From: SMA Inverted
by Justin Dyke
At SMA,
we’re accustomed to hearing remarkable stories about the
application of our inverters and the challenges they meet and exceed.
The following story caused a ripple of appreciation even amongst our
hard-to-impress Service Line, who has heard just about every story
there is.
Inverter derby
The setting: La Jolla Boulevard, mid-day, downtown Los Angeles. A
Prius, pulling a flatbed trailer designed with a fully-operational
solar system referred to as the Mobile Energy Ecosystem, is
traversing the busy roadway. In a perfect storm of unfinished city
repairs and illegally parked vehicles, the trailer catches a parked
car and the cage housing a Sunny Island and Sunny Boy inverter is
knocked off the back. The inverters are dislodged from the cage and
dragged nearly 50 feet.
A testament to SMA’s durability and resilience – the Sunny
Island, although suffering a nasty case of road rash, remained in
full working order. The Mobile Energy Ecosystem, with the original
Sunny
Island 4548, was completed in August of 2013 and remains in use
today.
Disaster sparks inspiration
San Diego, along with other portions of the Southwest corridor,
saw the single greatest power failure in California history just
three years ago, with over 1.4 million people in San Diego without
power for almost 12 hours. Charlie Johnson, Founder and CEO of Wipomo
Energy Ecosystems, was one of those residents affected by “The
Great Blackout” in 2011, costing homeowners and residents more than
$12 million in spoiled perishable foods alone.
A longtime advocate of renewable energy, Johnson saw potential for
a comprehensive energy solution in a concept first developed by a
group of undergraduates from University of California, San Diego.
Working with electrical engineer Roger Davenport, Johnson augmented
the original concept to include an electric vehicle that can add
power to a micro-grid, creating yet another energy source for
extended blackouts and emergency response— the first Mobile Energy
Ecosystem, was created.
The design
The Mobile Energy Ecosystem is designed around a Sunny Island 4548
battery inverter and a Sunny Boy 2500U PV inverter. The modified
flatbed, referred to as the “solar slider,” houses eight
PhonoSolar modules which feed the Sunny Boy. Its 240V output is
transformed to 120V by an autoformer. A “Super Prius,” which has
been modified with two 500 watt power inverters that can export
energy into the Sunny Island, pulls the trailer.
The decision to use SMA inverters was based on durability and the
Sunny Island’s flexible design. “We used SMA products to
accomplish this because of the Sunny Island’s versatility – it
accepts solar photovoltaic, battery and auxiliary inputs,” said
Johnson.
The future
Wipomo is
in discussion with various entities to support emergency remote
dispatch and communications equipment. Charlie sees a wide range of
possible future uses including disaster management and public
services such as electronics and tool charging, EV rescue, UV water
purification and water pumping.
“The great blackout inspired me to seek a solution to the
problem of blackouts, with versatility for short term and long term
power outages, manual or automatic emergency power switching, with
battery backup or without, and enhanced by electric vehicle power
export.”
Mission accomplished.
At SMA,
we’re accustomed to hearing remarkable stories about the application of
our inverters and the challenges they meet and exceed. The following
story caused a ripple of appreciation even amongst our hard-to-impress
Service Line, who has heard just about every story there is.
The setting: La Jolla Boulevard, mid-day, downtown Los Angeles. A
Prius, pulling a flatbed trailer designed with a fully-operational solar
system referred to as the Mobile Energy Ecosystem, is traversing the
busy roadway. In a perfect storm of unfinished city repairs and
illegally parked vehicles, the trailer catches a parked car and the cage
housing a Sunny Island and Sunny Boy inverter is knocked off the back.
The inverters are dislodged from the cage and dragged nearly 50 feet.
A testament to SMA’s durability and resilience – the Sunny Island, although suffering a nasty case of road rash, remained in full working order. The Mobile Energy Ecosystem, with the original Sunny Island 4548, was completed in August of 2013 and remains in use today.
San Diego, along with other portions of the Southwest corridor, saw
the single greatest power failure in California history just three years
ago, with over 1.4 million people in San Diego without power for almost
12 hours. Charlie Johnson, Founder and CEO of Wipomo Energy Ecosystems,
was one of those residents affected by “The Great Blackout” in 2011,
costing homeowners and residents more than $12 million in spoiled
perishable foods alone.
A longtime advocate of renewable energy, Johnson saw potential for a comprehensive energy solution in a concept first developed by a group of undergraduates from University of California, San Diego. Working with electrical engineer Roger Davenport, Johnson augmented the original concept to include an electric vehicle that can add power to a micro-grid, creating yet another energy source for extended blackouts and emergency response— the first Mobile Energy Ecosystem, was created.
The decision to use SMA inverters was based on durability and the Sunny Island’s flexible design. “We used SMA products to accomplish this because of the Sunny Island’s versatility – it accepts solar photovoltaic, battery and auxiliary inputs,” said Johnson.
Wipomo is
in discussion with various entities to support emergency remote
dispatch and communications equipment. Charlie sees a wide range of
possible future uses including disaster management and public services
such as electronics and tool charging, EV rescue, UV water purification
and water pumping.
“The great blackout inspired me to seek a solution to the problem of blackouts, with versatility for short term and long term power outages, manual or automatic emergency power switching, with battery backup or without, and enhanced by electric vehicle power export.”
Mission accomplished.
Inverter derby
Cleaning up the traffic accident on La Jolla Blvd.
A testament to SMA’s durability and resilience – the Sunny Island, although suffering a nasty case of road rash, remained in full working order. The Mobile Energy Ecosystem, with the original Sunny Island 4548, was completed in August of 2013 and remains in use today.
Disaster sparks inspiration
Cage holding the inverters.
A longtime advocate of renewable energy, Johnson saw potential for a comprehensive energy solution in a concept first developed by a group of undergraduates from University of California, San Diego. Working with electrical engineer Roger Davenport, Johnson augmented the original concept to include an electric vehicle that can add power to a micro-grid, creating yet another energy source for extended blackouts and emergency response— the first Mobile Energy Ecosystem, was created.
The design
The Mobile Energy Ecosystem is designed around a Sunny Island 4548 battery inverter and a Sunny Boy 2500U PV inverter. The modified flatbed, referred to as the “solar slider,” houses eight PhonoSolar modules which feed the Sunny Boy. Its 240V output is transformed to 120V by an autoformer. A “Super Prius,” which has been modified with two 500 watt power inverters that can export energy into the Sunny Island, pulls the trailer.The decision to use SMA inverters was based on durability and the Sunny Island’s flexible design. “We used SMA products to accomplish this because of the Sunny Island’s versatility – it accepts solar photovoltaic, battery and auxiliary inputs,” said Johnson.
The future
Wipomo is
in discussion with various entities to support emergency remote
dispatch and communications equipment. Charlie sees a wide range of
possible future uses including disaster management and public services
such as electronics and tool charging, EV rescue, UV water purification
and water pumping.“The great blackout inspired me to seek a solution to the problem of blackouts, with versatility for short term and long term power outages, manual or automatic emergency power switching, with battery backup or without, and enhanced by electric vehicle power export.”
Mission accomplished.
Justin Dyke on 12/16/2014
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