" Batteries, or about the 15% less cost than the $150 6 volt Trojan L-16's on an equal "usable" storage basis. But the longterm  "cost per year" is under half the price of the 6 volt batteries, with much less maintenance needed!

The advantages greatly outweigh any negatives, so all large "24-7 Power Systems" will be sold with "Industrial" HUP Batteries. But due to shipping weight, handling, and delivery problems, all HUP batteries will be sold in multiple 12 volt batteries, wired in series with battery interconnect cables. They have twice the usable storage power (50% vs 25%), and they can be safely recharged at twice the charge rate, which cuts the generator run time in half, much less maintenance is required due to less cells to service, 3 times the cycle life, and under half the cost per year over the longterm!

All "24-7 Power Systems" with "Industrial" HUP Batteries also include, a "DeSulfator" module to eliminate battery sulfation and to further increase battery life, a professional hydrometer, battery cleaning solution, safety gear kit, and 4/0 welding / battery cables with 350 A/H "Anderson SB" cable connector plugs for a "First Class" installation. Optional custom made "Hydrocaps" are also available directly from the manufacture to reduce battery watering and Hydrogen gassing.

PV SOLAR

You will notice this system to be very similar to the other photovoltaic solar systems. In fact, the only major difference is the lack of solar PV modules, mount structure and DC charge controller. There is no limit to what we can power from photovoltaics, only 100 mi² would power the entire USA! There is, however, an economic limit to how much we want to pay to harness sunlight power. PV solar panels alone, cost about $6.00/watt without mounts, or a DC charge controller, vs about $.30/watt for a small diesel generator ($.10/watt for large diesel generators).

For this reason, in areas where there is a significant seasonal variation of sunlight, we typically design "24-7 Power Systems" to supply the bulk of the power, where it is more economically supplied by a generator. The reason for this is simply economics, but this is a moot point if you can't obtain fuel! In many cases we would increase the cost of the system over 20 fold to provide the same amount of PV solar power. It is much more cost effective to employ a backup generator source of power, to run large loads especially, and during the least sunny times of the year.

One major advantage to PV solar though, is to use them to top off the last 5-10% of the batteries, since the battery charger rate cuts back automatically at the top of the charge cycle, which allows the generator to run longer than necessary. So, size your PV Solar system to about 10% of your total battery storage capacity. Using the Small "24-7 Power System" as an example, 1,056 watts of PV solar power are required per day, assuming you ran your generator in the morning up to a 90% charge. PV solar panels are usually about 2 feet by 4 feet, and come in various ratings, but the most popular 12 volt sizes are 55, 75, 90, 110, etc watt panels.

But first, you need to combine solar panels in groups according to the system voltage. So a 24 volt system must be built up in modules of 2 solar panels (2 x 12v = 24 volts) at a time, 48 volt systems, 4 solar panels (4 x 12v = 48 volts) at a time. $6.00/watt x 2 - 75 watt panels is $900.00 for 150 watts of 24 volt power, times 7 hours of full sun per day equals 1,050 watts or 44 amps per day (1,050w/24v). 4 - 75 watt panels is $1,800 for 300 watts of 48 volt power per module times 7 is 2,100 watts or 44 amps per day (2,100w/48v). Also allow for more power in the winter, when there is less light according to your local conditions. 48 volt systems are more efficient than 24 or 12 volt systems, but the price is about the same if comparing similar power output wattages.

GETTING STARTED

The budget is usually one of the main factors in determining system size. Unfortunately the system one wants may be larger than one's pocketbook allows. Fortunately the system is modular and can be assembled one module at a time.

An alternative is to go with the lowest cost working portion of the system which will be needed later anyway. Start with the generator, or inverter and batteries. The next step, of course, would then be to add additional banks of batteries for additional storage capacity. Then take advantage of the long-term economic advantage of solar power over generators by adding a PV solar array, which can be done incrementally a few modules at a time, as the budget allows.

