ARI hybrid solar-wind controller

Bruceherman

I have a system in place of 4000 watt solar panels at 48 volt working great. I have put up an ARI 650 watt wind turbine and controller that came with as a pair. The wind turbine is putting out DC volts on all three wires into the controller. But I am not getting any amps. The turbine has got up to all most 60 DC volts. 
Can someone help me understand why I not getting any amps.

BB.

Check the wiring from the Turbine to the Charge controller... Normally three wires (same color usually) are 3 phase AC from the stator.

If it goes through a rectifier block, then you should have + and - wires, plus possibly a green safety ground.

With wind turbines, you have to pay attention to the details. Many charge controllers only take DC input--But there are some out there that take 3 phase AC input. You have to figure out which yours requires.

Also, a charge controller will only charge the battery when it "thinks" the battery needs charging. It is possible that you have a full battery and the controller is simply not charging.

For a "well designed" wind turbine system with typical horizontal axis wind turbine, the integrated wind charger should be shorting out the turbine to shut it down (either dead short or resistor bank). A typical HAWT will overspeed in moderate winds and no load.

-Bill

Bruceherman

Bill 
Thanks for getting back with me. I did check the volts coming out of the turbine and it is DC volts. The ARI turbine that I have also has electromagnetic brake system and a stop button that stops the turbine. So if batteries are at full charge it stops the turbine from rotation. So this system has no rectifier.

Bruceherman

Bill
Sorry, the turbine is putting out AC volts. So the controller does have a rectifier in it. The volt meter on the controller is reading DC volts on the meter.

BB.

Yes, some DMMs will read DC volts on AC setting (many of the "better" True RMS reading meters will read non-zero DC voltage on AC settings).

-Bill

Bruceherman

The problem was a 48 volt battery bank that is about 52volts on ave. and I did not wait until the turbine got that high. So if any one is thinking of putting in a wind turbine that the turbine needs to get above your battery bank voltage.

BB.

That is true of all charging sources to a battery bank--The source has to be a higher voltage than the load/battery bank you are charging.

Almost all charge controllers need a higher input voltage and step down (or simply direct connect) to the battery bank to charge. There are a few charge controllers that can step up from low input voltage to higher battery voltage--But those are rare and not usually very large (amp rated) capacity.

-Bill