wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house

sbarbetta
sbarbetta Registered Users Posts: 4
Hi there my name is Shawn im new to this site and this is my first post so be easy on me guys 8)

I just bought a new house and it has 2 wind turbines (HY-1000watts 110V ) each on the roof not wired to anything and i have a solar array on the roof to thats all wired to a disconnect
then in the garage i have a inverter thats a 3kw Hybrid thats a wind and solar its got 2 ports for the solar wires and 3 ports for the windturbine
Its pretty easy to figure out the wiring for the solar
the turbines is a another story one would be easy but how would i hook both up to the inverter ?
if anybody can help me on this thanks

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house

    Welcome to the forum Shawn.

    Do you have a brand/model number for the inverter?

    This may not be easier or cheap to get everything working.

    A hybrid inverter typically needs a good sized battery bank (not cheap). The solar panel should be OK--But you will probably need to find the brand/model of the panels, how many you have, and how they are presently wired (series/parallel connections).

    The wind turbines... Not sure what to say. In general, wind turbines usually need to either be connected to their controllers/battery banks, or shut down to prevent them from turning too fast and self destructing in high winds. Depending on how long they have been flying--They probably need a good inspection/servicing too (man lift/crane to access turbines).

    Working forwards--Do you currently have grid power? Was the system permitted/inspected, and the power company properly notified and inspected the installation? Do you know anything about the history (when installed, was it working OK)?

    Are you looking to "go off grid", reducing your power bills, and/or have emergency backup up power.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house
    sbarbetta wrote: »
    2 wind turbines on the roof, not connected to anything.

    Oh Oh - - - - - Not off to good start - - on both counts.
  • sbarbetta
    sbarbetta Registered Users Posts: 4
    Re: wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house

    hi there
    the inverter is a Ginlong GCI-3K-H Grid-tie wind/solar

    as for the turbines on the the roof they are brand new the people just put hem up there the hub and the blades were never installed

    they had the solar up and running they said with another inverter and one turbine then they were just in process of adding 4 more solar panels and 1 more turbine ive tryed to contact the people to get hes help on what he was trying to do but no luck
    the solar panels system and 1 turbine has been inspected i called the power comp to see if i need to get reinspected for adding the other 4 panels they sent a guy out to look at it and he never got out of his truck he called me and said it looks good and that was it....
    im at the point i can hook up the solar and one turbine no problem its just that other one up there not sure what to do with it

    im staying on grid just looking to lower my bill .....
  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house

    I guess you will need to read up on the manuals, and if you cannot find local support, read up on the software too (for programming the wind turbines).

    http://www.ginlong.com/Ginlong-technolgoies-download-Grid-Tie-Inverter-Manuals.htm

    I am a little leery here. Without knowing anything about the installation or the people that installed it--It may be the best in the world, or the worst. As an example of a poor installation for solar:

    Panel Fire Question


    The starting point--How much electrical experience do you have? Feel comfortable around rewiring your home's AC Branch Circuits (to your local code?). Are you handy with construction?

    Is your utility account setup for Grid Tied Solar/Wind? You have the correct meter installed? You probably need to confirm directly with the utility that your account/meter are actually configured for GT power. You can get into some billing and other problems if not--And you start pumping power to the grid (our utility required a detailed release form, proof of insurance, the installation of a bi-directional meter, and proof of a successful inspection by our local building department).

    Then we can get into some general questions... How high are the turbines mounted (60+ feet is usually the recommended minimum for any consistent power generation). Are you in a reasonably windy location (typically trees "flag" from prevailing winds). Are the turbines at least 30 feet above any obstructions (within a minimum of 500 feet)? Are the turbines installed free standing tower? Are the turbines far enough away from occupied buildings and play areas that if a turbine yaw bearing or hub failed, that falling objects would not hit people? The GT inverter usually needs to be programmed to match the Wind Turbine's output characteristics (you may need to program the same GT inverter model for solar panels too)--Do you have the setup to do that (if no local installer)?

    And then there is the solar array--Probably a bit less of a challenge. There--More or less, Brand/model of panels, how are they wired (series/parallel), are the panels safely mounted, is the wiring done per code? Is the main breaker panel properly wired/loaded per code? They are installed where they will (for the most part) get full sun? Any partial shading (trees, nearby buildings, overhead wires, vent stacks, etc.) will kill solar panel output while shaded.

    The GT inverters themselves, are they NRTL Listed devices (UL, CSA, ETL, TUV, etc.)? You should find a tag with the Listing information (what NRTL, listing number, etc.). In much of California, the GT Inverters must be NRTL listed to pass inspection/utility requirements.

    You are at the beginning of a detailed process--And you do not know where/why things stopped. In general, GT Inverter+Solar panels can actually have a nice return on investment. And with a little work on your side--Should be able to get working again pretty easily (assuming installation was done to code/correctly).

    Wind turbines, in my humble opinion, are a much more difficult animal to tame. In the end, turbines are mechanical devices at the top of a pole hanging out in wind/rain/heat/vibration and 60+ feet away from any service (climb tower, lift truck, crane truck required for access). The turbines themselves are usually the "inexpensive" side of the system compared to the costs of tower+concrete+engineering+installation+electrical+electronics+permits+maintenance.

    Sorry to make this sound all so complicated. This stuff, if done wrong can easily cost you more money than you will save--And worst case, cause you a loss of property/life. There are many DIY projects that are better than you would see from a professional--And there are professional installations that are as bad as the worst DIY... Cannot tell from behind a computer screen.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • sbarbetta
    sbarbetta Registered Users Posts: 4
    Re: wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house

    i just got the manual thanks
    programing looks pretty cut and dry as per manual we will see hehe
    yes my Utility acct is set up for the grid tie Wind/solar
    im very good at electrical i would say
    im in a very windy area wind turbine will probably never stop and solar array is in sun light alday nothing to block them at all

    the solar array was done by a local installer its done very nice and is wired down to the garage to a disconnect

    after reading the manual hooking up the solar to the inverter in easy
    Ive mounted the inverter on the wall were they had the other one before

    as for the turbines one will hook up easy as per the manual just dont know what to do with the other one i would like to use it since i got it installed is there a way to combine the two ?
  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house

    In general, if you are using a MPPT input GT inverter--You need one GT inverter per Wind Turbine. Two turbines, two GT inverters.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • sbarbetta
    sbarbetta Registered Users Posts: 4
    Re: wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house

    Ya after doing a bunch of reading i figured i would be stuck having to get another inverter i was hoping
    I would be able to hook them all to the one i got

    ill start looking in to getting another inverter now

    thanks for all the info you gave me it was helpful
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house
    2 wind turbines (HY-1000watts 110V ) each on the roof

    I think the first thing is to take the turbines down, before you add blades to them. The vibration of the turbine, connected to the sounding board that is your house, will make it very noisy, but just until the vibrations cause the nails to all fall out of the house :cry:

    Turbines = lots of maintenance and painful failure modes. Solar, if you have enough rain to keep the panels clean, is about all there is to it, aside from monitoring the output to make sure all is fine.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: wiring up wind turbines and solar system on my house
    mike95490 wrote: »
    I think the first thing is to take the turbines down, before you add blades to them. The vibration of the turbine, connected to the sounding board that is your house, will make it very noisy, but just until the vibrations cause the nails to all fall out of the house :cry:

    Turbines = lots of maintenance and painful failure modes. Solar, if you have enough rain to keep the panels clean, is about all there is to it, aside from monitoring the output to make sure all is fine.

    I'm glad someone else finally took note of the turbines on the roof and the unfortunate issues that go with both the turbines themselves, and the fact that they're mounted on the roof.