Billy Honaker's posts

  I have to agree with tom. I have a 6kw solar bank and five outbacks running the solar system through the hub and mate. I also have four wind turbines with plans to add two more this winter(and another two outbacks and 2.4kw of solar). where I live the turbines are useless in the summer, but late fall till late spring they aid in my power production. they don't produce what the solar panels do, but at night when we are running mainly a few lights, ceiling fans and the tv they sure help to keep the battery bank topped off, or at least take some of the load off it.

  the wind is never staying at one constant speed. it is always moving and switching around. it never makes a constant power level. I have seen my turbines make as much as 400 amps in winter storms, but normally I will end up between 8-20 amps at any given time in the winter. that is why we farm the wind. i'd love to have a 10kw solar system and 10 turbines. by time i'm done I will.

  I have a bogart 2025 rv trimetric meter on my battery bank. I called and spoke to them about it and have it hooked up right. my battery bank is a 12 volt 2250 amp hour bank of twenty 225 amp hour superlex 6 volt golf cart batteries.

  I like the meter, but I wonder how accurate it is. my battery bank shows 90% charged when it shows 12.6 volts left in the bank.  I have it set by the directions and have put all the info in the meter.

 before anybody gets on the high voltage band wagon, i'm NOT going any higher than a 12 volt system.  I have all the power coming in I need and am very happy with the system. going higher in voltage simply is not needed for me. the system has been running for awhile now and with no problems. higher voltage will be a problem because I have to start spending money to replace inverters that do not need to be replaced.

    I am planning to take the biggest part of my house off grid. I have four windturbines and 4.2kw of solar. I have left my bank at 12 volts and have a 2250 ah battery bank. I have multiple out backs going to a hub and mate for the solar and the wind turbines have their own charge controller with a dump load.

  I've been told that a higher voltage system would be a better way to go, but I can walk into any parts store or r.v. dealership and walk away with 12 volt items I need for the house.

  i'll be hard wiring a aims 5000/10000 watt pure sine wave inverter into a separate braker box. I will put a disconnect between the braker box and inverter and one between the regular braker box so I can switch back and forth if need be.

  our next home will be totally off grid on a 12 volt system. I know it can be done. I set up a 12 volt system for a friend of mine. he has one outback and is running four 200 watt panels to charge 10 6 volt Duracell golf cart batteries. he has propane to run his frig, stove and water heater. if it storms for 6 days straight he will trip the braker between his braker box and inverter. then he'll turn on the braker and start up his genny. after one day of charging in low light conditions he is charged back up fully and ready for another six days of rain. if the sky is clear and sunny, he has all the power he needs to run everything in his home. he runs the lights, tv , ceiling fans, microwave, computers what ever he needs. he just watches how long he runs the larger stuff like the micro wave or power tools. other than that he is ready to go all the time.

 I have always been told that the weakest battery would be what limited your system. that meaning the 1000ah batteries would be your limit. it would charge them all up to max charge, but you will get the amp hours of the 1000 ah battery.