Voltage from Turbine..

fernur246
fernur246 Registered Users Posts: 8
Hello all.. I need some help... The output voltage of the 600 Watts HYE turbine is not charging the batteries... The amps range from 0.5 to 2 amps but the voltage range is 12v to 18v... So my voltage from the turbine is lower than my batteries.... I am using 2.5 flex cable 130 feet run... How can I solve this problem..??

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,433 admin
    Welcome to the forum Fernur.

    Technically, the wind turbine output voltage has to be higher than the battery bank just to get any current to flow.

    Depending on the type of charge controller you have, the actual output voltage can vary.

    Assuming are (basically) direct connected from the turbine (through a full wave rectifier/diode set) to the battery bank, the voltage at the rectifier output should always be about the same or a little bit above the battery voltage (voltage drop of wire run).

    Assuming you are using 2.5 mm (and not 2.5 mm[su[2[/sup]) wire or roughly 10 AWG. A generic voltage drop calculator gives us a voltage drop for 2 amps and 130 feet of:

    http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html

    Voltage drop: 0.52
    Voltage drop percentage: 3.47%
    Voltage at the end: 14.48

    So--At that low of current, you are not seeing that much of a drop... However at 20 amps, you would be having a ~5.2 volt drop--Pretty significant (and why moving lots of current at 12 VDC is quite difficult and expensive (lots of copper)).

    Next--Wind turbines need to be mounted pretty high on a tower to avoid turbulence from trees/homes/buildings/etc. Generally, 30 foot above obstructions minimum and 60+ feet above is much better. Wind turbines in turbulent air flow simply do not generate much power because there is little power in turbulent flow.

    Next--What is the average wind speed... Pretty much most wind turbines need around 12 to 25 MPH wind speed to produce "useful" amounts of power. You will see vendors advertise 6-8 MPH cut in speed, but that is pretty useless. There is very little energy in 7 MPH wind.

    And with wind speed, the available power goes with the cube of the speed. For example the difference between 10 MPH and 15 MPH wind energy is:

    Power = (15/10)3 = 3.375 times more energy

    So, if you where getting 2 amps at 10 MPH, you would be getting ~6.75 amps at 15 MPH. Getting higher average wind speeds in "clean air flow" is critical to a successful installation.

    Generally, a Wind Turbine Alternator just needs to spin faster to get higher output voltage (and current). If it is turning and generating some current--Electrically, it sounds like the system is working. So, you need to figure out why it is not spinning fast enough (not enough wind, turbulent wind, try different blades, turbine not pointing into wind reliably, etc.).

    Lastly, it also depends on the design of the wind turbine. I do not know anything about your turbine--But there are a lot of turbines that really don't output much power due to design flaws and simple physics (small blade diameter means small amount of harvest potential).

    There are options to improve performance (changing blades sometimes helps) and using a MPPT type wind charge controller (maximum power point tracking) can help. But if you have questionable hardware flying, adding a (fairly expensive) MPPT charge controller may not really help.

    In general, unless you are in a pretty windy area (if it is miserably windy outside much of the time, that can be a good wind site), it many times is better to install/add solar electric panels to the installation instead. Generally much more predictable output. Use the wind as a backup for stormy weather.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    Unfortunately, many / most / all small wind turbines are hugely over rated as to their output - - to the point that in my opinion, is nothing short of criminal.
    Been there, done that. Was very pretty to watch, but basically useless for generating any useful power. :(
  • crarnp
    crarnp Registered Users Posts: 1
    Hello im wondering if you got your problem solved with your HYE 600? Is it the 5 blade or 3 blade model ? I have a hye 600 w connected to a sma windyboy that feeds into a sma sunny island 3324 along with a sma 4000tl with 5kw of panels as well.
    I set up the turbine to try and get some extra at night every little bit helps. I have found im only getting about 200 w in 13m/s wind not the 600 w that is advertised How do you find yours now?