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User Guide

voltage of at least

22Vdc

to activate the charge controller.

Ensure the total open circuit voltage of the panel array
does not exceed

150Vdc

. Excessive voltage will place the

charge controller into an overvoltage fault condition. This
can be cleared by unplugging the solar panels and
reducing the number of panels tied together.

Ensure that the AC load on the Vulcan does not exceed
the power output of the solar panels while they are
producing DC power from the sun. If the system load
exceeds the panel output at any given time, all panel
energy will be used to produce power for the AC loads.

System not charging from
the grid/shore power
source.

Check the grid/shore power supply circuit and breakers to
ensure

120Vac

is being provided to the Vulcan/Smart

Store.

If the supply breaker trips when the power restores and
loads are present, turn off the power switch at the front
of the Smart Store(s) to reduce the load circuit current.

If grid/shore power is present, check the plug connection
at the rear of the Vulcan unit and the plug connection at
the front of the Smart Store. Ensure the Smart Store AC
power switch is on.

Smart Store power share
not being seen by the
Vulcan.

Ensure that the Smart Store battery power on/off button
is depressed and illuminated. This will parallel balance
the Smart Store battery with the Vulcan system.

Low battery percentage
on the Vulcan unit.

The Vulcan unit needs to be charged from a grid/shore
power source, Solar panels or a fully charged Energy
Store or Smart Store.

Low state-of-charge on
the Energy Store and/or
Smart Store units.

The state-of-charge display is flashing a red or yellow LED to
indicate that the state-of-charge is 20% or less:

Connect the Smart Store to a grid/shore AC power
source.

Connect the Smart Store to solar panels with adequate
sun and placement.

Connect the Energy Store and/or Smart Store to a Vulcan
unit. Ensure that the Vulcan power on/off button is
depressed and illuminated. This will charge the Energy
Store and/or Smart Store.

Battery Energy Storage and Power Solutions

www.soldonum.com

© Sol Donum

2022

42

Summary of Contents for ES 2.6

Page 1: ...User Guide Vulcan Energy Storage System Credit iStock Battery Energy Storage and Power Solutions www soldonum com Sol Donum 2022 1 Owner s Guide 120V 240V Models ...

Page 2: ...rea Ensure proper ventilation while in use and do not obstruct fan openings on the unit Inadequate ventilation may cause damage to the unit Do not stack anything on top of the unit in storage or in use DO NOT operate in wet conditions In order to avoid short circuits or electric shock do not allow the unit to get wet Let the unit dry completely before using See the section Cold Weather and Outdoor...

Page 3: ...roughout this document DANGER DANGER indicates a hazardous situation which if not avoided will result in serious injury or death CAUTION CAUTION indicates a hazardous situation which if not avoided could result in minor or moderate injury NOTICE NOTICE is used to address practices not related to physical injury Battery Energy Storage and Power Solutions www soldonum com Sol Donum 2022 3 ...

Page 4: ...ilation openings Do not mount in a zero clearance compartment overheating may result Do not expose the unit to rain or spray Do not connect AC Output to any other source of power Unit damage may occur For AC Input and AC Output use wires suitable for at least 75 C Failure to follow these instructions can result in injury or equipment damage CAUTION PHYSICAL INJURY HAZARD This Vulcan unit is not in...

Page 5: ... Lithium ion battery for management options do not put it in the trash or municipal recycling bins Because of the size and complexity of these battery systems medium and large scale Lithium ion batteries may not be able to be removed by the consumer Refer to the manufacturer s instructions and heed warnings and safety instructions Automobile Contact the automobile dealer shop or salvage yard where...

Page 6: ...ng and Operating from Grid Shore Power or Gas Generator 20 Overload Conditions 20 Over Temperature Conditions 20 Cold Weather and Outdoor Usage 21 Application Notes and Recommendations 22 AC Grid Shore Power 22 AC Input 22 AC Output 22 Off Grid Solar Energy Storage 23 Grid Shore Standby Power 25 Time of Use On Peak Electricity Cost Reduction 25 Manual Automatic Transfer Switch Coupling 26 Generato...

Page 7: ...lations 34 Battery Discharge Graph 35 Installation 36 General Guidelines 36 Rack Mounting 37 Storage and Downtime Maintenance 38 Inverter Charger Technical Data 39 Energy Store Technical Data 40 Troubleshooting 41 General Information 43 Batteries 43 Solar Panels 43 Warranty Contact 45 Battery Energy Storage and Power Solutions www soldonum com Sol Donum 2022 7 ...

