Connecting 12v based wind system to 48v based solar system

cpfl65
cpfl65 Registered Users Posts: 4
in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
Hi,

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to connect a 12v wind turbine system (12v battery based) to a 48v solar system (48v battery based) to act as a supplemental charger?

It had occurred to me that since I occasionally hookup my 6KW gas generator to the AC input on the Magnum Energy Inverter/Charger, that the AC output from a PSW inverter connected to the wind turbine system might work.

Comments?

Chris.
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Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #2
    Re: Connecting 12v based wind system to 48v based solar system

    About the only way I could see this working correctly--Is to use a battery charger (12 to 48 VDC or an AC inverter+AC battery charger) to step up the voltage from the 12 volt system to charge the 48 volt battery bank.

    Not cheap, and a fair amount of extra costs (chargers, 12 volt battery bank, conversion losses, etc.). I don't think you will get "useful" output from a typical 12 volt turbine by connecting it to a 48 volt battery bank (I have seen some vendors claim you could do exactly this over the years).

    It is possible that the turbine could be re-wound to 48 volts--But, from what I understand, not many small turbines have the room to rewind to a higher voltage.

    Unless your 12 volt wind system generates a lot of power--It probably is not cost effective to do this unless you already have a 12 VDC Inverter setup that could be used to power a 48 VDC charger.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • NorthGuy
    NorthGuy Solar Expert Posts: 1,913 ✭✭
    #3
    Re: Connecting 12v based wind system to 48v based solar system

    If you have several turbines, you can connect them in series (after rectifying) to increase voltage. While doing that you need to make sure they're not connected to common ground.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #4
    Re: Connecting 12v based wind system to 48v based solar system

    I would suspect that connecting multiple independent wind turbines in series is really not the way to go... It would then require 4 of them to all be spinning at near the same RPM to each share 1/4 of the output energy.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • cpfl65
    cpfl65 Registered Users Posts: 4
    #5
    Re: Connecting 12v based wind system to 48v based solar system

    The Magnum Energy Inverter/Charger has built in AC coupler circuitry that allows charging the 48v battery bank from a 120v or 240v source. I use it already for hooking up my gas generator to charge my battery bank on overcast days.

    I am hoping that it might be possible to use the AC output from a separate 12v wind turbine system (with a 120v AC inverter) as a direct replacement for the gas generator.

    The intended use of the wind turbine system is more for overnight load maintenance rather than full on charging. I would be happy with 3-5 amps per hour overnight. Every little helps.
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