New System Questions

[Sunking]

No, generator and wind is for outages. .

That does not work. You cannot sync up the Genny and wind turd. They have to be running at the exact same speed. Impossible.

To do that you need a Hybrid Inverter or as Butch calls then Bimodal and that requires batteries. The generator, wind, and solar have to be converted to DC power than converted to AC power to sync up. That would be very foolish.

Your two options are:

1. No Solar, just commercial power and a Generator with ATS switch to give you power during outages. Gives you exactly what you want and the most bang for your buck.

2. You got money to throw away and want solar in OK. No problem use a conventional Grid Tied System and the exact same generator and ATS switch for when power is out.

Forget the Wind Turd as they are not worth their time or money. In a year or two will be worthless junk that needs replaced. For a Wind Turd to work requires them to be on a Tower well abovetree and all obstructions.. In a year or two you will have to figure out how to get it down to replace it when it quits working. Either the bearing will wear out, strong wind burns the brake up, or lightning hits and burns up your electrical system. You do not want anything to do with a Wind Turd.

[thundercowpoke]

The windmill is not what you are thinking about. A great deal of engineering has went into its design and I am still not done tweaking it. Completely homemade, vertical, 5 hp, centrifugal breaking to control speed, designed to maintain constant speed (provided there is sufficient wind), cheap since most parts are salvaged. No trees in its location out in the open.

I don't need solar for anything. Would like to tinker with it though.

[jflorey2]

The windmill is not what you are thinking about. A great deal of engineering has went into its design and I am still not done tweaking it. Completely homemade, vertical, 5 hp, centrifugal breaking to control speed, designed to maintain constant speed (provided there is sufficient wind), cheap since most parts are salvaged. No trees in its location out in the open.

What is the tower height and the rotor diameter?

I don't need solar for anything. Would like to tinker with it though.

Then I'd recommend some salvaged grid tie panels, a cheap MPPT controller and a pair of T105's. That's about as cheap as you can get, and you won't be out too much money when you kill the batteries.

[thundercowpoke]

It is not on a tower it is vertical. The diameter is still under development. Each square foot of surface area delivers 0.007 HP. Working out how much surface area will be in the moment depends on the number of blades. More blades less diameter but it not quite that simple.

I once saw one that was linear on cables and wish I had more info on it. A Mennonite family was using it for lighting, go figure, but they were in the mountains of Arkansas.

I'm planning on just tinkering with my hunting cabin for now. I have 8, 320w 24V panels and a FM80 CC. Planning on buying 4 S-550 Rolls 428 ah batteries. Believe that puts me close to C/10 at a 48 volt configuration on panels and 24 volt battery (based on actual data sheet from panels and battery). My loads will be a deep well 24V 5A pump designed to work with solar @ 3 hours(probably when the sun is shining), some lighting, still to be determined how much, a radio and possibly some fans. All 24 volt except the radio. Total cost for the solar equipment is $3,500. Expensive, maybe, but within my means.

[Sunking]

I'm planning on just tinkering with my hunting cabin for now. I have 8, 320w 24V panels and a FM80 CC. Planning on buying 4 S-550 Rolls 428 ah batteries. Believe that puts me close to C/10 at a 48 volt configuration on panels and 24 volt battery (based on actual data sheet from panels and battery).

Hate to bust your bubble Okie but that is wrong. 2560 watts / 24 volt battery = 106 amps. Those batteries will not last but a year or so with a C/4 Charge rate if the charge controller does not burn up the first week.

So you need to do one of two things.

1. Loose 4 panels
2. Buy 4 more batteries and run 48 volts.

Do it your way and you will destroy your batteries and/or charge controller.

[thundercowpoke]

I see what I did wrong. I used the figures I had for my 48V home system to size the battery. There are @1100 ah batteries that will fit the bill. They are just a little more money.

Going with just 4 panels is also a good idea since I will not be using that much. With the 5A load being the biggest user. Doubt I use 300 gallons of water per day anyway.

My CC won't handle the Voc if I put 3 panels in series.

[thundercowpoke]

I have a question about running 48V. My panels were sold as320w 24V panels but here are the specs from the data sheet: Rated Current 8.52A, Rated Voltage 37.8 V Open Circuit V 46.7V, Short circuit 9.15 A, Max system 1000 VDC. I am thinking all of these are best/worst case scenarios, standard test conditions. The Voc at -20 C is @56V which is what I am designing the system around. This means I can only put two panels in series to stay below the max Voc of my CC. My question is given these numbers is my system 48 V or 75.6 V (37.8 x 2)? Is it possible to charge a 48V battery in this configuration?

[ButchDeal]

I have a question about running 48V. My panels were sold as320w 24V panels but here are the specs from the data sheet: Rated Current 8.52A, Rated Voltage 37.8 V Open Circuit V 46.7V, Short circuit 9.15 A, Max system 1000 VDC. I am thinking all of these are best/worst case scenarios, standard test conditions. The Voc at -20 C is @56V which is what I am designing the system around. This means I can only put two panels in series to stay below the max Voc of my CC. My question is given these numbers is my system 48 V or 75.6 V (37.8 x 2)? Is it possible to charge a 48V battery in this configuration?

your voltage rating is based on the battery not the solar. If you have a 48V battery sting and a 48V inverter, then it is a 48V system.

[thundercowpoke]

Thanks, Butch but I will be running the cabin all DC so no inverter. The lights that I have looked at can run 12-48V so no issue with these but the pump is 24V, the fans are 12-24V, and the radio is 12V. I will just have to find the appropriate voltage regulators. None of these have been purchased yet so I may yet find everything in one common voltage.

The main thing is if I can charge a 48V battery with this panel configuration. 2 series, 4 parallel. 2560 W, 75.6 V, 34.08 A. I am using a free design tutorial so I want to check my numbers and make sure I have it right.

[Sunking]

It takes at least 64 volts to charge a 48 volt battery. One problem you have is the panels and controller you have are not a good match for a 48 volt battery. Ideally you want your Vmp to run up around 75 to 90 volts, or a Controller with a higher Voc input like 200 to 600 volts.

[thundercowpoke]

After reading more in the FM80's manual it looks like I could run a 36V battery and use all 8 panels (2S,4P) while staying within the limits of my CC. This means a couple of more batteries but that is okay with me. This also falls within the limits of the voltage regulators I have found with a quick search.

[Sunking]

Good luck finding any Inverters or Converters for 36 volts. It appears you like learning the hard way by loosing a lot of money instead of educating yourself first and doing homework.

[SunEagle]

Good luck finding any Inverters or Converters for 36 volts.

That 36v would run a golf cart just fine.

[Sunking]

That 36v would run a golf cart just fine.

Not any more, they got smart and moved up to 48 volts.

[SunEagle]

Not any more, they got smart and moved up to 48 volts.

Damn. Now I have an antique.