How to charge a 36 volt battery bank with an alternator ?

[veggie]

Here's an unusual application.
I have a 1200 watt grid tie inverter which requires 28 to 40 volts to operate.
It is left over from a system that used to be powered by my 35 volt solar array.
I want to drive it with a 36 volt battery/alternator instead of solar panels.
The inverter would drain the small 36 volt batteries quite quickly unless they were being constantly charged by 1200 watts of energy from an alternator.
So ... how do I get an alternator to put out a regulated 36 volts ?
I have 2 X 24 volt alternators to play with.
One is a Delco 10Si style 1 wire rated at 40 amps.
One is a Delco 22Si heavy duty.
Both have internal regulators.
This project cannot afford a $500 Balmer Regulator (although I don't think they can be set to 36 volts anyway).

Setup would be:  Engine-->Alternator-->battery-->Grid Tie Inverter

Supply to the invert must be approx 36 volts, 1000w. (28 amps @ 36 volts)

Any ideas ??

[Henry W]

I think the internal voltage regulator might have to be removed and a 36 volt voltage regulator needs to be built.

Bob G or someone else would know more.

[veggie]

I think the internal voltage regulator might have to be removed and a 36 volt voltage regulator needs to be built.
Bob G or someone else would know more.

Sounds about right.
So ...  can a 36 volt regulator be built for a one-wire delco alternator ?

[Henry W]

I dont know what has to be done. Diodes might have to be changed. Possibly the alternator has to be wired differently. Hopefully someone here will see this topic and try to help.

Did you consider going with a 24 volt system? Use two larger batteries. You already have the alternator. There are grid tie inverters that operate from 20 volts to 45 volts. Or, regular 24 volt pure sine wave inverters. I would think it might be less trouble and parts are easy to find.

[veggie]

Rather that try to convert an alternator to 36v, I decided to buy an inverter that accepts 10.8 to 30 volts and stick with my 24 volt alternator and a 24 volt capacitor battery.
On with the project ....

[Henry W]

36 volt alternator is an oddball.
With a 24 volt system the parts are more common if the system needs to be serviced.

[veggie]

Here's a way to produce 36 volts from a 12 volt automotive alternator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETN3lW-c6fY

Would the higher voltage also make the alternator more efficient ?

[Tom Reed]

Interesting approach. It's still really a 12v alternator just the outputs were run in series and it will produce 1/3 of rated amps.