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Calculating Ampere-Hour AH requirement

May 20th, 2012 No comments
We are in a sorry state of erratic and long power cuts, due to shortage of power production by the nation against the increasing load conditions.  To add fuel to this fire, a wholesome of abled people putting their hard earned money on to power backup solutions, where they store the power during power availability and consume the stored power during outage.  On the whole, this looks simple and elegant, but this is not doing any good to the state, which shed’s power at different locations to balance against shortage in power production.  So theoretically, in a place where a family consumed 1kW per hour, would consume 2.5kW per hour during power availability and generate 1kW during power outage.  Yes, you are right. The equation is not balanced, because atleast 30-50% of power is wasted during the backup-retrieve cycle.

Ok, coming to the point.  What is the solution? Go for harvesting solar power, availability in abundance and omni present.  And most interestingly, rationed to perfection based on the amount of un-shadowed free space a family has.  I will just limit this article to calculating the battery provisioning when you go for a solar-inverter solution.  Let’s say I want to have a power backup for 2 hours and my load is 1kW. What would be the ideal inverter solution for this load condition?

Normal Power 1000 Watts
Power Factor 80 %
Inverter Rating 1000W/80% = 1250 VA
Number of Backup Hours 2 Hours
Energy To be Stored 1000×2=2000Wh
Inverter Battery Voltage 24VDC
Battery Amp-Hours 2000/24=83AH
Add @30% AH Margin 83*1.3=108AH~100AH

So, for this configuration you need a 1250VA Inverter with 2x12v 100Ah battery bank.  Let me explain the calculation,

  1. Power Factor: In AC (alternating current), Power = Voltage x Current x Power factor unlike in DC, Wattage = Voltage x Current.  Power factor is measure as the cosine of the phase angle between voltage waveform and current waveform.  For home use, the power factor will be 0>PF<1.  When PF is lower, the efficiency of the system suffers a lot.
  2. Battery Voltage: For 1250VA inverter system, the choice of battery bank is 24V instead of 12V.  The rationale for this choice is to limit the current from the battery to the inverter unit.  If you use a 12V battery bank, at full load there will be a current of 1250/12=104A flowing from the battery to the inverter.  You may have noticed the thickness of the battery wire be very high.  Despite that the power loss on those wires when the current is 100A, would be much higher than it is with 50A on a 24V system.  For a 24V system, the peak current shall be 1250/24=52A.  Also, at 100A, with 1m cable between battery and inverter, the impedance should be 0.00001 ohms.
  3. AH Margin: Although battery AH rating considers absolutely draining of the battery, we will not be able to do that for normal SMF battery.  Meaning, we should not discharge below 10V and likewise should not charge beyond 13.6V per 12V battery.  In order for the AH rating to work, we have to apply atleast 20-30% margin.

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Solar Panel contd.

March 26th, 2012 6 comments

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Installation of additional 130Wp is in place now to make the power plant worth 300Wp.  The new panel added has a spec of 17Vmp against the 16.4Vpm of the 170Wp panel group.  So eventually I may be losing some power.  I am using 10sqmm copper cable to reduce the transmission losses.  I had measured the impedance of the cable to 1mΩ. So at 20A, I will be losing about 0.4W only.  But the cost of this wire is around 70Rs/m.  I am able to produce about 221W during the mid day, and about 170W around 10AM.  Upon little bit of investigation, it is found that the solar panels shell out less power at increased temperature.  It is also said that at 60-70°C, the efficiency is around 70%, which is matching with my measurements.  So, thinking about a water cooling solution; basically augmenting a solar water heating solution with the solar panel to establish double benefits.  Every day with the solar panels is a day of new learning and I am enjoying it. :)
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kDevelop 4.2 Debugging

November 7th, 2011 No comments
    When I was using KDevelop 4.2 for debugging a process, I got perplexed having the inferior application closing down whenever I was setting a breakpoint on the fly.  On the contrary, the breakpoints there were setup before the start of the inferior application, things behave as expected.  With little bit of digging, it is found that whenever a new breakpoint is setup or removed (Toggle Breakpoint), kDevelop inherently issues a SIGINT to the inferior application, which in turn stops the application from debugging.  To handle this problem, setup a signal handler for SIGINT, to consume the Interrupt signal (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Break).  But once the debugging is over, don’t forget to reset the SIGINT handler.

