Latest posts of: Eric F

Posted by Eric F on Jul 21, 2009 10:52 am

#1 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Charge Controller for Whisper 100 Wind Generator

OK James, so what do you recommend? What controller for the wind genny and what controller for the solar panels?

Posted by Eric F on Jul 20, 2009 08:37 pm

#2 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Charge Controller for Whisper 100 Wind Generator

I installed my Whisper 100 last fall and now the charge controller has gone haywire! I have contacted Southwest Windpower and have been given a "ticket number". But no answers or any help of any knid. Sooooo, what other options are there for setting up a charge controller for my system? I am operating off grid into 4, 258AH, AGM 12 volt batteries in series for a 48V system. I use a 48V inverter to power my 120V AC electrical devices, such as TV, lights, refrigerator, etc.

I would like to also add solar panels this year or next spring for a total of about 1800 watts from the PV. Is there a charge controller I could buy that would handle both the wind generator and the 1800 wats of solar PV?

VonZip

Posted by Eric F on Dec 2, 2008 09:15 am

#3 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Wind Turbine going Overvoltage

Jon,

I included the info about the voltage across the leads because it is one of the troubleshooting suggestions when something seems amiss. I added that info to indicate the turbine output appeared to be OK. Thanks to all respondents.
Eric

Posted by Eric F on Dec 1, 2008 08:32 pm

#4 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Wind Turbine going Overvoltage

Jon,
It seems you have the answer for me. I set the time hysterisis swith as you said and the problem appears to have gone away. My thanks to you. This is what a forum is to accomplish. Thanks again.

Eric

Posted by Eric F on Dec 1, 2008 02:57 pm

#5 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Wind Turbine going Overvoltage

Ken, I forgot to answer your question about the battery bank. I have four Concorde PV2580L batteries rated at 250AH connected in series to set up 48 volts.

When I throw the diversion swith to OFF there isn't supposed to be any power to go to the dump load, is there? Doesn't that short out the leads together to act as abrake on the wind turbine?

Eric

Posted by Eric F on Dec 1, 2008 02:53 pm

#6 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Wind Turbine going Overvoltage

When the voltage went over 57.4 the readout said ON and the green light was on. No heat was detected at the dump load. Seems to me it should have gone to Red blinking and some of the load should have gone to the dump load. By switching the diversion swith to OFF the red light came on and the turbine began to slow down.

Today at noon it was doing this same thing again. I checked the AC voltage across the turbine leads and found it was operating at about 42 volts across any two leads. And, once again it spiked at about 64 volts and caused the inverter to shut itself down.

Posted by Eric F on Dec 1, 2008 11:32 am

#7 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Wind Turbine going Overvoltage

Issue: I have a H-100 Whisper Wind turbine and it is set up for 48 volt operation. I have the optional remote digital controller. The "Regulation ON" voltage set at 57.4 volts and the "Regulation OFF" set at 52.5 volts.

Yesterday we had strong winds in the 25 mph range and the voltage kept going to 60+ volts. My inverter shuts down due to overvoltage (factory setting) at 62 volts.

Therefore, the inverter kept shutting off and then reset and began again when the voltage dropped once again below 62 volts.

Why isn't the charge controller causing the turbine output to be regulated by sending some of the power to the dump load?

this is my first renewable project and it is disconceting when things go OK and then get strange like this. Assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric

Posted by Eric F on Oct 29, 2008 09:42 am

#8 - Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Temporarily Stopping a Wind Turbine

I have a Southwest Windpower Whisper 100 Wind Turbine. Due to weather constraints and time available to install it, I will have the turbine up on the tower before the electrical work is completed on the power panel.

The tower is separated from the building by about 300 feet. I have installed a disconnect switch near the base of the tower and I want to prevent the generator from spinning unloaded while I complete the panel in the building. Could I leave the disconnect switch OFF and jumper the three leads from the generator together to cause the turbine to stop? Would this damage the generator?

Thanks,

Eric F.

Posted by Eric F on Oct 29, 2008 09:41 am

#9 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Wind Generator Stop Switch

I have a Southwest Windpower Whisper 100 Wind Turbine. Due to weather constraints and time available to install it, I will have the turbine up on the tower before the electrical work is completed on the power panel.

The tower is separated from the building by about 300 feet. I have installed a disconnect switch near the base of the tower and I want to prevent the generator from spinning unloaded while I complete the panel in the building. Could I leave the disconnect switch OFF and jumper the three leads from the generator together to cause the turbine to stop? Would this damage the generator?

Thanks,

Eric F.

Posted by Eric F on Sep 24, 2008 04:17 pm

#10 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Re: Southwest Windpower Whisper 100 Slip Rings

Thank you, Ken. I've had a tough time getting that one answered.

Posted by Eric F on Sep 23, 2008 12:09 pm

#11 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Southwest Windpower Whisper 100 Slip Rings

Does this wind turbine have slip rings, or not? What do you do to ease twisting of the wiring if it does not have slip rings?