Also wind and/or water power generators should be considered depending on your local situation to complete your system. The generator / battery /inverter system will minimize generator run time while providing a reliable power source needed to run a home 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. The renewable energy systems will make the system work even more efficiently, further reducing run time on the generator. This allows you to operate in "stealth" mode, to avoid unwanted attention!

Another alternative if your on a very tight budget is to build a Micro "24-7 Power System" from scratch for under a $1,000. This would utilize a "lawn mower" engine driving an alternator from a car or truck to charge several 6 volt Deep Cycle "Golf Cart" batteries. Then a small 12 volt inverter could be used to provide power for lights, radio, TV, etc, but no large heavy loads. The "Micro" link provided above has information for DIY plans and kits. Please contact them for any questions or further information.

The "24-7 Power Systems" outlined below here should serve as a guideline only. The prices will vary depending upon your needs, loads, capacity, etc, and the exact components you select. (Generator building, intercom, power cables to your house, 55 gallon drums or 275 gallon home heating oil fuel tank, large muffler, installation, etc, are not included in system examples.)

For more information on putting together a full-time independent or a backup electrical system I highly recommend a subscription to "Home Power" magazine - $22.50/year (800)-707-6585 (P.O. Box 520, Ashland, OR 97520) and the book "More Power to You" - $9.95 + $2.00 S&H by Oregon Wordworks (P.O. Box 42636, Portland, OR 97242-0636).

"24-7 Power Systems" are available from BackupPowerSystems.com. This is a specialty product that we have developed and started selling back in 1997. Also "24-7 Power Systems" will be sold as "complete" systems. Individual parts needed to make up a system piece by piece are too hard to find separately one part at a time.

RESOURCES

The best source of "non-electric" hardware, appliances, etc is from "Lehman's" Catalog - $3.00 (330)-857-5757 (One Lehman Circle, P.O. Box 41, Kidron, OH 44636). An excellent resource book on self-sufficiency is "Back to Basics" - $26.95 by Readers Digest Books, Pleasantville, NY available at any bookstore, and a good book on survival is the "SAS Survival Handbook" available at any book store. Also any book written by Ragnar Benson, especially "Live off the Land in the City and Country".

The amount of power that is consumed by your household can be reduced by scheduling certain appliances to operate when the generator is operating in conjunction with your system. Example - Running your washing machine, well pump, power tools, air conditioner, etc off the generator a few hours a day while charging your batteries.

* Never use Charcoal or White Gas (Coleman Stove, Light, etc) indoors. Because as they burn, they produce vast amounts of carbon monoxide, which is a deadly poison.

* Important Consideration: Motor starting is another consideration, depending on the efficiency of the motor, it will require up to 2 times the running watts to start, or up to 4-7 times the running watts for motors with a load on them during the start, for Air Conditioners, Air Compressors, Pumps, Refrigerator/Freezers, etc.

These ratings are only estimates and should be used only as a rough guide. Confirm the power requirements of each item. To determine how much power an appliance consumes, look on the appliance itself. Typically on the back there is a small plate listing the power, the appliance consumes in watts. If an amp rating is listed instead, multiply the volts by the appliances amps for the wattage. (Volts X Amps = Watts ) Example: 120 volts X 2 amps = 240 watts.

* Unable to start Simultaneously on 12 kW (12,000 Watt) Generator
(I would highly recommend a High Efficiency Electric Refrigerator/Freezer as in example #2 or a Propane or Kerosene powered Refrigerator/Freezer to remove it from this electrical chart)

Servel Americana 400 LP Refrigerator/Freezer 7.5 ft² - $1,295.00

(Order from Catalog below)

12 kW Diesel Generator Information

Single Phase Generator Prices

3 Phase Generator Prices

Diesel Generator Articles

Courtesy of Backwoods Home Magazine

To Order - Contact

Bob Colvin - BackupPowerSystems.com

267-254-6826

info@backuppowersystems.com

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