Wind turbine connections

Welcome to the forum Dan,

As a warning--Personally, I am not a fan of small wind turbines. Few seem to output any useful energy in anything less than a full wind storm.

Anyway... Any charging source needs to be at a higher voltage than the batteries themselves. For a 48 volt battery bank, you need something approaching a minimum of 60 VDC to properly charge.

Most solar and wind charge controllers are of a "buck" design... Basically, they can only take higher voltage (and lower current) and down convert to lower voltage (and higher current).

There are a few Boost controller designs for solar:

https://sunforgellc.com/genasun/ (one example of a solar boost controller)

I don't know of any made for wind turbines--But I am not in the business so my knowledge is not very deep.

There are ways of making simple AC Voltage doublers circuits:

http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/Voltage-doubler-circuit.php (single phase)
http://www.reuk.co.uk/wordpress/electric-circuit/three-phase-voltage-multiplier/ (three phase)

So, you could make your own for a 24 volt turbine (3 phase, so 3x doubling circuits) that (I think) would work.

And you would add a simple "dump" controller to your system (if needed). Basically, a dump controller turns on if the battery bank is "charged", and dumps the excess current to a load bank (some power resistors typically).

If you still wish to continue down the wind turbine trail... Please note: Wind turbines can be noisy, really need to be on a 10 meter or taller tower to be in non-turbulent air, tower and concrete (if used) are significant expenses, and if you are in an area with trees/obstructions the turbine needs to be taller than the obstructions--Wind turbines do not produce "useful" energy in turbulent air.

Do not attach a turbine to the side or roof of your home. The noise will bother you, and can cause structural damage from the stress and vibration.

I guess you are somewhere in the London area of the UK... So you don't get a lot of sun.
http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html

London
Average Solar Insolation figures

Measured in kWh/m2/day onto a solar panel set at a 38° angle:
(For best year-round performance)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
1.27	2.04	2.76	3.67	4.17	4.20
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
4.25	4.16	3.26	2.41	1.53	1.05

Normally, I would suggest adding more solar panels as their output is much more consistent than wind... But you just do not get a lot of winter sun.

Here is an older discussion/thread about small wind. Very few systems even produced anywhere near their predicted output in a "windy" flat region of Netherlands:

https://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/3638/small-windpower-a-scam-survey-says-so/p1

My usual suggestion is that folks work on conservation first--Find the most energy efficient devices, turn off stuff when not used, and use as little as possible. Also insulation/shading of windows/etc. when needed.

Look for a Mini-Split Heat Pump Systems... For folks that have electric heat (and/or expensive natural gas, oil, etc.) heating, a Heat Pump can be 2x or more heating per Watt*Hour than a standard resistance based electric heater.

If you are still interested in a wind turbine... You do need to be a "miserably" windy location. Typically need something like 12 MPH / 19 KPH / 5.4 Meters per Second winds to even begin generating any useful power.

See if there are any neighbors that a wind turbine near you... See if they can tell you how many AH/WH per day/month/etc. that it can provide on average. Or on a windy day, see how much current/watts it is outputting...

-Bill