Page 8: ... Installing electrical equipment Applying all applicable installation codes Analyzing and reducing the hazards involved in performing electrical work Abbreviations and Acronyms A Amperes Ah Amp hours a unit of battery capacity AC Alternating Current ATS Automatic Transfer Switch AWG American Wire Gauge BMS Battery Management System C Celsius DC Direct Current EMI Electromagnetic Interference kVA K...

Page 9: ... algorithm used by solar charge controllers to extract the maximum amount of working power watts from solar panels The algorithm does this by presenting the lowest resistance load as closed to zero ohms to the solar panels until it can reach the highest voltage at the highest current maximum power point W I E LiFePO4 LFP or lithium ion iron phosphate is an advanced battery technology that uses iro...

Page 10: ... 6kWh or 3 6kWh Energy Stores Vulcan helps users achieve energy independence and maximizes the return on investment ROI of small scale battery energy storage and power systems with a solution that reduces installation time and complexity What Vulcan can Do Vulcan can provide power protection support energy independence and savings as follows Save electricity energy costs under time of use TOU rate...

Page 11: ... 1 Vulcan front panel configuration 5 Earth Ground Lug is connected to an earth ground stake when additional radio frequency electromagnetic interference protection is required 6 AC Output Voltage Display indicates the output voltage to the NEMA 5 15 AC voltage output receptacles 4 7 Dual USB Terminal with On Off provides 2 4A of power through the USB B connector ports The USB on off button conser...

Page 12: ...harger for shared power Figure 2 Vulcan rear panel configuration 5 Battery expansion Positive quick connect post connects Energy Stores or another Vulcan Inverter Charger for shared power 6 120VAC 15A input plug powers the AC to DC battery charger and flows through the automatic transfer switch and EMI filter When grid shore power is active the unit s AC voltage output is grid shore power from plu...

Page 13: ... Automatic Transfer Switch ATS to move from grid shore power to battery power when the AC voltage drops below a certain threshold Thus Vulcan outputs high quality AC power that is capable of running the most demanding and sensitive loads Figure 3 Figure 3 Vulcan input and output options Vulcan uses an internal ATS to pass through grid shore power The ATS allows it to simultaneously charge from sev...

Page 14: ...ore voltage drops below 90Vac AC Output Voltage This is the voltage of the grid shore power when active or the AC output voltage of the Vulcan when running on battery power Battery float voltage This is the resting voltage shown on the Vulcan display The value is 13 6Vdc and will rest there while Vulcan is running from grid shore power Automatic Transfer Switch Speed This is the speed at which Vul...

Page 15: ...Take note of the LCD battery display When Vulcan is charging the display backlight will cycle between an on and off state Figure 4 and the up arrows will display in the battery capacity indicator Figure 4 9 the estimated time to full Figure 4 10 or battery empty is displayed here in hours minutes 4 Plug devices with a 3 prong 15A or 2 prong 10A plug into the Vulcan NEMA 5 15R power outlets Extensi...

Page 16: ...Vdc at 2A or 3A 2 Quick Charge USB power On Off activates the quick charge ports The plug ring will illuminate blue when the Quick Charge ports are active 3 15A accessory fuse protects the USB and 12Vdc accessory ports 4 12Vdc accessory port center positive voltage pin Ensure that any 12Vdc accessory plug inserted into the accessory port is polarized for a center pin of 12Vdc 5 12Vdc accessory por...

Page 17: ...igure 5 Front panel display and buttons display backlight 6 Watts of energy going into or being pulled from the internal 1 4kWh battery 7 Current in amperes going into or being pulled from the internal 1 4kWh battery 8 Battery voltage indicates the voltage of the system battery s 9 Battery State of Charge SOC in Ampere hours 10 Estimated time to empty full shows the amount of time in hours minutes...

Page 18: ... numbers at that time Charging and Operating from Solar Panels DANGER ELECTRICAL SHOCK AND FIRE HAZARD Installation must be done by qualified personnel to ensure compliance with all applicable installation and electrical codes and regulations Recommendations for installing the Vulcan unit are provided here for use by qualified personnel only Failure to follow these instructions will result in seri...

Page 19: ...nels where they will get as much direct sunlight as possible NOTICE NOTICE Up to 100 ft of 10 AWG cable may be used between the Vulcan and the source solar panels 2 Plug the solar panel cables into the MC4 Figure 6 connectors at the rear of the Vulcan unit Vulcan is charging when the LCD display backlight is flashing The Vulcan is fully charged when the battery percentage indicator Figure 4 1 disp...

Page 20: ...100 W below the overload shutdown limit of rated watts the audible alarm beeps once Overload Shutdown occurs when Vulcan s AC load increases to near 2100W Vulcan 2kW and 3100W Vulcan 3kW the audible alarm beeps every five seconds for one minute prior to the inverter shutting down High Surge Loads occur when induction motors used in freezers pumps and other motor operated equipment require high sur...

