which charge controller?

[ged]

Im looking for advice on which charge controller to get for the solar side of my 24 volt system.First I have a 12 foot piggot style wind turbine,tristar ts 60 charge controller set to dump,1800 watts of 3 ohm 300watt heating elements,10 alpha gel batteries(plus 12 more for future use) setup for 24 volts,and 2 2.5 kw puresine inverters.Ive purchased 2 mitsubishi 218 watt solar panels,VOC 36.3 volts,VMP 29.3,7.44 amps.I was going to hook these up in series and I will be getting 2 more for a total of 4panels.around 800 watts in total.Im wondering if I should just get another ts 45 or ts 60pwm or do I need an mppt charge controller?

[gww]

What does the manufacter of the batteries say the absorb charge voltage should be?
You probly won't equalize gel batteries.  If you absorb is supposed to be around 27 volts and your panels are really close to the batteries I would think mppt would be a waste.  Wire the panels paralell through a pmw controller.  If the panels are far away then get mppt and wire in series.  If the batteries need 30 volts I guess you need mppt.
I only answer this from reading other post not from exsperiance.  If I am wrong someone pleese correct me.

[hydrosun]

If....... You don't live in a hot climate where the solar panel voltage drops, If...... Your dump loads are enough for both the wind genny and the solar panels, you could just hook th esolar panels directly to the battteries in parallel. The 29 volts mpp of the solar panels is high enough to fully charge gel cell batteries. The dump load will keep the battery voltage at the correct level. Ina hot climate the solar panel voltage may sag enough that less charging will occur when the batteries near full. If your wind genny and the solar panels put out over 1800 watts together then the voltage could rise high enough to damage the battteries. In that case you need a separate controller on the solar panels. In hot climate or long distance to battery you would gain significant out put with the panels in series and using a mppt controller.
Chris

[ged]

thanks for the replies .The solar panels will be approx 10 ft away from the batteries(mounted on top of battery house).I figured on getting a separate charge controller for the safety factor.I think I'll go with the pwm charge controller.Either another morningstar or a xantrex.

[jn_austin]

Sorry started to reply and realized your on batteries. Was thinking of a grid tie solution.