Supercharger - Brandon, FL

[Cottonwood]

I thought the majority of supercharger swerve to be solar powered, with lake city and now tampa it looks as if solar power is being passed over. Are any of the florida super chargers solar powered?

The solar PV shade structures at some of the original Supercharger sites are much more cosmetic than a useful power source. The number of solar panels that you can put over one charging stall or parking space is a little less than needed to produce one Supercharge per day. In all but the most remote Superchargers, there is much more use than one Supercharge per stall per day.

The solar PV shade structures are a token or cosmetic touch.

 

[Lawsteve]

The nearest Starbucks I could find was across the highway in the Brandon Mall.Larry

your photos are older. The attached image shows where the Starbucks is located. The road behind the building is actually the drive through for Starbucks. I'm not sure, but I think there also is a transformer behind the Starbucks location.

Re whether or not there are dual power sources, I'm only telling you what the contractor told me.

 

[Cottonwood]

For the High Voltage (actually Medium Voltage for the utilities), it does not take much copper. For example, a 500 kVA transformer puts out 600 Amps on each phase at 480 Volts, but for a 14.4 kV input, only needs 20 Amps in on each phase. The big deal is the insulation needed for the HV/MV lines is a lot thicker, and in most places for underground runs, the rules are something like, needing the HV/MV wires at least 4 feet underground and separated from any other utilities by at least 2 feet. OTOH, horizontal drilling is pretty amazing these days in what it can do!

 

[kvietor]

TECO uses directional borers and will probably access both transformers. This may take some time. Don't know how deep they need to go, that may be a factor as well. I watched the gas company use this method to get access to natural gas onto my property from across the street.

 

[Larry Chanin]

your photos are older. The attached image shows where the Starbucks is located. The road behind the building is actually the drive through for Starbucks. I'm not sure, but I think there also is a transformer behind the Starbucks location.

Re whether or not there are dual power sources, I'm only telling you what the contractor told me.

Hi Steve,

Thanks.

That corresponds to the cable pole location in my posting.

I hope you know that I'm not taking issue with you. I'm just questioning what the contractor is suggesting.

Larry

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TECO uses directional borers and will probably access both transformers. This may take some time. Don't know how deep they need to go, that may be a factor as well. I watched the gas company use this method to get access to natural gas onto my property from across the street.

Hi Klaus,

To be clear those transformers won't be accessed to directly supply the Supercharger Station. More than likely they are 120/208 volts instead of 277/40 volts. It's the primary cable feeding the transformers that the utility may be tapping to supply a new 277/480 volt transformer located next to the Supercharger site.

Larry

 

[ddh1313]

I drove by yesterday to have a look.
So I see 8 charging pedestals that are wired up to 4 cabinets and some other switch gear I guess.
The 4 cabinets with the circular fan are the rectifiers I assume? And if so does that mean that every 2 pedestals share a common bus?
Any other specs anyone cares to leak??

First post btw from a non-owner but enthusiast non the less.

Thanks

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And finally, do I see a compressor and refrigerant lines in the bottom??

 

[Larry Chanin]

I drove by yesterday to have a look.
So I see 8 charging pedestals that are wired up to 4 cabinets and some other switch gear I guess.
The 4 cabinets with the circular fan are the rectifiers I assume? And if so does that mean that every 2 pedestals share a common bus?
Any other specs anyone cares to leak??

First post btw from a non-owner but enthusiast non the less.


Thanks

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And finally, do I see a compressor and refrigerant lines in the bottom??

Hi,

Welcome to the forums!

Thanks for the excellent photos.

The three gray cabinets are the switchgear that get directly connected to the utility transformer at 480 volts AC. The four white boxes that look like refrigerators are the Superchargers. They change alternating current to direct current. Two charging terminals get connected to each Supercharger.

Larry

 

[ClearwaterBchSteve]

Hi,

Welcome to the forums!

Thanks for the excellent photos.

The three gray cabinets are the switchgear that get directly connected to the utility transformer at 480 volts AC. The four white boxes that look like refrigerators are the Superchargers. They change alternating current to direct current. Two charging terminals get connected to each Supercharger.

Larry

ddh1313 is correct in calling the Superchargers rectifiers. That is exactly what they are technically. They look pretty serious. After all, if these are 120Kw capable SC's, there's a megawatt on tap at that site. Pretty impressive. I'm looking forward to trying it out when it's ready.

 

[Larry Chanin]

ddh1313 is correct in calling the Superchargers rectifiers. That is exactly what they are technically. They look pretty serious. After all, if these are 120Kw capable SC's, there's a megawatt on tap at that site. Pretty impressive. I'm looking forward to trying it out when it's ready.

