charge controller turbine off grid

pkerridge493
pkerridge493 Registered Users Posts: 1
hi people been wanting to buld a wind system for a while and now have a bit more money to do so at the moment i have a pma 600watt motor which i will be using for a turbine i may add to this its a 12v system i havent got the batteries yet but im getting and goin through what i need one by one i have recently bought a powerjack 5000watt inverter 10000w peak first of i would like to know what would sort of charge controller i need prefferably one that diverts a 12vdump load and rectifier links would be great to a certain online auction please dont get to technical i have basic knowledge with electrics for which someone else will be wiring it up lol thanks

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Welcome to the forum PK,

    Just to let you know, I am not a fan of wind power systems--The equipment tends to need a lot of maintenance, few people live in high wind areas with consistent winds over the year, and you spend more on the tower/concrete/lift trucks than the turbine itself. My suggestion is to design an off grid solar power system, then add wind when/if it makes sense.

    But, to answer your specific questions. PMA motors tend not to be very reliable (weather/water/loading of hub+blades) or a good match (torque/RPM) to a non-geared set of blades.

    I suggest not buying any (or any more) equipment until you have gone through a paper design cycle. It can be pretty difficult to match the random parts into a reliable design that will meet your needs.

    For example, a 5 kWatt / 10 kWatt surge 12 volt AC inverter... The amount of peak current would be:
    • 10,000 watts peak * 1/0.85 AC inverter eff * 1/10.5 battery cutoff voltage = 1,120 Amps (at 12 volts)
    It is very difficult to get >1,000 amps of current flow a few feet of copper cable with less than 0.5 volts of drop

    http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html?material=copper&wiresize=0.1608&voltage=11&phase=dc&noofconductor=1&distance=5&distanceunit=feet&amperes=1000&x=65&y=14

    That is 4/0 cable which is over 0.5" in diameter to support a 5 foot (one way) power run from the battery bank to the AC inverter.

    And would require, rough minimum, ~20 golf cart batteries (6 volt @ 200 AH per battery) to even supply the rated power of that AC inverter power requirement (just to give you an idea of the size of such a battery bank, and the wiring issues--Not that I would ever recommend such a system).

    And to charge such a battery bank (nominal 10% rate of charge) would be 200 AH or ~2,900 Watt wind turbine. A 600 Watt turbine (if you could get it to produce 600 Watts) is too small (by itself) to keep such a battery bank "happy".

    In general, for a successful off grid power system--You first need to focus on your loads and figure out how to conserve as much energy as possible. It is almost always cheaper to conserve energy than generate it.

    For example, again very rough estimate, off grid solar (or wind) power will cost you around ~$1-$2 per kWH (a few people have gotten down to $0.50 per kWH--but they had to work hard at that). That is ~5-10x as expensive of grid power--So, what would your loads be like if your utility bill was 5-10x larger than it is today--You would probably would use a lot less.

    We can help you with conservation and designing an off grid power system... But we need some more information from you.

    -Bill

    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • GreenPowerManiac
    GreenPowerManiac Solar Expert Posts: 453 ✭✭✭
    With a PMA, you can take the diode out and place it within 5 feet of your battery bank.   You'll be able to reduce the size of the wires to 10 gauge and should take all 50 amps 3 phase easily. Wiring will take 4 wires (3 phases and a ground for safety), making wiring a snap....
    Nature's Design & Green Energy on FaceBook : Stop by and "Like" us anytime.. Many up-to-date articles about Renewables every day.
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  • Johann
    Johann Solar Expert Posts: 245 ✭✭✭
    edited August 2016 #4
    With a PMA, you can take the diode out and place it within 5 feet of your battery bank.   You'll be able to reduce the size of the wires to 10 gauge and should take all 50 amps 3 phase easily. Wiring will take 4 wires (3 phases and a ground for safety), making wiring a snap....
    Does not look like to be a good idea., if you figure you have 80 feet coming down from the tower and 50 more feet to your battery bank etc etc as an example.
    http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html?material=copper&wiresize=3.277&voltage=18&phase=ac3&noofconductor=1&distance=130&distanceunit=feet&amperes=50&x=67&y=14

    Maybe I just misunderstood your ''all 50 amps''.
    Lets say you send 50 amps total down your 3 phase combined.
    It is still a bad idea in this example.
    http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html?material=copper&wiresize=3.277&voltage=18&phase=ac3&noofconductor=1&distance=130&distanceunit=feet&amperes=16.66&x=57&y=15
    What happen before and after the diode is important. Using AC with the same amps and volts does not make it more efficient to send power down the line, than it would with DC. 




  • Johann
    Johann Solar Expert Posts: 245 ✭✭✭
    hi people been wanting to buld a wind system for a while and now have a bit more money to do so at the moment i have a pma 600watt motor which i will be using for a turbine i may add to this its a 12v system i havent got the batteries yet but im getting and goin through what i need one by one i have recently bought a powerjack 5000watt inverter 10000w peak first of i would like to know what would sort of charge controller i need prefferably one that diverts a 12vdump load and rectifier links would be great to a certain online auction please dont get to technical i have basic knowledge with electrics for which someone else will be wiring it up lol thanks
    The tower may cost you as much if not more than the rest of the system. You got to be high enough to catch a more steady wind. Turbulence  that is caused from structures and trees is not really usable wind.
     just because you see a turbine spinning, does not mean that it is producing electricity. Turbines have a minimum speed requirement before they produce and their max output is normally at a very high wind speed.
    City and county ordinance may not allow to erect a tower and wind generator.
    If your inverter is not a full sine wave then some electronics and electrical things should not be powered up by it or it could burn up or be destroyed right then or in course of time when continued with usage.