Hi All,
Got my lawnmower charger cranking out 50 amps. Wheee! I need a bigger alternator and a bigger pulley and I think I can get way more.
Anyway, now I need to make a decision about locating my battery bank and inverters. I have two options:
Option #1: Outside a 40' storage container, on the north side, under a shed roof but essentially outside. I live in Northern CA on the coast, so my lowest temps are about 25 degrees F, highest around 100, although temps at those extremes are fairly rare.
Option #2: Inside the storage container. The container is set to solar south on it's long side, so I can mount both PV and thermal panels on it. This means that interior temps are going to be pretty high on a hot day, I'm guessing up to 120 degrees F on a hot day.
An extra factor is security. Some local dirtbags like to break through my gate onto my property to steal redwood trees and firewood. I will be living at the site part time as I transition to full time living there. So, I worry about theft. In an ideal world, I think I'd like to have the batteries outside and the inverters inside. While the temps are high for the inverters inside, I can run a vent to underneath the container for cool air for the fans on the inverters, and the humidity would be lower. We have plenty of fog here. However, if the higher temps won't be really bad for the batteries, inside would be great.
Thanks!