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Hash Overflow due to 64 bit upcasting

October 28th, 2011 No comments
    Lately, I had to debug the following piece of code, where it caused overflow on the hash bucket design.  The code worked perfectly on a Windows machine while compiled for Win32, but failed to work on a Linux Mint x64 machine.  The code is listed below, which basically calculates hash value of an input 32 bit unsigned number, limiting the hash value to 2^10 (1Meg).

hash = ( fpArray*2654404609 )>>12; // Calculate the hash and limit the value to 2^20 (1 Meg)

   When the input value for fpArray was 1724463449 (0x66C93959), the hash value generated was 1779068547 (0x6A0A6E83), which is more than (0x000FFFFF) to cause the hash bucket overflow.

unsigned hash = fpArray * 2654404609;
hash = hash >> 12;

    When I rewrote the code like the above, the value of hash was 2800236889 (0xA6E83959).  Upon shifting right by 12 yields 638651 (0x0009BEBB), which is the correct and expected hash value.

    Overall, the first snippet of code appears to be correct.  Do you see a problem there?  I couldn’t find the issue, until I recalled the 32bit vs 64bit difference.  If you carefully look at the multiplier 2654404609 (0x9E370001), although appears to be a valid 32 bit number, what is the default assignment of type to this number by the compiler?  If it was assigned 64bits, what would happen to the results?  To validate this, I changed the 2nd snippet as the following.

unsigned long hash = (unsigned long)fpArray * 2654404609;
hash = hash >> 12;
unsigned h2 = (unsigned)hash;

    Now, when the input is the same 1724463449 (0x66C93959), the value of hash becomes 4577423727077636441 (0x3F8646A0A6E83959) and upon right shifting by 12 bits yields 1117535089618563 (0x0003F8646A0A6E83). Followed by downcasting to unsigned yield 1779068547 (0x6A0A6E83). Bingo!

    So, what is happening here? While performing (fpArray * 2654404609), the computation is upcasted to 64bit computation by the 64 bit compiler.  So, what is the solution? Just put a “U” at the end of the constant.

hash = ( fpArray*2654404609U )>>12; // Calculate the hash and limit the value to 2^20 (1 Meg)
(or)
const unsigned multipler = 2654404609; // here U suffix is not needed as the constant is explicitly made unsigned
hash = ( fpArray * multiplier ) >> 12;

    Now, the computation will happen with 32 bit numbers to get the expected outputs.

Lessons Learned here:

  1. While using constants, beware of the upcasting and downcasting. So use proper suffixes like U, L, F etc.
  2. Instead of using constants directly in expressions, use them as constant variables.
  3. Be conscious about the compiler type and the assumptions made by the compiler in different build modes.
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AWG Vs Current Flow Capacity

September 13th, 2011 No comments

This write up is taken from http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html

The AWG – American Wire Gauge – is used as a standard method of denoting wire diameter, measuring the diameter of the conductor (the bare wire) with the insulation removed. AWG is sometimes also known as Brown and Sharpe (B&S) Wire Gauge.

The AWG table below is for a single, solid, round conductor. Because of the small gaps between the strands in a stranded wire, a stranded wire with the same current-carrying capacity and electrical resistance as a solid wire, always have a slightly larger overall diameter. The higher the number – the thinner the wire. Typical household wiring is AWG number 12 or 14. For telephone wires there are common with AWG 22, 24, or 26.

AWG Diameter
(mm)		 Diameter
(in)		 Square
(mm2)		 Resistance
(ohm/1000m)
40 0.08 . 0.0050 3420
39 0.09 . 0.0064 2700
38 0.10 0.0040 0.0078 2190
37 0.11 0.0045 0.0095 1810
36 0.13 0.005 0.013 1300
35 0.14 0.0056 0.015 1120
34 0.16 0.0063 0.020 844
33 0.18 0.0071 0.026 676
32 0.20 0.008 0.031 547
30 0.25 0.01 0.049 351
28 0.33 0.013 0.08 232.0
27 0.36 0.018 0.096 178
26 0.41 0.016 0.13 137
25 0.45 0.018 0.16 108
24 0.51 0.02 0.20 87.5
22 0.64 0.025 0.33 51.7
20 0.81 0.032 0.50 34.1
18 1.02 0.04 0.82 21.9
16 1.29 0.051 1.3 13.0
14 1.63 0.064 2.0 8.54
13 1.80 0.072 2.6 6.76
12 2.05 0.081 3.3 5.4
10 2.59 0.10 5.26 3.4
8 3.25 0.13 8.30 2.2
6 4.115 0.17 13.30 1.5
4 5.189 0.20 21.15 0.8
2 6.543 0.26 33.62 0.5
1 7.348 0.29 42.41 0.4
0 8.252 0.33 53.49 0.31
00 (2/0) 9.266 0.37 67.43 0.25
000 (3/0) 10.40 0.41 85.01 0.2
0000 (4/0) 11.684 0.46 107.22 0.16

The higher the gauge number, the smaller the diameter, and the thinner the wire.  Because of less electrical resistance a thick wire will carry more current with less voltage drop than a thin wire. For a long distance it may be necessary to increase the wire diameter – reducing the gauge – to limit the voltage drop.

