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Forum Index : Windmills : New to Wind Power
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| Phillip Newbie  Joined: 14/11/2012 Location: CanadaPosts: 6 |
I am new to wind power, but have been tinkering with an ac inverter and battery bank for a few years now. I have one in my house 3000 watt with 5 batteries in my bank currently charging my system with an ac charger and running a few plugs on the main floor of my house. I also have the same setup in each of my company e-250 vans. I am currently looking at a wind setup and want to pull a couple of the smaller circuts in pannel box Ie: some plugs and lamps and connect them to a wind powered system. Namely a Apollo 650W AC 12V Wind Turbine + SolarWind Hybrid RX Charge Controller for Land or Marine Use Basicly what I need to know 1. Is this an ok system (best bank for the buck) 2. When I pull the circuts from my pannel. 1a. Most ac inverters have plugs on them, according to code you cannot plug in a house circut to the controller, the system has 3 outputs and I know that ac inverters are to be hooked in to them then the load hooked in accordingly. 3. The only ac inverter I see around that can be hard wired through a pony pannel is the grid tie inverters. I do not plan on feeding the grid. Can I for example hook up the wind system as per instructions and code where applicable. Then feed the grid tie inverter from the controller then into a small pony pannel, then wire up the circuts from the house to the other side of the pannel. Of course there will be disconnects and other things in the circut....I guess what I am trying to do is mimmic the pannel in the house now on a much smaller scale and substitute the power utility company with the wind setup. As I can see the above Apollo system has what I need and can be expanded. Thanks from the Newbee |
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| Phillip Newbie Joined: 14/11/2012 Location: CanadaPosts: 6 |
  no replies...... |
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Downwind Guru  Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Im a little confused to to exactly what you want to do in question 2 and 3, with so many hook ups its more like going fishing than wiring. No you can not use a grid tied inverter for a off grid application, there is off grid inverters to suit running a house, but they are costly and require more than a small windmill with a couple of batteries to run them. I dont know the Apollo system and im too lazy to go searching for information on it, it might pay you to provide some links/information on the system. Sometimes it just works |
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yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
[Quote]As I can see the above Apollo system has what I need and can be expanded. Hi Phillip, welcome to the forum, hope you enjoy it! I had this great line I have been working on, comparing wind turbines to trophy wives and boats and feeling happy while you try and fill a bottomless pit with money.... completely forgotten how it went, sorry. Then again, it could have been a bit rude and got me in trouble. APOLLO 12 V wind turbine rating By Yahoo ................FUN  
BANG FOR BUCK 
EXPANDABILITY
.COOL FACTOR 
I personally think the apollo will be the same as the generations of air303, air403 airX turbines that it follows. It will pump out about 75 to 130 watts in a good stiff wind and misbehave, scream and sulk for the rest of the time. The combination of a short tail, small rotor and 2000+ RPM makes them a bit of a pig.It would be great if you could find one that is up and running and go and have a look at it on a blustery windy day and see what you think. If you are in this for the long haul and this is not just a phase you are going through, then you should set your sights on equipment that works at a higher voltage. 12 volt gear is at its limit at 1200 Watts (80 Amps) 24 volt will give you a lot of simple cost effective options to play with up to about 2300Watts (80 Amps). Beyond that I would design around 48 volts and be looking pretty hard at solar to provide the majority of the power.....or keep the grid and invest in some energy saving appliances. 