Posted by Eric F on Sep 5, 2008 09:57 pm

#12 - Renewable Energy > Technical Discussion: Other > Wind Turbine Disconnects

I have a H100 Wind Turbine that will be on a 50' tower that will be 300 feet away from my home.

Questions:

1- Should I have disconnect switches installed at the base of the tower AND at the point where the wiring comes into my home?
If so, should the disconnects be just a single throw, or a double throw with the terminals connected together on one throw (to stall the generator)?

2- Should the wiring size from the top of tower to the base disconnect be the same gauge as the wiring from the house to the tower base?

3- Code says the wire must be in conduit, so how do I deal with the twisting of the wiring that will occur between the top of the tower and the base?

I have lots more questions, but these are the immediate ones.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Eric

Posted by Eric F on Sep 4, 2008 02:23 pm

#13 - Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Disconnects at Base of Wind Tower

I have a H100 Wind Turbine that will be on a 50' tower that will be 300 feet away from my home.

Questions:

1- Should I have disconnect switches installed at the base of the tower AND at the point where the wiring comes into my home?
If so, should the disconnects be just a single throw, or a double throw with the terminals connected together on one throw (to stall the generator)?

2- Should the wiring size from the top of tower to the base disconnect be the same gauge as the wiring from the house to the tower base?

3- Code says the wire must be in conduit, so how do I deal with the twisting of the wiring that will occur between the top of the tower and the base?

I have lots more questions, but these are the immediate ones.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Eric

Posted by Eric F on Jul 16, 2008 10:36 am

#14 - Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: First RE System is Planned

My thanks to David and John for their explanations.

Onward to my next area of questions:

Do I need separate charge controllers for the PV and the wind turbine? Do they both connect to the battery bank in the same way? Must there be separate battery banks?

Thanks for any help, again.
Eric

Posted by Eric F on Jul 15, 2008 03:59 pm

#15 - Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: First RE System is Planned

Quote from: Mike Harrison on Jul 14, 2008 10:36 am

Hi Eric,
In checking the NEC 2008 book, Table 8 Conductor Properties. Your suggested #2 wire in copper is .201 ohms/kFT and in Aluminum is .313 ohms/kFT.
The issue here is what is my wattage loss through this long cable run and what is the final voltage drop at the end of the cable run? Ohms law and basic power formulas will give you these answers.

I squared * R = Power loss
and
E = I * R , for the voltage drop

Given: max amperage (I = 18.75 A)
Max voltage (E = 48 vDC)
Cable Ohms #2 Copper@ .201 ohms per 1000 feet * 375 FT
#2 Alu@ .313 ohms per 1000 FT * 375 FT
Note: This being a closed loop DC circuit I must consider the cable run in both directions thus doubling my ohms total for the cable.
#2 copper ohms (R = .15075 ohms total)
#2 aluminum ohms (R = .23475 ohms total)

Power Loss
I sq * R = 18.75sq * .15075 = 53 watts on copper
I sq * R = 18.75sq * .23475 = 82 watts on aluminum

Voltage Drop
E = I * R = 18.75 amps * .15075 ohms = 2.8 volts on Copper
E = I * R = 18.75 amps * .23475 ohms = 4.4 volts on Alu

Are these numbers tollerable??? Maybe!
Will your cable run be melting the snow between your wind tower and the garage with 53 watts? NO.
Will your wind mill be usually be outputting its maximum 900 watts and therefore 18.75 amps? No, so these numbers are based on a theoretical maximum which may not be achieved.
Will your batteries fail to fully charge? Yes, Your batteries really want 2.1v per cell ( 12.6 volts for a 6 cell battery). So hopefully the wind mill outputs just over 48 volts and the ocassions when your voltage drop over the wire is above 1 volt it will have little overall effect on your final delivered wattage to the garage.

Now increasing your cable size to 3/0 will give you a maximum voltage drop of 1.12 volts and only 21 watts of power loss. Better? YES, but at what cost??? Price of #2 copper vs 3/0 copper.
MikeH.

Mike,

I have only one quibble with your numbers.� My chart for #2AWG says the max ohms are .159 and the weight per 1000 feet is 201#.� Did you jump columns?

In any case the voltage drop using #2 is still 2.23V.

Here's the really funny thing.� If you download the Southwest Windpower Manual for the Whisper 100 you find they say you can go many more feet with only # 6 or even #8 wire.

http://store.altenergystore.com/mmsolar/others/REVC-3-CMLT-1033-01-Whisper_100_Owner%27sManual.pdf

See Page 9 of 42.

I do not understand.� Can anyone explain this (what appears to be a) discrepancy?

Eric F.

Posted by Eric F on Jul 9, 2008 02:34 pm

#16 - Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: Power needed for remote wireless signal repeater

In simple terms the voltage time the amperage equals the wattage. Or, V x I = P. Therefore, 5 volts times 1 amp = 5 watts for the camera.

