Author Topic: 1600W max pma turbine project  (Read 2661 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

THDLink

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 46
  • Country: us
  • /\ Fenner wind farm
1600W max pma turbine project
« on: January 10, 2015, 10:53:13 AM »
Good day to you all.
I've heard mixed reviews on this cheap kit I have just purchased; my expectations are level having done some research first.

The pma is rated at 1600 watts at some rediculous wind speed/ rmp  but my understanding is that it will put  out 100-300 watts
I've done some calculating and decided I need #6 welding wire @ 12 volts 30 amps (at least 3 batteries parallel ) for 35 feet cable length from the batteries. total 360 watts.


 This is what i want if I want less than 3% voltage drop.
I feel people use thin wire and get too low voltage by the time it reaches their battery to overcome the battery and get any amperage flowing. Lots of complaints on YouTube when they are using thin wire on a turbine like mine.

With 16 awg at 35 feet if the turbine is producing 14.7 volts and there is 30 amps of batter draw   (3+ batteries discharged heavily) the batteries don't  see any current because there is only 6 volts reaching them.
I feel i understand this but please correct me if I'm wrong (also factors like battery draw I should consider, I'm new too)(maybe I should've  put this in newbies?)

I'll  post pics as I recieve, paint , assemble ,  and erect/connect my wind turbine  :D
"We're going to need more batteries"

THDLink

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 46
  • Country: us
  • /\ Fenner wind farm
Re: 1600W max pma turbine project
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2015, 01:05:49 PM »
 would there be an issue with a 10 amp charge to a 100Ahr battery? Anyone have a good educational resource for me to learn about batteries and resistance ?
"We're going to need more batteries"

DamonHD

  • Super Hero Member Plus
  • *******
  • Posts: 4130
  • Country: gb
    • Earth Notes
Re: 1600W max pma turbine project
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2015, 01:12:41 PM »
Providing that you stop before overcharging a C/10 rate as you are suggesting there is probably OK.  I wouldn't necessarily want to leave my batteries on that indefinitely.  I let my sensible charge controller do the thinking for me.  I have about 200W max into 400Ah of 12V batteries.

Have you seen:

batteryuniversity.com

Rgds

Damon
Podcast: https://www.earth.org.uk/SECTION_podcast.html

@DamonHD@mastodon.social

Flux

  • Super Hero Member Plus
  • *******
  • Posts: 6275
Re: 1600W max pma turbine project
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2015, 03:01:02 PM »
The battery question is fairly easy. When in a low state of charge batteries can accept a high rate of charge, 10A for a 100Ah  battery is fine, the average car alternator will push 70 or so amps into a battery smaller than that. You need to reduce the charge rate when you have completed the bulk charge and the controller normally does that by limiting the charge voltage to something in the region of 14v, the battery then charges at a current which falls as it becomes charged.

The earlier questions are difficult, I think you are confusing several things. The load on the battery has very little effect on the charge produced by the wind turbine. The leads to the inverter need to be short and heavy, the lower the volt drop there the better.

The situation with the turbine is rather complicated and the answer really depends on the turbine. Any volt drop in the cable is a loss, but reducing it to very low levels may or may not be an advantage, the whole process is complex. Your turbine will only produce battery voltage at cut in, at the wind speed needed to give significant power out the blades will need to be running well above the cut in speed so the open circuit voltage may well be more like 36v. This open circuit voltage is the emf. When connected to the battery the battery end will be at nominal 12v. Some volts will be lost on the cables and the rest will be lost in the alternator windings. The current that will flow will be (emf - battery volts) divided by the circuit resistance.

If the alternator is very efficient ( low internal resistance) and the cable loss is low, you will stall the blades and the prop will develop little power. You have excellent electrical efficiency and dreadful prop efficiency and the result will be a disaster.

If the electrical losses are higher the prop will spin faster and produce much more power. There is an ideal electrical loss that will bring the prop on the peak of its power curve. If you are at this point or running faster, adding extra cable loss will worsen the situation and expensive cable will be beneficial, if you are way down in the prop stall region then increasing the cable loss will actually improve things, so it all depends on the alternator you have. If it is a really poor thing then keeping cable loss to 3% may be sensible but in many cases you will get better results with more cable loss and up to 10% may not be detrimental.

You don't actually say what turbine it is but you give a few clues and I am afraid I suspect the alternator is so dreadfully inefficient that the very expensive cable may be beneficial although even then it may only make a few watts difference for a given wind speed, sometimes you have to choose between the ideal and what is realistically cost effective.
Flux

THDLink

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 46
  • Country: us
  • /\ Fenner wind farm
Re: 1600W max pma turbine project
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2015, 01:33:18 PM »
It's the thermodyne brand. I wanted something to get my feet wet before I spend 1000+ on the real deal. You are saying the high internal resistance makes it less efficient. I'll know what that means eventually  :) ... thanks for the input

batteryuniversity... I heard of it but it got lost in my many bookmarks. I've been checking it out. Thanks.

"We're going to need more batteries"