Can an inverter powering a heater be used as a dump load foe a wind turbine

LesGurley
LesGurley Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭
in Wind Power Generation #1
I am a disabled veteran and can't afford to have things done professionally or buy the "proper" parts, only what I can piece together that will work. I have tried to find information on this and it is practically impossible due to the excessive amount of minimally related information that comes up in search results. I have a couple of wind turbines and would like to know if I can use inverters powering space heaters as dump loads for them as it is also nearly impossible to find proper resistors for the purpose(due also to excessive results that aren't anything like what I am searching). On today's internet, you pretty much have to have the exact wording including spelling grammar, and punctuation perfect in your search and preferably the actual web address to the result you want or you will find yourself searching enough results to take 20 years of 24/7 effort to look through them all and they do not come up in order of relevance (many are not relevant at all).
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  • boB
    boB Solar Expert Posts: 1,032 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Yes, that can definitely work.  But the heater must be able to turn on and off based on the battery voltage rising above the dump voltage point and the heater should be cranked up all the way so that the heater itself doesn't turn off because its thermostat turns itself off.

    Than, an auxiliary output from the inverter set to the present charge voltage set point might drive a solid state AC relay to turn the heater on and off at the appropriate battery voltage.  IF that auxiliary output is available either on the inverter or a separate battery voltage sensor that can do this function.

    boB



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  • Ralph Day
    Ralph Day Solar Expert Posts: 1,028 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    What boB says.  That's how I had my bergey XL1 set up before I bought one of his lovely Clippers.  Takes all the worry out of the equation.  I actually found 120vac baseboard 1kw heaters.
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  • RCinFLA
    RCinFLA Solar Expert Posts: 1,485 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    You can do it but need a battery middle-man since inverter has a narrow operating input DC voltage range.
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