Micro CoGen.

So it looks like I'm going forward and backward at the
same time ;D

Picked up an Exide 24v NiFe Battery 455ah, also have
12 - 2.5v 3K Farad Ultracapacitors, a 24v 3500 watt Outback
GVFX Inverter, 6.5 HP Petter AC1/LeeceNeville JHO555 and 4 230
watt 24v Solar Panels. It's all starting to come together.
Did I mention I've got a Prestolite/Balmar charge controller.

Anyone here have any ideas on how to hook up the ultra caps.
I'm looking at putting them ahead of the battery before the inverter?

Ultra caps are the wrong thing.   Too much internal resistance - they can't dump power fast enough to be a help.

You want high ripple capacity @ 120 hz  , Low ESR

a couple threads here
http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?t=12529&

discuss it a bit.  (There was another thread going around, but I can't find it now.)

How I hooked up mine (they came with cell-cell jumpers only)

battery lugs http://tinyurl.com/LMR-BigLug
Setting up batteries http://tinyurl.com/LMR-NiFe

Are you sure we're talking about the same thing? They use these
to start diesel engines. My understanding is the have very low resistance.

Quote from: mike90045 on October 29, 2011, 10:37:32 AM
Ultra caps are the wrong thing.   Too much internal resistance - they can't dump power fast enough to be a help.

You want high ripple capacity @ 120 hz  , Low ESR

a couple threads here
http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?t=12529&

discuss it a bit.  (There was another thread going around, but I can't find it now.)

How I hooked up mine (they came with cell-cell jumpers only)

battery lugs http://tinyurl.com/LMR-BigLug
Setting up batteries http://tinyurl.com/LMR-NiFe

Thanks for the pics of your nife batts, where did you get them. Mine are
slightly used ::) 45years old, they are from a guy in New York that sells
them to Zapp, he then refurbs them and sells them as new! These are
just about impossible to completely destroy. I got 20 1.5v cells and 3 spares
for $900. delivered to Houston.

I've done a lot of research on the Ultracaps, they appear to be the right solution
to the power delivery issue from the batts. The layout for the wiring might change
a little, need to look at fuses, blocking diodes wires sizes etc. The Caps can
provide a huge power boost instantaniously, I'll probably wire the caps parallel
to the Battery. The only issue I see at this point is the straps used to connect
the caps, no one seems to say what they are made of although the appear to be
aluminum flat bar.

I do value your experience, the link above is from '03 so it's obvious you've doing
this for a while.
Again, thanks for sharing your installation.