Solar Wind integration?

stmar

A friend of mine is working on a wind and solar project. He is having an issue with the solar controller dropping out in a windy condition but when the turbine slows down the solar does not kick back in/reset. I just heard about his so do not have a lot of detail, just wondering where to start diagnosing the problem. I am thinking it could be that different brand/type/model controllers are not communicating. I have an Enermax old school diverter that I am going to give him to try and limit the wind turbine input.

BB.

Re: Solar Wind integration?

If the solar charge controller thinks the battery if fully charged (short term high battery voltage from wind turbine), it might not kick in until the battery falls below ~12.7 volts.

Either bring float voltage higher (if adjustable)--Or may have to look at a more programmable solar charge controller.

It is possible that the battery bank is too small/sulfated for the wind turbine. For a lead acid battery bank, I would be suggesting around 100 AH for every 250 Watts of Turbine output or larger battery bank (12 volt battery bank). Too small of battery bank and too large of wind turbine, the battery will not do its job of short term battery bus voltage regulation (i.e., battery cannot sink all available charging current and battery bus voltage goes too high--confusing the solar charge controller).

My guesses anyway.

-Bill

inetdog

Re: Solar Wind integration?

stmar wrote: »

I am thinking it could be that different brand/type/model controllers are not communicating. I have an Enermax old school diverter that I am going to give him to try and limit the wind turbine input.

The only way that the two controllers can communicate is by the effect they have on the battery voltage. Since each of them thinks that it has complete control over the battery voltage, the result is near zero communication.
As mentioned, there is normally a dead band between the solar charger switching to float and going back into bulk. This will not play well with the rapid changes in battery terminal voltage that the wind controller can cause.