Yeah, I believe the on-line calculator doesn't like low temperatures. Look at the "Batteries" section of this site to see the different types and their characteristics. Looks to me like you could easily use AGM batteries and allow for less drawdown (discharge) and be just fine. Instead of allowing for 50% discharge, plan on using only about 20% and calculate your battery needs accordingly. These "less drawdown" percentages will give you longer battery life, too.

Camera at 5V versus system at 12 volts. Yep, this is a problem. With AC power it is a matter of using a step down transformer, but in DC that isn't the case. You would need a resistive load (in series)that would dissapate about 7 volts to get this to work. That's a lot of load just thrown away, so to speak.

Consider, for example, if you put a lightbulb rated for 5 volts DC in a 12 volt circuit with a battery, the bulb will most likely be very bright for a very short time (seconds) and burn out. If you did the same thing with an 18 volt rated lightbulb, it will glow dimly but for a very long time. Your camera will work best if set up in a circuit that provides the correct voltage. 12volts may very well ruin it in a "flash!"

Eric

Posted by Eric F on Jul 9, 2008 12:18 pm

#17 - Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: Power needed for remote wireless signal repeater

Quote from: Eric Frantz on Jul 9, 2008 12:05 pm

Well, here goes a try at being of some help.

First, lets just work with the two radios. Together they need 800mw at 12v. That's 19.2wh per day or 576wh per month or only a little more than a half a kilowatt-hr per month. Use .6 to up to 1KW-hr per month and use the "off-grid" calculator under the "learn" tab of this website.

If we add in the power for the camera using 5V and 1w. That comes to (1w x 24 hr x 30 days) = 720wh per month. Again, add the 576wh-month from above and you get to 1,296wh per month. Go to the calculator and enter about 1.5KWH/month.

I'm unsure how this will work out since using a 5v camera with a (most likely) 12v system isn't going to work. A 12v camera would make things simpler for you.

Hope this helps or at least spurs some clarifying discussions.

Eric

My bad! The camera uses 5 watts per hour or 120 watts per day or 3600 watts per month. The camera really changes things! Again use the calculators you will find on this website.

Eric

Posted by Eric F on Jul 9, 2008 12:05 pm

#18 - Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: Power needed for remote wireless signal repeater

Well, here goes a try at being of some help.

First, lets just work with the two radios. Together they need 800mw at 12v. That's 19.2wh per day or 576wh per month or only a little more than a half a kilowatt-hr per month. Use .6 to up to 1KW-hr per month and use the "off-grid" calculator under the "learn" tab of this website.

If we add in the power for the camera using 5V and 1w. That comes to (1w x 24 hr x 30 days) = 720wh per month. Again, add the 576wh-month from above and you get to 1,296wh per month. Go to the calculator and enter about 1.5KWH/month.

I'm unsure how this will work out since using a 5v camera with a (most likely) 12v system isn't going to work. A 12v camera would make things simpler for you.

Hope this helps or at least spurs some clarifying discussions.

Eric

Posted by Eric F on Jul 9, 2008 10:02 am

#19 - Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > Re: First RE System is Planned

I have no problem with your math. However, I'm planning on using #2 AWG wiring for the long run. I am calculating using about 5% to 10% voltage drop, which isn't uncommon for wind turbines. Yes, the wiring is expensive. But to get to the clean air this is where the turbine must go.

If I build my power base (battery room, inverters, etc.) at the tower base, I still need #4AWG to run the 115/120v to the house. And, I then have to go 125 yards just to check and maintain the equipment. I am planning on an annex to my garage which will be firewalled and vented. It will use passive solar and a heat sink to keep the room above 10F here in northern Wisconsin winters.

I am actually more curious to hear what others are using for a charge controller to handle a hybrid system. And I am still stumped on what PV panels I should be looking at. I have many other questions that I'm sure will arise as I get further along.

Has anyone had any problems with zoning ordinances in their locale? How have your worked through those concerns?

I appreciate comments, they really help me think through all this.

Posted by Eric F on Jul 7, 2008 03:15 pm

#20 - Renewable Energy > RE General Discussion > First RE System is Planned

Well, I'm ready to begin working toward my first system. My plan calls for a 900W windturbine(already available to me, so that's a small savings) and about 1kw of PV. I want to make this joined together into a hybrid system that will be used off-grid.

First, the wind turbine will be located 375 feet from the battery room. I anticipate using 48 volt to keep the buried wiring size reasonable from the turbine back to the battery room.

Second, the PV will be located above the battery room on a roof area that is approximately 20 x 20 feet.

Batterys will be 6volt 200ah. Bank will be 8 in series set up in two parallel banks.

I'm seeking advice about components I will be needing. And, how to set all this up to run power to a distribution panel that will be in my basement about 30 feet horizontally and 8 feet vertically from the inverters.

That's about as far as the plan goes at this point.

I look forward to helpful comments from the forum. Thanks for putting up with a new member.

Eric

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