I have a small wind system with an Ametek style 36VDC motor. For a charge controller I have an Oatley K241 I built from a kit, and a dump load made from elements from an old clothes dryer. The system charges a pair of Hitech DC31DT deep cycle flooded 12V batteries. A simplified schematic is below.
Current schematic
I am adding a 50W solar panel to the system, and am weighing the options for hooking this up. Option A shows the panel connected in parallel with the wind turbine input, so both are controlled by the Oatley, sending excess power to the dump load (which I will need to make larger). A blocking diode will be added to the solar panel.
Option A
Option B would use a Sunsaver 10 that I have surplus from elsewhere. In this option, the solar panel is controlled by the Sunsaver, and the wind setup stays as is. Since the Oatley is an on-off regulator, and the Sunsaver is a PWM, will this "confuse" the batteries when both regulators are charging the batteries? Should I put the setpoint voltage of the Oatley below, the same as, or above the Sunsaver's 14.4V setpoint?
Option B
If having two different kinds of controllers is confusing for the batteries, an option C would be to set up as in option A, but replace the Oatley with a PWM regulator such as a Xantrex C35 in diversion mode (but I would have to buy one).