American Wire Gauge (AWG)
Length
(feet)		 Current (amps)
5 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 70
15 16 12 10 10 8 8 6 6 4 4
20 14 12 10 8 8 6 6 4 4 4
25 14 10 8 8 6 6 4 4 2 2
30 12 10 8 6 6 4 4 2 2 2
40 12 8 6 6 4 4 2 2 1 1/0
50 10 8 6 4 4 2 2 1 1/0 1/0
60 10 6 6 4 2 2 1 1/0 2/0 2/0
70 10 6 4 2 2 2 1/0 2/0 2/0 3/0
80 8 6 4 2 2 1 1/0 2/0 3/0 3/0
90 8 4 4 2 1 1/0 2/0 3/0 3/0 4/0
Standard Wire Gauge (SWG)

SWG inches mm
7/0 0.500 12.700
6/0 0.464 11.786
5/0 0.432 10.973
4/0 0.400 10.160
3/0 0.372 9.449
2/0 0.348 8.839
1/0 0.324 8.236
1 0.300 7.620
2 0.276 7.010
3 0.252 6.401
4 0.232 5.893
5 0.212 5.385
6 0.192 4.877
7 0.176 4.470
8 0.160 4.064
9 0.144 3.658
10 0.128 3.251
11 0.116 2.946
12 0.104 2.642
13 0.092 2.337
14 0.080 2.032
15 0.072 1.829
16 0.064 1.626
17 0.056 1.422
18 0.048 1.219
19 0.040 1.016
20 0.036 0.914
21 0.032 0.813
22 0.028 0.711
23 0.024 0.610
24 0.022 0.559
25 0.020 0.508
26 0.018 0.457
27 0.0164 0.417
28 0.0148 0.376
29 0.0136 0.345
30 0.0124 0.315
31 0.0116 0.295
32 0.0108 0.274
33 0.0100 0.254
34 0.0092 0.234
35 0.0084 0.213
36 0.0076 0.193
37 0.0068 0.173
38 0.006 0.152
39 0.0052 0.132
40 0.0048 0.122
41 0.0044 0.112
42 0.004 0.102
43 0.0036 0.091
44 0.0032 0.081
45 0.0028 0.071
46 0.0024 0.061
47 0.002 0.051
48 0.0016 0.041
49 0.0012 0.030
50 0.001 0.025
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Mother

July 31st, 2011 No comments

தாயின் பெருமைகளை என் தாய் எனக்குச் சொல்ல, இங்கே அதை தொகுத்துள்ளேன்.

  1. தாயில் சிறந்த கோவிலும் இல்லை
  2. தாயின் மடி மீண்டும் அமரமுடியாத சிம்மாசனம்
  3. குழந்தையின் எதிர்காலம் தாயின் கையில்தான் உள்ளது
  4. எல்லோரது இடத்தையும் தாய் வகிக்க முடியும், ஆனால் தாயின் இடத்தை வகிக்க வேறு எவராலும் முடியாது
  5. 1 கோடி போதனையை விட ஒருதுளி தாய்மை மேலானது
  6. மண்ணில் நல்லவனாக வாழவைப்பதும், நானிலத்தில் புகழ் பெற செய்வதும் தாய்தான்
  7. தாயை எதனோடும் ஒப்பிடுதல் கூடாது. ஏனெனில் அவள் ஈடுஇணை அற்றவள்
  8. உலகம் அனைத்தையும் ஒரு தட்டிலும், தாயை ஒரு தட்டிலும் வைத்து தராசில் நிறுத்தால் உலகின் தட்டுதான் மேலே இருக்கும்
  9. தாயின் இதயம்தான் குழந்தைகளின் பள்ளிக்கூடம்
  10. நல்ல தாயை அடைந்தவன் தான் சாதனைகளைப் படைத்து பெரிய மனிதனாக உருவெடுக்கிறான்
  11. தாயின் உள்ளத்தை அறிந்தவன் கடவுளின் கருணையை அறிந்தவன்
  12. வாஞ்சையுள்ள இதயதைப் பெற்றவளே தாயாவாள்
  13. தாயை வணங்குபவனுக்கு தெய்வம் வழிகாட்டும்
  14. தாய் எங்கிருக்கிறாளோ அந்த இடம் சொர்கம்
  15. தாயின் கண்ணீரை துடைப்பவனே சிறந்த மகன்
  16. அன்னைக்கு உதவாதவன் யாருக்கும் உதவாதவன்
  17. அன்னையின் அன்பிற்கு அளவில்லை
  18. தாயை பிரிந்த மகன் வெறும் கூடுதான்
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Solar Panel Structure Design

July 17th, 2011 No comments

This was the original design of the solar panel mounting structure.  Later, I had simplified the design and fabricated them at the local metal fabricators.  Please click on the images to open the big sized drawing.

Pole that would hold the weight of a heavy solar panel over a base structure (not shown).