Page 21: ...d keep moisture from coming in direct contact with the unit Do not place the unit in standing water Ensure adequate clearance of at least 1 ft front and rear to guarantee proper ventilation to cool the unit Following these recommendations will help to maintain optimal unit life keep the battery at its highest capacity and ensure the longest battery cycle and calendar life CAUTION When operating in...

Page 22: ...n the AC input being bonded in order to ensure that the power delivered to a sub panel is properly bonded AC Input The circuit breaker or fuse that is used to supply the Vulcan must be rated at no more than 30A and must be approved for use on 120Vac branch circuits The wire used between the breaker and the Vulcan input plug must be sized adequately to carry current up to the rating of the input br...

Page 23: ...mine the solar irradiation period of your location in hours Maps can be found at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory website These are the average 3 representative number of hours that solar panels in any specific region of the Earth can harvest their maximum energy given ideal conditions It is recommended that you size your panels appropriately to store 24 hours of energy and run your AC ele...

Page 24: ...User Guide Figure 7 Example solar powered Vulcan system with an electrical panel tie in Battery Energy Storage and Power Solutions www soldonum com Sol Donum 2022 24 ...

Page 25: ... following day because temperatures are lower and fewer people need to cool their living space creating less demand for electricity If you have TOU rates you can lower your electric bills by waiting for the cheapest time of day to use electricity For example using a 7 day digital timer rated at 120V 30A or an outlet timer rated at 120V 15A Figure 8 you can schedule when to use battery power to run...

Page 26: ...ain breaker panel and load wiring and the Vulcan 120Vac output Figure 9 illustrates a manual transfer switch configuration schematic suitable for use with the Vulcan system In this configuration a 2kW Vulcan system is connected to a 20A circuit that is fed through its internal 30A automatic transfer switch ATS The Vulcan inverter operates in standby mode and will switch to battery power if grid po...

Page 27: ...User Guide Figure 9 Manual transfer switch Vulcan configuration drives up to 4 critical load circuits Battery Energy Storage and Power Solutions www soldonum com Sol Donum 2022 27 ...

Page 28: ...s configuration provides better power quality through its EMI Filter and voltage sag protection It can also incorporate solar panels as illustrated in Figure 7 for a fully renewables supported hybrid power system Figure 10 Generator firming to conserve fuel reserves UPS Redundant Power Source Extend UPS power outage runtime reserves from minutes to hours or days by stacking a high capacity Vulcan ...

Page 29: ...e to follow these instructions will result in serious injury or death Autotransformers are induction devices that can step up the 120Vac output from Vulcan to a split phase 120V 240Vac output A 3 5kVA dry type transformer is recommended if a 4 wire service is needed 2 hot 1 neutral 1 ground to output 240Vac with two 120Vac rails Figure 11 Figure 11 Vulcan step up transformer connections CAUTION Bo...

Page 30: ...with recharging from other 12Vdc sources This can result in damage to the unit and cables as well as your vehicle or 12Vdc charging source Energy Stores Energy Stores are batteries that are used to expand Vulcan s battery capacity for greater load runtimes They are hot swappable meaning that they can be plugged into and unplugged from a Vulcan unit at any time while the Vulcan is powered up or pow...

Page 31: ...en additional radio frequency electromagnetic interference protection is required Smart Store only 6 Time in Service Display indicates the number of hours the battery has been in service The average lifespan to 80 is 87 600 hours 10 years 8 Battery State of Charge is an LED bargraph display that shows the state of battery charge It is updated every six 6 minutes As the battery s state of charge de...

Page 32: ...able Smart Store only Figure 13 Energy Store rear panel configuration Charging CHARGE NOW Before using or storing plug your Energy Store into a Vulcan to charge it If this is a Smart Store and will not be plugged into a Vulcan system right away then plug it into an grid shore power AC voltage source such as a wall outlet using the supplied IEC power cord or solar panels until the unit is fully cha...

Page 33: ...LFP battery by optimizing the source to maximum output power Solar panels must have a minimum open circuit voltage of 22Vdc to activate the charge controller Smart Stores accept power from solar panels into the RED and BLACK rear panel cables that are terminated with MC4 connectors Figure 6 The connectors are keyed to plug directly into native solar panel cables without special adapters The combin...

Page 34: ...5 of the battery energy used for the power conversion This is used to calculate the number of hours the Vulcan system can run loads from its AC voltage output EXAMPLE A 21 cu ft Energy Star refrigerator uses an average of 71 watts every hour 71Wh or 0 071kWh The formula to derive the number of hours that a 5kWh Vulcan system can run the refrigerator until the battery is depleted is 1 Divide the Vu...

