This is the Errata page for To Catch the Sun. Please post any potential errors below under Potential errors. The book is currently running its First Print.

Errata from First Print

We are currently on the first print of the book. Below you will find errors in this first print. Bolded are the most critical errors:.

• Figure 5.10 (page 101): The red and black arrows in the center (connected from charge controller to the batter) should be switched so it stays with the DC convention of black for negative and red for positive.
• Table 5.2 (page 107): The final battery type in the table is written as Lithium Ion Phosphate, but it should be Lithium Iron Phosphate.
• Page 91: Missing the emdash after Racking in the list.
• Page 12: "Tenants" should be "tenets"
• Page 19: "that the no" should be "that no"
• Page 21: "It did not.in fact" should be "It did not. In fact, it is a relatively common name."
• Page 26: Caption of Figure 2.10 "switched.which" should be "switched, which"
• Page 28: "useless. and" could be "useless, and" or "useless. At which point the community would need"
• Page 35: "The orange line" should be "the yellow bars"
• Page 47: Something might be off on one word there
• Page 49: Caption of 3.8 Change "blue dotted line" to "green dotted line"
• Page 54: Change "National Electric Code" to "National Electrical Code"
• Page 63: "peal" should be "peel"
• Page 71: URL in footnote 111 note linking due to extra /
• Page 80: Maybe change "stays 12 V" to "remains 12 V"
• Page 94: "Air Mass AM15" should be "Air Mass AM1.5"
• Page 104: Caption of Figure 5.13 should say High School instead of Highschool
• Page 147: "(12 V * 0.036 A)." should be "(12 V * 0.36 A)"
• Page 155: Should read as: Once you have determined the temperature multiplier and depth of discharge, divide the calculated Wh demand by the depth of discharge, and then divide again by the temperature multiplier to determine the needed battery storage size, as shown in Calculation 5:
• Page 155 Calculation 5: should read as" F. Wh demand (Wh) ÷ Depth of Discharge ÷ Temp multiplier = G. Needed battery storage
• Page 172: "Rate or work or energy transfer" should be "Rate of work or energy transfer"
• Throughout. Humboldt State University is now Cal Poly Humboldt and HSU is now CPH.

Potential errors

Please add any potential errors here. If you log in first, you can leave your signature and also be alerted of responses.

Explained

For potential errors that are not actually errors, here are some responses:

• Page 77 states that the "Current flows from the negative terminal through a load (any current-consuming device like a computer, vaccine refrigerator, light, or radio) to the positive terminal." But, doesn't current flow the opposite way? --This question was sent via email
  • Conventional current was established before we knew the direction of flow. The electron flow is actually the opposite direction. The good news is that the direction really doesn't matter for projects based on this book. Completing the circuit is what matters, and the direction is inconsequential. Here is an obligatory, of course there is an XKCD comic for that: https://xkcd.com/567/ --Lonny (talk) 19:17, 23 November 2021 (UTC)

Other Feedback addressed

The follow is for community feedback that has been incorporated into the Errata above:

p. 155, Calculation 5

Needed battery storage capacity = Demand (Wh) / Depth of Discharge * Temperature multiplier

With this formula, colder temperatures require a smaller battery capacity, which seems incorrect.

Should it be: Needed battery storage capacity = Demand (Wh) / ( Depth of Discharge * Temperature multiplier )

Thank you for this very important and useful catch.