Hi Steve,

Yes, that's the correct terminology. I doubt that the site will be drawing a full megawatt of power anytime. More than likely the utility will be installing a 500 kva transformer. They can be run above their rating, but I doubt that they will run at 100% over their rating.

Larry

 

[joer00]

Drove by yesterday. It's frustrating it looked the same like a week ago. Construction seemed to have stalled.

 

[Nickjhowe]

I doubt that the site will be drawing a full megawatt of power anytime. More than likely the utility will be installing a 500 kva transformer.

Port St Lucie uses a 12kV, 750 kVA supply and steps it down to 480V feeding 2000A switchgear.

 

[Larry Chanin]

Port St Lucie uses a 12kV, 750 kVA supply and steps it down to 480V feeding 2000A switchgear.

Hi Nick,

Thanks, I stand corrected. That's pretty close to a megawatt.

Larry

 

[PoweredByRain]

ddh1313 is correct in calling the Superchargers rectifiers. That is exactly what they are technically. They look pretty serious. After all, if these are 120Kw capable SC's, there's a megawatt on tap at that site. Pretty impressive. I'm looking forward to trying it out when it's ready.

Actually, the peak power supplied to a car at one of the stalls is 120 kW (roughly - I've actually seen slightly higher), but each Supercharger cabinet can put out 135 kW total to the two charging stalls it is connected to. So, with 8 stalls there are four Supercharger cabinets capable of 135 kW max each, or 540 kW max for the whole site.

(Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding from Cottonwood, who is never wrong. )

 

[Cottonwood]

Actually, the peak power supplied to a car at one of the stalls is 120 kW (roughly - I've actually seen slightly higher), but each Supercharger cabinet can put out 135 kW total to the two charging stalls it is connected to. So, with 8 stalls there are four Supercharger cabinets capable of 135 kW max each, or 540 kW max for the whole site.

(Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding from Cottonwood, who is never wrong. )

Well, I am not always correct...but I do try to get most facts right.

The total DC output of the four Supercharger Cabinets at 135 kW each, feeding 8 Charging Stalls is 540 kW. The AC power into these four Supercharger Cabinets at 90% efficiency is actually 600 kW from the transformer. Remember that is an absolute maximum with all cabinets running at maximum. An 8-Stall Supercharger like this is typically fed by a 500 kVA transformer because the utilities can size things like this allowing occasional operation at higher than rated capacity.

The Distribution Center has bus bars rated at 2,000 Amps. If run at the full 2,000 Amps at 480 Volts, 3-phase, that is 2,000*480*sqrt(3) or 1.66 megaWatts (1,663 kW). The limit is usually the wire from the transformer to the Distribution Center, not the bus bars in the Distribution Center. Below is a picture of the inside of a Distribution Center.

The Supercharging Cabinets are not rectifiers. See Rectifier - Wikipedia; "Physically, rectifiers take a number of forms, including vacuum tube diodes, mercury-arc valves, copper and selenium oxide rectifiers, semiconductor diodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers and other silicon-based semiconductor switches." These sophisticated chargers present essentially a resistive load on the grid to offer a power factor of greater than 0.95 and draw current with a very low THD. This is about as friendly as a load can be to the grid.

 

[1p852nv]

Has anybody had a chance to talk to the construction crew lately as to an update on the completion?

 

[sklancha]

I am finding my new stalking habit is not very satisfying. No obvious changes noticed this past week. This is driving me crazy. Any rumors? Is it normal to take this long for the electricity to be connected or is this some local issue?

 

[Nickjhowe]

Based on other SC threads the utility connection can take days or weeks - it is pretty random.

 

[Lawsteve]

Just stopped by the site (noon on 9/5) Spoke to the site supervisor. Transformer is installed, and they hope to get power this afternoon. Trying to get testing done by next Wednesday, with hopes to have the site up and running by next Friday.

Didnt take any pix, as the only thing different from the prior photos is the green transformer box sitting behind the inverters.

 

[DJ Frustration]

Just stopped by the site (noon on 9/5) Spoke to the site supervisor. Transformer is installed, and they hope to get power this afternoon. Trying to get testing done by next Wednesday, with hopes to have the site up and running by next Friday.

Didnt take any pix, as the only thing different from the prior photos is the green transformer box sitting behind the inverters.

Awesome update! Thanks.

 

[joer00]

Update as of 9/8/ noon. Power is on, landscaping is done and the guys started to clean up the site. Fence is still missing but was supposed to be done today. Site is working but they need the paperwork done. It still looks like it will be operable end of this weak YEAAAAAHHH !! Can't wait.