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What charge controller do I need for my 5 solar panels and windgenerator

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  • What charge controller do I need for my 5 solar panels and windgenerator

    I have uploaded a drawing of the system that I want to design below. I had to crop it as the forum max size is pretty small. I have 5 solar panels, of two different specs. And a wind generator that can deliver up to 400W

    I need to find a charge controller that works well with my batteries and that can direct excess electricity to my LED dumpload.

    I also need a way to efficiently use the power to power a few 12V pumps, but that can be figured out later.

    Can you help me please?
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  • #2
    Originally posted by EarthWays View Post
    I have uploaded a drawing of the system that I want to design below. I had to crop it as the forum max size is pretty small. I have 5 solar panels, of two different specs. And a wind generator that can deliver up to 400W

    I need to find a charge controller that works well with my batteries and that can direct excess electricity to my LED dumpload.

    I also need a way to efficiently use the power to power a few 12V pumps, but that can be figured out later.

    Can you help me please?
    I see 3 potential issues with your design.
    1. You should never mix different types and wattage of solar panels.
    2. You should never wire more than 2 sets of batteries in parallel (7 sets is not good)
    3. Wind generators require a different charge controller then solar pv panel generation so you will need more than one for your system.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by EarthWays View Post
      ..... And a wind generator that can deliver up to 400W

      I need to find a charge controller that works well with my batteries and that can direct excess electricity to my LED dumpload.

      Can you help me please?
      Why use a LED dumpload, that would be very expensive. A bank of heat lamps or high watt resistors is often used instead.
      Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
      || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
      || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

      solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
      gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Mike90250 View Post
        Why use a LED dumpload, that would be very expensive.
        I want to use strips of red LED lights in my polytunnel because it want to give the plants as much extra light as I can. I am in the North of Scotland and I am hoping it will help extend the growing season. I already have the strips. It was not that expensive to make. That is also why I am working on underground heating, to try and keep the tunnel frost free during winter time.

        Originally posted by SunEagle
        I see 3 potential issues with your design.
        1. You should never mix different types and wattage of solar panels.
        2. You should never wire more than 2 sets of batteries in parallel (7 sets is not good)
        3. Wind generators require a different charge controller then solar pv panel generation so you will need more than one for your system.
        Thank you for that. I was not aware of that. I have a small controller now that does one solar panel and the wind, so I assumed I just needed to upgrade.
        Easily done by splitting the bank in two or 3, I guess.

        Do you have any suggestions how to split it up and which equipment I would need?
        Last edited by EarthWays; 08-27-2015, 08:56 AM. Reason: mistake

        Comment


        • #5
          What is your wind genny? If it's a Southwest Air 403 or one of it's clones they have an internal voltage regulator so do not require a charge controller.

          If you wish to us a dump load controller such as a xantrax c40 you don't need any controller between the solar or wind genny and battery bank as long as it and the dumpload can handle more power then your genny and solar can produce.

          WWW

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          • #6
            LEDs may be a real bad choice for a dump load. With they way dump load controller work it could easily cause them to flicker or turn on/off very quickly. watch a PWM controller sometime and see how fast the light flashes when the batteries are charged. Dump load controllers are set at a narrower voltage range and will "flash" the lights even faster.

            WWW

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Wy_White_Wolf View Post
              LEDs may be a real bad choice for a dump load. With they way dump load controller work it could easily cause them to flicker or turn on/off very quickly. watch a PWM controller sometime and see how fast the light flashes when the batteries are charged. Dump load controllers are set at a narrower voltage range and will "flash" the lights even faster.

              WWW
              I have been told that we could use a dumpload trigger that would switch on at e.g 12.75V and switch off at 12.50. Which would solve the flickering issue. Have I been told rubbish information you think?

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Wy_White_Wolf View Post
                What is your wind genny? If it's a Southwest Air 403 or one of it's clones they have an internal voltage regulator so do not require a charge controller.

                If you wish to us a dump load controller such as a xantrax c40 you don't need any controller between the solar or wind genny and battery bank as long as it and the dumpload can handle more power then your genny and solar can produce.

                WWW
                it is not at Soutwest air or clone. I bought is with a charge controller, which also took a solar panel. So I think it needs one.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by EarthWays View Post
                  I have been told that we could use a dumpload trigger that would switch on at e.g 12.75V and switch off at 12.50. Which would solve the flickering issue. Have I been told rubbish information you think?
                  Yes, so it turns the lights on when the bank reaches 12.75 and off at 12.50. That is too low of a voltage as the batteries will never fully charge. What will happen is it will sense charging voltage which is about 1 volt higher than state of charge. Turn the lights on 12.75V. This uses all the charging load. Your system voltage quickly falls to battery voltage which will be below 12.5 and turn the lights back off. Charging voltage quickly rises and the process repeats very fast.

                  It may not happen for the first few days as then they would run continuously until the battery fall below 12.5 volts. But it will happen.

                  WWW

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by EarthWays View Post
                    it is not at Soutwest air or clone. I bought is with a charge controller, which also took a solar panel. So I think it needs one.
                    Is it a PM style or does it have an exciter field wire?

                    PM - it would be wired directly to the batteries and need a dumpload style controller. If you hook this up to the charge controller like you do with PV the motor will burn up. It needs some kind of load to use the power that it generates.

                    Exciter field - needs a voltage controlled switch to excite the field when the batteries are low and turn it off when they are charged. Or wire the exciter directly to the batteries so it can run all the time and use a dumpload controller to control battery voltage.

                    The wind genny could still be internally regulated and they meant for the charge controller to be used only with the PV panel

                    WWW

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                    • #11
                      A decent article explaining why you use dump load controllers:

                      http://solarhomestead.com/dump-load-diversion-load/

                      Last part of this explains why lights are not a good choice for a dump load:

                      http://solarhomestead.com/dump-loads...nd-microhydro/

                      WWW

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Wy_White_Wolf View Post
                        A decent article explaining why you use dump load controllers:
                        http://solarhomestead.com/dump-load-diversion-load/

                        Last part of this explains why lights are not a good choice for a dump load:
                        http://solarhomestead.com/dump-loads...nd-microhydro/ WWW
                        They forgot to mention, the resistance of a light bulb varies around 20:1 from cold to hot. That
                        feature can be useful (bleeder resistor), but not so good as a dummy load. Bruce Roe

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