Backup DC power standardization with Photovoltiac battery systems?
Are broadband CPE (ONTs, CMs, NIDs, etc) manufacturers and PV battery wall engineers working on any standardized CPE backup power connectors? AC/DC/AC & wall wart DC again is inefficient and reduces runtime. It would be nice if PV/DC battery wall and broadband CPE had a standard DC connector instead of the incompatible hacky/proprietary used now. A DC bus would be nice, but even the EU regulatory approach of requring a USB-C power connector on ONTs and Cable Modems would be a start. All these darn wall warts are almost, but slightly different (5v, 12v, 24v). No -48v CPE? I have enough EE knowledge to build magic DC boxes, but I would prefer a good UL-listed interoperable solution.
On Fri, Apr 14, 2023 at 07:17:23PM -0400, Sean Donelan wrote:
All these darn wall warts are almost, but slightly different (5v, 12v, 24v). No -48v CPE?
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter PoE 5 can use 48VDC. ... JG -- Joe Greco - sol.net Network Services - Milwaukee, WI - http://www.sol.net "The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"-Asimov
Simple answer: No. Customer routers and CPEs are a mix match of a) voltage - 5v, 9v, 12v, etc and b) connector - dc barrel, USB, molex, etc. Fixed wireless and fiber for certain and I have to assume it's the same story with DSL/cable. On Fri, Apr 14, 2023 at 9:06 PM Sean Donelan <sean@donelan.com> wrote:
On Sat, 15 Apr 2023, Joe Greco wrote:
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter PoE 5 can use 48VDC.
If both PV battery walls and broadband CPE supported Power-Over-Ethernet as a backup power source, that would work too. POE supports greater distances than USB-C.
If both PV battery walls and broadband CPE supported Power-Over-Ethernet as a backup power source, that would work too. POE supports greater distances than USB-C.
I'd prefer broadband CPE (UL listed) with a standardized backup power connector (doesn't exist, but I can dream). For DIYers, building their own magic box to convert from their powerwall to backup low-voltage small devices. This was one of the few DIYers who include appropriate fuses in their design. Too many Youtube DIYers treat low-voltage as harmless and don't include safety devices. I've seen the after-effects of a few DC/Inverter plant meltdowns. When I used to visit IXPs and data centers, all of them seemed to have at least one melted, metal wrench :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsZzlF_NA6E https://projectswithdave.com/48v-to-12v-dc-dc-converter-project-build/
On 4/18/23 08:41, Sean Donelan wrote:
I'd prefer broadband CPE (UL listed) with a standardized backup power connector (doesn't exist, but I can dream).
Out here, most people use this to keep CPE going when the power is out: https://www.takealot.com/gizzu-8800mah-mini-ups-dual-dc/PLID71930088?gclid=CjwKCAjwov6hBhBsEiwAvrvN6Bwdu_8uBXMXa8pC475Hd6H4Aa_fUyYeDkYg13Q-j6tkjWCGHqAFYBoC26UQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Nice, compact, neat package that is portable and will give reasonable backup time when needed. For CO or data centre applications, most gear should be good for 48V. If it's lower than that and you have a ton of them, you are probably better off with a protected AC source. Mark.
On 4/15/23 03:06, Sean Donelan wrote:
If both PV battery walls and broadband CPE supported Power-Over-Ethernet as a backup power source, that would work too. POE supports greater distances than USB-C.
Well, you generally want to only power your devices off the battery if you are unable to generate power from PV, or if you have a grid outage. The other issue is if you also want to use the grid as a charge source for the battery, you are going to need an inverter, in which case attaching DC loads to a DC bus that contains both the battery and a standard, el-cheapo hybrid inverter makes things tricky. If you don't want to use the grid for anything, then your main source of charge current would be PV. If it's a 48V battery, you will need something else to step that voltage down for devices on the DC bus that require less than 48VDC. Mark.
participants (4)
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Joe Greco -
Josh Luthman -
Mark Tinka -
Sean Donelan