Guide to sizing charger for battery with load

Major factors to be considered:

1. Capacity of battery bank and possible depth of discharge ( limits to 60 % if

affordable) , the lesser the DOD the longer the battery lasts.
2. Types of load and daily energy usage pattern

3. Feasible ( desired) recharge time ( normally 8 to 12 hours , or up to 24 hours )

4. Room for future expansion

All the above key factors are closely inter-related , let us start with the load first .
There are two types of loads:

A. constant loads which are always on time most of time.

Examples of constant loads are lighting , security system , router ,
CCTV camera , power adapter of wireless phone , computer and etc
B. Irregular or transient loads which are of much higher power relative to constant
load, but sustained for a very short period of time. Examples are engine start, motor
start , fridge ,switching on constant load and etc.

Do not size charger directly to take up transient load as it will result a much larger
charger than necessary. The irregular load is to be fed by the battery before it becomes
a constant load.

Parameters :
WH = Daily watt hour consumption = sum of (power rating of load x Hours of usage)
Tc = Desired charge time in hours = 8 to 12 hours
V = battery system , let us limit to either 12V or 24V system
Rf = recharge factor is the additional energy required to charge a battery , usually it is
about 1.1 to 1.15 . It means it needs 10 to 15 % more energy to make up for what
has been removed from the battery.
Example :
Energy consumed by Constant load 200W for 6 hour =1200WH
= 1200WH/12V
= 100 AH
= AH taken from battery
Also 200 W at 12V = 16.7A load
Battery size = 100 AH / 0.6 DOD = 177 AH ---Æ larger than 160 AH

Desirable recharge time = 8 hours

Size of battery Charger = AH ( taken out from battery) x Rf + Constant load

------------------------------------------
Desired recharge time in hr

= 100 AH x 1.15 + 16.7 A

----------------------
8
=31 A -----Æ USE A 30Amp Charger

The above is only an estimate , you can juggle the desired recharge time and the
battery size and the DOD .

Keep the charger output within 0.1C to 0.25C.of the battery capacity.

Example ; 200 Ah battery 0.1C = 200x 0.1= 20A 0.25C = 200 x0.25= 50A

When you have room for expansion , you can calculate the size of charger using
future load and battery capacity . But it is important to choose a battery charger with
adjustable output current like our HBC chargers.

Whenever practical, choose the longest charging time , use the least DOD.
If your charger has selectable output current , choose the output current that is just or
slightly less than the calculated output in the above formula .
.