Anotherpower.com Forum
Renewable Energy Questions/Discussion => Wind and Hydro => Topic started by: TurboMiles on January 11, 2017, 06:55:08 am
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I have a very simple system that may not be very good and I'm curious how you control/load your turbine. Do you charge batteries or are you grid tied?
I've been reading about the classic and the ABB grid tie. I like both and the classic is appealing but a battery bank can get very expensive.
Maybe there are other options out there that I don't know about.
Thanks
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With photovoltaic cells, you can use only as much as you want at any given moment and the surplus is just forgone. No ill effects.
Hydro and wind turbines however require a suitable load to control their speed. Without the load, they will simply speed up and up until they basically fly apart (or some other speed control kicks in - like a furling tail, or tap on the water line).
Batteries make a convenient way to capture power for later use - but if they are (or become) fully charged, or if they are not of sufficient capacity to take the full output of the turbine, then additional loads are required. So-called "opportunity loads" are often used - like large heating elements in hot-water units. If your water is already too hot, you'll need other places to use that power (or a way to shut down the turbine). Many people (myself included) have a large resistor "dump load" that is a last resort that the turbine controller can use to control the turbine.
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I am asking what do you use to convert wind turbine power into something you can use before the dump load is required. I totally understand how a turbine works and it must remain loaded. Are you grid tied and if so what device do you use. Or do you charge batteries and if so what device do you use and what inverter do you use to get the power back out if the batteries.
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I am asking what do you use to convert wind turbine power into something you can use before the dump load is required. I totally understand how a turbine works and it must remain loaded. Are you grid tied and if so what device do you use. Or do you charge batteries and if so what device do you use and what inverter do you use to get the power back out if the batteries.
Ahh, my bad.
No, I'm completely off-grid and have been for errr... 13 years I think.
I have what amounts to a large 3-phase bridge rectifier after my turbine, along with some voltage comparators that kick in part or all of my dumpload if the battery voltage gets too high. That rectified output goes through a current shunt and straight to my batteries.
In anything short of a howling gale, my turbine can't make much more than my base-load, so the over-voltage stuff has hardly ever triggered.
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So in your situation the battery is the load for the turbine.....How large is your battery bank?
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So in your situation the battery is the load for the turbine.....How large is your battery bank?
The equivalent of about 45 kWh lead acid.
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I'm thinking about buying 4 tesla model s modules. Each is 6kw and little maintenance, can be discharged 80%, but $5k is hard to part with.
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I'm thinking about buying 4 tesla model s modules. Each is 6kw and little maintenance, can be discharged 80%, but $5k is hard to part with.
I'm not sure I see the attraction of tesla modules. $5K for 6kWh ??
I've just bought 112 x 200AH 3.2V cells. For comparative purposes, $5K gets 16kWh of LFP.
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I've just bought 112 x 200AH 3.2V cells. For comparative purposes, $5K gets 16kWh of LFP.
Wow - that's an attractive price!! $44 each? Where do you get them from...
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Wow - that's an attractive price!! Where do you get them from...
The manufacturer. (And then import them myself to stave off multiple levels of on-selling each adding their 30% margin!)
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Ah - thought you meant 112 for $5k !! So you have over 100kwhr in LiFePo4 ? Sounds like a container load ;)
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Ah - thought you meant 112 for $5k !!
I wish!
So you have over 100kwhr in LiFePo4 ? Sounds like a container load ;)
No, nowhere near that. And it works out at a little over 70 kWh
This isn't all for me. Half for me, half for another chap. We're splitting the consignment which reduces our (individual) importation costs.
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Not exactly sure why (maybe water)but my blades have become unbalanced. I might have to get some fiberglass blades if keeping the wood blades balanced will be an issue.
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the balance shouldnt change that much , ..or so quickly with wood blades turbomiles ...some can be run with little coating at all
maybe something is beginning to loosen at the hub ........i,ve left bearing nuts unlocked and things went south fast .......hard to know
if it doesent " feel right " maybe take it down and check..................but thats easy for me to say
the first run usually brings out the gremlins.....
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Hey guys,
Here's a Dump load I built for a dual pmg. 100w wire wound resistors 1ohm each wired in parallel to achieve 1/2ohms to break when batteries (Pete helped design this delta wiring method)
SN
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i have an ista breeze 2kw wind turbine and never has the dump load I have done anything to prevent it from over speeding.
even if I bridge all three wires (the largest dump load possible), it still spins flat out in 30-40 mph winds.
its also got a brake function on its controller. which doesn't stop it in 30-40 mph winds either.
so I would recommend some way of mechanically turning the blades out of the wind or having a mechanical brake on the rotor.
A dump load will not help it, also not once has the dump load been activated due to the batteries being full, maybe if i went on holiday for a few weeks and turned everything off this could possible get close to happening.
even though the wind turbine i have is rated at 2kw, even in 40mph winds where the thing is spinning wildly fast, often mind boggingly fast at times, i have not seen over 1100w output with any load on it.
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I'm thinking about buying 4 tesla model s modules. Each is 6kw and little maintenance, can be discharged 80%, but $5k is hard to part with.
I'm not sure I see the attraction of tesla modules. $5K for 6kWh ??
I've just bought 112 x 200AH 3.2V cells. For comparative purposes, $5K gets 16kWh of LFP.
4 modules, each module 6kwh, 24kWh total