Using a MEP generator to charge your EV?

[98G]

I wonder if the Russians know that the Maine Brunswick naval air station is now just an airport. That or being within a few miles of https://www.gd.com/en/our-businesses/marine-systems/bath-iron-works might also make my location a target.

In any case, if it's not raining next weekend I will hook an EV to my MEP-802a and see how it does. I have two plug options:
1. L14-30 will charge at 240v 24amps.
2 6-20R will charge at 240v 16amps.

The MEP-802a won't support a 140-50 plug, I am not sure about pulling 24amps for an extended period of time.
What would people like to see in terms of a plug?

I suspect you can pull 240v 24amps continuously without issue.

 

[kayak1]

Perhaps do the 6-20R and depending on the results consider if the L14-30 could be appropriate for the MEP-802a. However, it would depend on one's circumstances... If you have a need to use an EV as a load bank for monthly genset exercise/tests perhaps the larger amp charging rate is in order to get the load 80%+.

If testing a real-life utility power outage scenario and you needed to keep house powered overnight for the basics, could you also slow charge the EV simultaneously overnight using 6-20R charge rate?

I have 24kW of solar on the roof, 11.3kW connected to an Outback Radian 8048a with a 30kWh agm battery bank. Once the agm batteries need to be replaced I plan to move to a larger lithium battery bank.

The remainder is connected to a 10kW Solaredge inverter which doesn't do anything when the power is out.

When the power is out we move the house back to propane for heat and hot water. Normally we are running via heat pumps and heat pump water heaters.

The cars a normally 80% or 90% (depending on the car) full as that's what we set them to charge to. In the past I have moved one of the car chargers (EVSE) to the critical load panel to charge, as the batteries were full and I didn't have a grid to push the extra to. I just updated the car to charge to 95%.

A for hooking a car to the MEP-802A I was more thinking of a way to load test then really charge the cars.

When the power is out and trees/wires are down I am normally paged out to our VFD and end up driving around in a truck.

 

[Chainbreaker]

A for hooking a car to the MEP-802A I was more thinking of a way to load test then really charge the cars.

Yeah, when diesel was below $3/gal I used my 5kW Comfort Zone heater outside as a load tester for my MEP-002a's. Now with diesel at $6+ I'm gonna have to get some return on my fuel inve$tment when burning off the more expensive diesel for load testing 3x gensets, soon to be 4x, gensets.

With our Bonneville Power Administration produced electricity out here being more economical, I haven't made any plans just yet... for doing any solar panels on the house, shop or barn. However, we use Propane for cooking, hot water and furnace & limited area radiant floor heat when wood stove heating isn't that practical fall/spring. So, solar power & EV's are "on the radar" with integration with MEP generators as supplement/backup.

 

[Guyfang]

I'd say that putting in a 10kw or more solar array would be the ticket to charging an EV if you have the room and plenty of good sun. Solar panels are CHEAP these days. I bought 14kw of panels that were surplus from building a big solar farm for about $2,500. These are top quality utility grade panels. You can find some real deals out there if you look around.

The last few years I worked, I was doing PV. When I started, we were putting solar panels on anything that was higher then an ant hill. I didn't do panels, (mostly) but did the electrical work. Since then, the company has progressed to the multi mega league. Huge jobs. 40-60 thousand panels, and multi mega KW. But guess what ALL, I mean ALL the workers, do on their off time? Install PV on houses, barns and dog houses. They get the equipment from work at a discount. Not just because of the large discount they get, but because if you are not installing utility grade panel, your wasting your time. In PV, quality is the deal. Cheap gear, lots of repair work, lower output and less money in your pocket.

 

[kayak1]

I'd say that putting in a 10kw or more solar array would be the ticket to charging an EV if you have the room and plenty of good sun. Solar panels are CHEAP these days. I bought 14kw of panels that were surplus from building a big solar farm for about $2,500. These are top quality utility grade panels. You can find some real deals out there if you look around.

The last few years I worked, I was doing PV. When I started, we were putting solar panels on anything that was higher then an ant hill. I didn't do panels, (mostly) but did the electrical work. Since then, the company has progressed to the multi mega league. Huge jobs. 40-60 thousand panels, and multi mega KW. But guess what ALL, I mean ALL the workers, do on their off time? Install PV on houses, barns and dog houses. They get the equipment from work at a discount. Not just because of the large discount they get, but because if you are not installing utility grade panel, your wasting your time. In PV, quality is the deal. Cheap gear, lots of repair work, lower output and less money in your pocket.

If I could pickup 14kW of panels at $0.17/watt I would jump on it. The balance of the system will cost a lot more, break even on that wouldn't take me a year with my current electric prices.

 

[DieselAddict]

It is possible. Keep your eye open for a deal and be ready to jump when you see one. I should have bought more but I didn't want to be greedy.

 

[Chainbreaker]

OK, so myself being a PV newb... what does one look for to establish whether it is a quality panel or not? Does higher output per sq ft translate also to a higher quality panel in terms of reliability & longevity? Are there any brands/mfg's that are known for their good quality, same goes for poor quality ones to stay away from?

I remember a while back we had a locally based company "Grape Solar" selling panels in Costco, etc. Don't know much about them though.

Since we are talking PV installations, etc. & drifting a bit off subject from MEP's what website forums are out there that are a good resource to learn the in's & out of DIY home installations? Recommendations?

 

[DieselAddict]

Utility grade panels are produced to higher electrical and mechanical standards. They will be rated for higher wind and hail conditions (thicker glass and frames). One clue is looking at the string voltage limit. Utility grade panels will have a string voltage limit of 1000v or more. Residential panels will be in the range of 250-600v. The higher voltage limit gives you an idea of the quality of the wire and connectors used on the panels.

 

[Guyfang]

Anything I tell you would be outdated and European info.

But here is a good tip. If you buy used panels, or your panels are several years old, try this. Get a IR camera, or gun. On a sunny day, go out and take a picture or view each panel with the gun/camera. If you see bright spots, (golf ball size or bigger) in the picture or view, you have a panel that is not up to snuff. Its damaged. Output will be lower. Most of the time its not TOOOOOOO big a problem. You can ignore it. But the bigger it is, the less output you have.

Often, when the panels are being put up, the back side of the panel will get scratched. This leads to over heating of the panel. I did not do this often, we had QA/QC Wiesels for that. Once, we put up a small, 1.1 Meg park, and used a firm from "The East" to mount the panels. The guys were not careful at all with the panels, and about 1500 were damaged. A bank owned the part of the field. All of the panels had to be replaced.