Ian Woofenden wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:
 IW> On (31 Oct 97) Roy J. Tellason wrote to Ian Woofenden...
 IW> But I'd still recommend running major loads like fridge and
 IW> freezer directly on DC.
 RJ> What voltage dc are you talking about using here?  While I
 RJ> haven't done a whole *lot* of reading on the subject,  one of
 RJ> the objections I saw to running low voltage DC around much
 RJ> (particularly in the context of going from a windmill a fair
 RJ> distance to wherever your loads are) was the losses in the
 RJ> wire,  meaning you either lose way too much of your power or
 RJ> you end up spending way too much on some seriously heavy wire.
 IW> Most RE homes these days are 24 volt, and some are 48 volts.
I wasn't aware that you could get DC appliances in those voltages.  Or how 
common they were.  Are they real costly compared to the standard stuff?
 IW> Smaller homes and cabins can be 12 volts. Line losses are a 
 IW> real concern, for sure. Wire sizing is important.
Yep.
 RJ> I've been spending some time in a warehouse lately where.
 RJ> they've got some *serious* batteries,  for forklifts and other
 RJ> vehicles,  and these all seem to be either 36 or 48 volt.
 IW> I'm guessing that your forklift voltages have more to do with 
 IW> the _speed_ they want for the motors. Not much of a line loss 
 IW> issue there. Large wires are required, but the distance is 
 IW> short.
They use some seriously large wires on those batteries,  too,  heavier than 
anything I've seen in a car for the starter motor wiring,  about the size of 
what you'd see in a Mercedes Diesel with the battery in the trunk,  or maybe 
a size bigger.  I've no idea what sort of stuff is used in the innards of the 
equipment,  though when I applied at a place that repaired some of this stuff 
a while back they had SCRs there which were almost the size of my fist,  
*BIG* suckers...
email: roy.j.tellason%tanstaaf@frackit.com 
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