Page 35: ...graph to gain a visual understanding of the number of runtime hours by load watts that can be achieved when battery capacity is increased Additional runtime hours can be achieved by adding more Energy Stores to your system Figure 14 Example battery discharge times NOTICE NOTICE Calculate system runtimes by multiplying Vulcan system kilowatt hour kWh capacity by its inverter efficiency 0 92 and div...

Page 36: ...e Figure 15 1 4 Leave adequate area around the front top and rear of the unit to maintain proper ventilation 2 Do not stack or cover the unit with another object 3 Do not tape cover or block the split vent exhaust holes Refer to section Cold Weather and Outdoor Usage on page 20 for further guidance Figure 15 Vulcan physical space considerations Battery Energy Storage and Power Solutions www soldon...

Page 37: ... that is suitable for rack mounting Figure 15 illustrates a 12 2kWh Vulcan system placed into a 42 24U equipment rack using a 1U mounting tray Connections can be made front and back for all input and output power Specific Cautions 1 Ensure proper ventilation when doors are attached to the rack allowing for air to be exhausted at the top of the rack or top of the front door 2 Properly secure the ra...

Page 38: ...re your Vulcan is charged and ready to power loads at any time NOTICE NOTICE If you cannot keep your Vulcan plugged into a power source during storage fully charge your Vulcan every 3 months and store it in a cool dry place Failure to maintain your Vulcan by following these steps can result in battery damage which will void the product warranty Battery Energy Storage and Power Solutions www soldon...

Page 39: ...Hospital Grade5 1 NEMA L5 30R 3 NEMA 5 20R 1 NEMA L6 30R AC Input Plug Type 1 NEMA 5 15P 5 20P 1 NEMA L5 30 1 NEMA L6 30P Solar Input Connection 2 MC4 Terminated 8 10 AWG Cables Battery Expansion Yes Hot swappable with 180A Quick Connectors Optional Voltage Configurations 108 110 120V 50Hz 60Hz 5kVA Transformer 120V 240V 50Hz 60Hz Expansion Connector Amphenol 180A 1000V Heavy Duty Power Connector ...

Page 40: ...minal Type Amphenol 180A 1000V Heavy Duty Power Connector ATHP041P08NN 50 Hot Swappable Yes MPPT Charge Controller6 SES 150Vdc 35A 500W AC to DC Charger7 SES Power Factor Corrected 120Vac 250Vac 360W Solar Input Connection8 SES 2 MC4 Terminated 8 10 AWG Cables Cooling ES Passive SES Fixed Speed DC Fan On 32ºC 90ºF Operating Temperature 20ºC 4ºF to 122ºF 50ºC Heating Optional 20W Heating Element On...

Page 41: ...ng one of the following conditions Inverter Low Battery Cutoff condition In order to preserve battery capacity the AC output power will shut off when the battery voltage discharges down to 11 2Vdc Recharge the system to clear the condition Inverter overload condition Vulcan has a built in automatic restart on an output overload However If the inverter is shutdown and does not restart remove the lo...

Page 42: ...t If grid shore power is present check the plug connection at the rear of the Vulcan unit and the plug connection at the front of the Smart Store Ensure the Smart Store AC power switch is on Smart Store power share not being seen by the Vulcan Ensure that the Smart Store battery power on off button is depressed and illuminated This will parallel balance the Smart Store battery with the Vulcan syst...

Page 43: ... taking steps to keep your batteries in top operating condition Solar Panels Vulcan makes it easy to recharge your system from the sun Keep in mind the following information when recharging your system with solar power Solar panels do not store power from the sun they collect it Use solar panels to collect harvest the sun s energy Store the energy in a Vulcan battery Use the stored energy to power...

Page 44: ...from the sun Keeping your solar panel angled toward the sun can dramatically increase solar efficiency Solar panels are more efficient when they are kept cool Solar panels should always be elevated to allow airflow underneath them for the greatest efficiency The exceptions are flexible panels but they should be mounted to a surface that will allow for the greatest amount of heat transfer Battery E...

Page 45: ...stablish the start date of the warranty period REMEDY Sol Donum will repair or replace at Sol Donum s option and expense any Vulcan product that fails to operate during the applicable warranty period due to a defect in workmanship or material If the product fails to comply with the Warranty Seller will in its sole discretion either 1 repair the product at no charge using new or refurbished replace...

Page 46: ...stributor from whom you purchased the product or email support soldonum com to obtain further distributor information IMPLIED WARRANTIES THE LIMITED WARRANTY STATED HEREIN IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER EXPRESS WARRANTIES IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON INFRINGEMENT EXTEND BEYOND THE APPLICABLE...

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