Specifications

output. We will need the frequency to be 60 Hertz as well as it needs to be running at

120 V

rms

. This will be used to power normal household plugs when they are out in the

field. For example we will have the USB ports to charge cell phones and other devices

because most phones are charged with USB today. Next we will have a 12 volt output

for devices that need a 12 volt source. Finally we will have the normal plugs that are on

the wall such that any other item can be plugged into it.

We will also need to test the amount of amps that can be drawn at a time such that

there is not overload that can happen. There should be some sort of safety that if

someone plugs in a lot of items into a port it might melt or short out the wire. In this case

we need to add some sort of breaker in the line such that we do not exceed the wire

specification that we are using such that this cannot be allowed to happen. We will be

using the chart below to get the maximum current values that we can transfer through

the wire.

Figure 72 - Wire Rating for Amperage vs. Temperature vs. Material

Permission Pending

According to the chart above it depends on the material that we are using. We are most

likely going to go with copper because it is durable and inexpensive. We do not plan on

drawing more than 50 amps at one time because of these specifications we plan on

going with 4 gauge wire for the battery to outlets. When we receive our power inverter

we will see what the maximum is on that and our gauge of wire that we are using might

change. As for the USB ports and 12 volt ports we will not require that big of a wire and

will go with 16 gauge wire since these ports do not draw a lot of amperage. As you can

see temperature also affects the wire in the system that‟s why we will be monitoring the

temperature of the system as much and as accurate as we can. Aluminum is a great

metal but copper is more readily available and will be the medium we will be using for

our project