Splicing PV to existing wind system

[rumleyfips]

The laminates at Sunelec have me thinking about installing 1500w. Wind here in our part of Nova Scotia has become pretty Goldylocks. Too little or too much; seldom just right.

I have a 2000 watt inverter that came with my Chinese wind turbine ( $1600 delivered with tower) that works great , even if it doesn't like to start my furnace fan with the fridge , tv and lights drawing 350 watts.  My problem is the turbine battery bank outputs 96v nominal to the inverter.

I don't think an electric car DC-DC converter would work and I'm not sure about 100DC running around on a metal roof. Some EV conversions use a charger for each battery so 4 pair of panels, four controllers and 4 pairs of batteries configured as a 96 volt pack may work. Isolation would be important.

Has anyone tried this or have any ideas ? I could just buy another inverter but Since I bought a $1600 wind system, you know I'm cheap.

[Watt]

What specific panels are you looking to buy?

You could string panels together for say 110v or add a mppt controller to your pv.  Unfortunately, I woudln't know which one would fit this battery bank. 

Anyway, more specifics will get rid of the guessing. 

Good luck.

[rossw]

I'm not sure about 100DC running around on a metal roof.

Most of the grid-tie installations in Australia (where metal roofing is quite common) run at 100V DC or more (often 400V and above).

As long as your workmanship is reasonable, your panels are rated for system voltages appropriate to your use, and you use appropriately rated wire, switchgear etc, you have little to fear.

[rumleyfips]

The laminates I am looking at are Sun 148. 2 arrays of 4 panels each would be 97.2 to 116.65 volts and 12.2 to 13.7 a. My inverter is rated for 80 to 120 VDC at 20 A so this should work.

The batteries I have Alpa Cell gel cels and should be OK up to 14.6 volts. Full power is close to maximum equalization voltage but should be OK. Diode loss may bring everything in line. I use these batteries because I can get them for $25Cdn at my friendly local recycling depot.

The minimum order on these panel is 10, but I can always use the extra 2 to charge my riding lawn mower. Even if shipping is $500, that;s only $50 per panel; still a good deal.

I supose if I wired the 96 volt wind system with no problems I can safely wire panels for 100v.

[halfcrazy]

If you have a 96 volt battery you will likely want to charge to somewhere around 120volts for EQ so the PV array will need to have a VOC of 150 volts minimum I would shoot for 175-200 volts open circuit. Our Classic 250KS is designed to charge up to a 120volt battery so it would fit your needs if you wanted to stay with a 96 volt battery. Another option although more drastic is to re do the inverter system for say 48vdc but then you would need something to down convert the turbine to the 48vdc and a new inverter etc.

200 Volts open circuit is not really anything to be scared of it does deserve RESPECT and needs to be done properly but people string 5-600 volts open circuit all the time on the pure grid tie systems.

Ryan