KWHR Meter Project Problem When solar electricity is shared among many users, it is hard for each user

to know how much they are using and to maintain a proper balance for the system in order to protect the batteries from continual discharge. Also, there are no fail-safe methods for system owners to use when sharing electricity with other. Potential Solution We would like to request a simple digital KWHR meter that shows both a total of KWHRs used and a daily KWHR reading. Eventually we would like a field adjustable daily limit that would trigger a relay and disconnect the user if the limit was passed thereby protecting the system from intentional and accidental over usage. Phase 1 The first phase could involve building a digital KWHR meter that has a totalizing counter accurate to 1/100th and a daily counter, also accurate to 1/100th, that would reset every day. The totalizing counter would provide a history of energy usage at the location for research or billing purposes and the daily counter would provide the user with a visual reference to aid them in using the energy responsibly. System Notes KWHR totalizing counter accurate to two decimal places. Daily KWHR meter accurate to two decimal places. The two counters can be two separate displays or setup with a toggle function. The daily counter should probably reset around 4am if possible. If possible the unit should be field adjustable (or automatically sensing) to be able to accurately measure 120V/60Hz, 240V/50Hz and 120V/50Hz, 240V/60Hz for those using a step up or step down transformer. Another design issue would be to make sure it can accurately work for modified sine-wave inverters If accuracy to 1/100th is not practical than 1/10th is acceptable Phase 2 While phase 1 was concerned with metering, phase 2 looks at controls. In phase two we would essentially like a field settable and software adjustable daily KWHR limit for each unit. The daily number would count down to 0 KWHR as energy is used. When at approximately 10% remaining an audible alarm would sound for 10-20 seconds and at 0 an audible alarm would sound until the system was shut off or after 5 minutes a relay would open to shut off power to the house. Ideally a software code would allow for the system to be reset or reactivated if necessary but under normal conditions, the system would remain off until the unit naturally reset at the start of the new day. System Notes Field adjustable daily limit for each unit Count down feature for the daily usage display Audible alarm at 10% remaining for a preset time.

Audible alarm at 0% until manually turned off or if the system remains connected for 5 minutes a relay is activated to cut current flow. System remains open until start of next day unless code is input/manual override Software adjustable could be hardware dip switches if necessary Software override code could be a keyed electronic lock or a covered switched with a lock on it if necessary.

General Operating Power Parameters Voltage range 100V-290VAC 50-60Hz Pure Sine-wave or Modified sine-wave, generator Max current 30A at 120V, 15A at 240V Normal operating current 10-15A at 120V, 5-10A at 240V Daily KWHR limit range 00.00KWHR-99.99KWHR o Normal ranges for end users are normally 00.50-05.00KWHR

Pipe Dream Specs Built in breaker for entire house providing both protection and a disconnect means o Options Field adjustable 5-30A Or empty slot to insert correctly sized breaker Voltage and current displays o Setup on a display toggle that would provide additional system performance information easily Monthly cost o Allow for a $/KWHR value to be input and that value is tabulated for each month and displayed for the user. Value is stored for current and previous month only. Time left option o Similar to the counting down KWHR meter, this display option would show a time value in hours and minutes remaining at the current usage rate. I.E. you have 2.00 KWHRs per day and you are using 500W then you would have 4:00 left at the start of the time. This clock would count down but also decrease rapidly when large loads were turned on and increase when loads are turned off. o Hopefully this function would let the user know if they had time to do some things like watch a movie or iron for a set amount of time. Error message system o Something that would tell the user if the system shut off because of over or under voltage, high current, exceeding daily use limit, etc. Priority We would love to have a prototype for phase 1 to try out in January 2008 if possible. It can be mostly hardware keyed and LED displayed if necessary. We can provide the Energy group with data on it as they work to add in the second phase any pipe dreams and modify the packaging for summer 2008. Most likely it will take several iterations to come up with a field tested working model but when completed, I believe it can be a very valuable addition to the Energy groups solar tools and will greatly benefit the end users.