Controls

[wellusee]

Hi all,

I have built the 10' diameter, 24 Volt stator wind turbine.

 It is on a 30' tower in good wind .The tree phases are connected to a 60 Amp rectifier. I have a 60 amp charge controller. I'm about to buy the gel batteries (expensive) and inverter to give 5000 Watts

 From web sites I see elaborate systems with large electrical machines and lots of dials but never an explanation as what they are. Is there a simple wiring diagram for the 10' diameter, 24 Volt wind turbine? It would be a pity to blow something at this stage.

Regards.

[imsmooth]

5000W for a 10' rotor is a bit high.  The most I can see you making without burning out the generator wires is between 2-3kw.  Your 10' turbine should furl when you get close to your maximum allowable power.

[wellusee]

Thanks Jonathan "Wow" I'm learning, thats worth knowing. Just goes to show if you don't ask you wont learn. All help appreciated.

[wpowokal]

Don't confuse him Jonathan I understand him to mean his inverter will be 5Kw not the turbine, a 10' should be around the 750W rating, mine peaks out at around 1500w.

He will defiantly need some form of dump load for gel batteries.

allan down under

[wellusee]

Allan  ?? downunder !  Ahhim !  Thik your right there ... should I go for the 5000w inverter? Dono now ? Thanks.

[wdyasq]

Many of us would recommend Flooded Lead Acid batteries rather than gel cells. They should be less expensive and more tollerant of abuse than a gel cell battery.

You will need to analyze your needs to decide on the capacity of batteries and size of inverter you need.

Ron

[rossw]

Whats the hatered of AGM cells?

My main bank for the last 3 years has been 24 x 500AH 2V AGM cells.

I have a slightly over 10' turbine (1KW nominal, produces a little over that in a good wind), and until recently, 660W odd of PV.

I also drive a 5KW (continuous rated, 10KW peak) inverter off this battery.

I have never had a dumpload or charge controller on the system - partly because I always used more than I made, and partly because there's usually someone here to kick on extra load in the (unlikely) event we had surplus.

I've just installed another 1200W of PV and for the first time ever, have more power than base load, and I concede I've just purchased a charge controller - partly to get the most out of my array, and partly to protect the battery from potential damaging overcharge conditions.

My AGMs were not new when I got them, they've so far been keeping up with two charge/discharge cycles every day (sometimes 3) - so thats over 2200 cycles that I've given them (I know not how many before I got them). Thats way better than I got out of my trojan T105 cells, yet these have had no real maintenance or mollycoddling.

I too was warned of how "delicate" they are, but have to say I've been far from unhappy with them.

RossW

[Flux]

Used properly AGM can be fine. If you get them cheap then that's excellent.

They tend to be best for systems that are unattended and are not maintained. They are best for applications where they are nearly always fully charged and the input is more than the normal usage but under these conditions they need a precise charge controller.

They can be used as you describe and in fact all batteries are ok that way if you can watch them and look after the input and output. A charge controller is a luxury if you are prepared to look after your charge and load conditions. For those who can't or won't then it is essential.

Using AGM as you describe works well enough as long as you don't get them low for long periods and sulphate them. If you do it will take a very long time to correct it as they can't be equalised like flooded cells. Fortunately they seem less inclined to sulphate and as long as you can get them on charge quickly from a big discharge then they are ok.

If you want maximum capacity then they do need monitoring very closely and a charge controller is almost necessary. The final stage to get to full charge from about 85% is very slow. If you can manage with normally charging to about 85% and you don't let them get low enough for long enough to sulphate then they should be ok but if you have the capacity to charge them fully occasionally with a decent charge controller it will be better for them. Under these conditions solar is far more likely to get them fully charged than wind as it maintains the steady continuous charge whilst wind comes in peaks and lumps and most of the charge is diverted by the controller.

AGM tend last longer but again they they cost much more. For most applications that don't need to be left unattended flooded cells seem a better choice and as long as they are not left to sulphate they will certainly stand far more abuse from over charging. I would avoid gel, they are better suited to standby applications and seem much more fussy.

Flux

[Flux]

You can use a 5000W inverter with a 10ft machine as long as you have a battery bank capable of dealing with the inverter. In your case it would be ok.

The inverter size is determined by the largest load you want to run. What you need to bear in mind is that a 10ft turbine is not going to run 5000W loads for long. The maximum turbine output on windy days will not exceed 1000W. The average power on most days may not exceed 100W. 5000W for half an hour may be fine but don't expect to run it at 5000W all day even when it is windy and on low wind days you will need to charge all day to run it for less than half an hour. You will have many days with no useful power in at all.

I think many people get a very wrong idea of the continuous power you can get daily from a small turbine.

Flux

[TomW]

Flux;

I think many people get a very wrong idea of the continuous power you can get daily from a small turbine.

Boy, howdee, thats a flat fact.

According to my data, last month between 2 turbines We gathered just a bit over 10 KWH [10.19] in the entire month of July. This is assuming my Doc Wattson has not reset itself [it does that occasionally] That is one 10 foot Dual Rrotor and one 6.5 foot Motor Conversion. This month we are running higher numbers, a whopping 11.3 this morning with 3 days in the month to go., Peak amps was 55.03 into the nominal 24 volt bank That might lead some to think I get about 1400 watts from my turbines and while they can do this they do not do it continuously or even regularly.

Just the reality side of things.

I am not in what would be considered good wind country but they spin regularly.

Tom

[wellusee]

Thanks for that Flux .

[wellusee]

I was about to buy the heat element for the Morningstar TS60 but they are difficult to get in Ireland .My supplier suggested to go for a heater. Can anyone tell me what is the best or the recommended dump load heater for the 24 Volt stator on the 10' diameter turbine?

  Wellusee.