Voltage output from wind turbine?

captlee
captlee Registered Users Posts: 3
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
I have a wind turbine. light winds here are the norm during the summer if i am not getting the full 300 rpms or 12 volts from the generator will I get any usable voltage to the battery's perhaps say 6 volts?

Q2 how much voltage loss will have if I use a 100 ft 12 gauge cable from the generator to the batter bank.?
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,716 admin
    #2
    Re: Voltage output from wind turbine?

    The problem is not just the voltage--It is Power = Voltage * Current = abc Watts

    It is very difficult for any wind turbine to output much energy in less than ~7-8 MPH... There just is not much energy in that little wind.

    You can put much longer blades on the turbine to get more "swept area"--But that will cause more issues in high wind (turbine "runs away", over heats, brake fails, bearings/structure fails, etc.).

    Wind goes at the "Cube of the velocity":

    7mph^3 = 343
    12mph^3 = 1,728
    1,728/343 = 5 times more energy in 12 mph vs 7 mph wind...

    You can use a voltage drop calculator... Say you want 5 amps over 100 feet (one way wire run) @ 12 gauge wire. The calculator shows a 1.9 volt drop...

    If you have a 14.5 volt battery + 1.9 volt wiring drop = 16.4 volts at the rectifier block in turbine. Power = 5 amps * 14.5 volts = 72.5 watts of "useful" energy into the battery bank.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • bill von novak
    bill von novak Solar Expert Posts: 891 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Voltage output from wind turbine?
    captlee wrote: »
    I have a wind turbine. light winds here are the norm during the summer if i am not getting the full 300 rpms or 12 volts from the generator will I get any usable voltage to the battery's perhaps say 6 volts?

    You will not get any usable _power._ If your turbine is rated for (say) 500 watts at 12mph wind, at 6mph you would get 8 watts. Power goes by the cube of wind speed.
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