Hinge design that would transfer the weight from the base structure to the pole, with one degree of freedom.

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சூரிய ஒளி மின்சாரம் (Solar Electricity)

July 10th, 2011 No comments

The completed Solar Panel mount structure.

Bottom side view of the panel.  The Panel is fully resting on the Iron frame constructed in the nearby fabrication shop based on my design.

This is my assistant Aakash, the boy next door.  He has been my aide for all the mechanical and automobile works.

The base frame of 30″ x 21″ with the center piece at 15″.

The base frame from perspective projection.  The center piece is a 5″ x 2″ 10mm plate welded at the center.  The holes are 10mm diameter drilled at 1″ and 3″ from the top and centered.

The main load bearing vertical pole measuring approx 2m and 2″ diameter.  The base plate is 6″ in horizontal length and 6″ on vertical depths.  The holes are 1/2″ and drilled at 3″ and 5″.

This is the solar panel bought from Akshaya Solar Pvt Ltd, AP.  The panel is rated 12v 70w and of dimension 1200mm x 21″ and weighting approximately 5kg.

The swing arm connecting the base frame and vertical pole.  The holes are 10 mm diameter and punched at 1″ and 3″ from the top.  The bottom pipe is 2.25″ diameter and about 5″ long.  The cross bolt is 0.5″ diameter.  This swing arm mounts on the pole on one side and attached to the base frame on the other side.  The base frame is pivoted on the top hole with swing setting using one of the 3 bottom holes.  The positions are provided to compensate of uttrayanam (north bound sun movement) and dakshanayanam (south bound sun’s movement).

The bottom link of the vertical pole.  This U link attaches to the parapet wall, which is 6″ is width and the cross bolts pass through the wall to lock the vertical plates.  The horizontal and the vertical plates are 6″x2″ and 10mm in thickness.

These are the bolts used.  The 1″ (4 nos) bolts are used to secure the solar panel on the base frame.  The 1.5″ bolts are used to secure the base frame to the swing arm.  The 4″ bolt is used to secure the swing arm to the vertical pole and the 8″ bolts are the bolts to secure the entire unit on the parapet wall by passing through the wall.

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no include path in which to search for limits.h

June 16th, 2011 No comments

Why compiling STLport 5.1.5 using g++-4.4, one might get an error like the following:-

Building CXX object libs/bgt/CMakeFiles/bgt.dir/error.o
In file included from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/limits.h:27,
            from /usr/include/c++/4.4/../4.4.5/climits:43,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/climits:27,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_algobase.h:42,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_alloc.h:47,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_string.h:23,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_ios_base.h:34,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_ios.h:23,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_ostream.h:24,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/ostream:31,
            from /opt/projects/dev/libs/bgt/error.cpp:18:
/usr/include/../include/limits.h:125: error: no include path in which to search for limits.h
In file included from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_num_put.c:26,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_num_put.h:183,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_ostream.c:26,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_ostream.h:380,
            from /opt/projects/stl/stlport/ostream:31,
            from /opt/projects/dev/libs/bgt/error.cpp:18:
/opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_limits.h:148: error: ‘CHAR_BIT’ was not declared in this scope
/opt/projects/stl/stlport/stl/_limits.h:253: error: ‘CHAR_MIN’ was not declared in this scope
..

Looks like it is a bug in the STLport package itself as per the Release notes of STLport.  After updating to STLport-5.2.1, the issue got fixed automatically.

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Know to Say No

June 1st, 2011 No comments
மனிதன் தன்னுடைய கர்மத்தினால் ஏற்படுத்திக்கொள்ளக்கூடிய துயரத்தைவிட பிரதிகர்மத்தினாலேயே அதிக துயரை சம்பாதிக்கிறான். ஆங்கிலத்தில் ஒரு பழமொழி உண்டு, “You should know to say no”. அதாவது, இயலாது என்று சொல்லவேண்டிய இடத்தில் இயலாது என்றுரைக்க தெரிந்திருக்கவேண்டும். இதில் சிக்கல் என்னவென்றால், எங்கு இயலாது என்று கூறுவது, அதை எப்படிக்கூறுவது என்பதில் தான். அதில் தேர்ந்துவிட்டால், தேவைக்கு ஏற்ப வாழ்க்கையை அமைத்துகொள்வது எளிது.

“I am not obligated” என்று விட்டேத்தியாக இருந்துவிடுவது எளிது, ஆனால் இந்த குணத்தால் நண்பர்களை இழக்க நேரிடலாம். இருப்பினும், பொறுப்புகளுக்கும்(responsibilities) வேண்டுகோள்களை ஏற்பதற்கும்(being obligated) வேறுபாடு உண்டு என்பதை உணர்ந்து நடந்தால், திறமையாக நிலைமையை சமாளிக்கமுடியும் என்பதில் ஐயமில்லை.

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