yahoo I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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| Phillip Newbie Joined: 14/11/2012 Location: CanadaPosts: 6 |
Thanks Here is a link To the system http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apollo-450-W-550-W-650-W-800-W-Watt- 12-V-AC-Wind-Turbine-Generator-Hybrid-Contro-/130733700931 Second I guess my post was as clear as mud so to speak...well it is clear to me cause i have a picture in my head LOL Again as I said I am fairly new to this alternative energy What I want to do is: Remove some of the smaller 15 amp circuts from my pannel box in the house and hook them up to the ac inverter and battery bank (off grid) Reduce my electricial bill. There are no systems here to look at that I know of. I really wish there was. So that means no local help to get started or answer questions. I have myself overloaded with info and am starting to get confused LOL. I do have an Electrical Power Utilities trade and basic electrician but have not practiced it for many years. I'm a gardener now. so yes the higher the voltage the better just can't put a kit together Any help anyone can give me is great just don't get too technicial on me. I will try to draw the setup I have in mind and post it later. Thanks Again Phillip |
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| Phillip Newbie Joined: 14/11/2012 Location: CanadaPosts: 6 |
Here is the Wind setup I am Looking at 
The three outputs a,b,c have plugs for pluging in things ie lamps radio. Not complete house circuts. What are my options/inverter choices for removing complete 15 amp circuts 14/2 wire from my house pannel and hard wiring in to the inverter. Maybe I am not looking at this right...once again new to this.... Thanks Phillip |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
I think Yahoo2 summed the Apollo up very well and i agree with him, they are not much more than a weather cock, and a noisy one at that. With such small blades they need to spin a very high RPM to make good power, and 90% of the time this wont happen. The way they are designed you cant even modifie them to improve the design either. If you could find someone with one, they would most likely give it to you to get rid of it. Sometimes it just works |
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| Phillip Newbie Joined: 14/11/2012 Location: CanadaPosts: 6 |
Well any suggestions for a starter kit...with room to expand.. |
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mac46 Guru Joined: 07/02/2008 Location: United StatesPosts: 412 |
Phillip: I must agree with the others about the selected turbins...have a read about some of the home built styles here in this section. Also, before building anything have a check downtown at the city hall office to see what can or can't be built and how high a tower can be (if at all)...laws differ in areas from state to state and country to country. Even if all you do is install solar pannels, this would be a plus for you...consider the $$$ spent on wind generators and towers verses all solar, also consider passive hot water. Things are not always so simple...and there is no cut and dried answer...only you know what you have as far as skills and talent. Hope this helps some...keep asking we will try to help... Mac46 I'm just a farmer |
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| mac46 Guru Joined: 07/02/2008 Location: United StatesPosts: 412 |
Phillip: Generally speaking... a single 3000 wt. inverter will pull alot of amps...and you seem to have (3)...with only 5 batteries. This is like haveing a 427 engine and only 5 gallon of fuel. Some...and I say some people, have individule low voltage circuits for lights, this bypasses the inverter and minimizes losses. Some people have built their own wind system generators...and many with great success. Things that are key are ... Towers that are about 20 feet higher than surounding obsticals and also atleast 50 feet high and some as high as 90 to 100 feet, seems that the higher the better. You did not say what size and type of batteries, inverters, ect. that you have. Generally, voltage controls for solar pannels used to charge batteries will not work for controling the wind generator and so seperate and differant controllers are used, some but not all inverters are (combineable or stackable)and can be used together in tandom. 12 volt wet cell batteries should not be drawn under 1/2 capasity, it shortens their life, many members have a sizeable bank of batteries and also have gone to a higher voltage for more efficiency. Hope this helps, start with a small system...become knowageable about it, an go for there. Mac46 I'm just a farmer |
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| Phillip Newbie Joined: 14/11/2012 Location: CanadaPosts: 6 |
First of all Thanks to all Well this all came about, around 8-9 years ago. We had bought a new house well new to us and it has a crawl space. After being here for a year or so we noticed there was always water in the crawl space 2-3 inches....no prob I said I will dig a hole and put in a sub pump..Done Then we had a massive storm almost 200 mm in 3 days I think, the power went and the water rose to almost 2 feet (i should add this is ground water and insurance does not pay)so I did some homework bought an ac inverter (1000 watt) and some batteries 2 I think at the time and an ac automatic charger to charge the bank (what i thought was a bank)to keep them topped up...so proud of my self at the time LOL. Then we had another flood, power went worked great for half the day on the 2 batteries. Then the batteries went dead LOL....Ok so buy more batteries I said and I did upped it to 5 on a 12 volt inverter system....worked great still there still working (knock on wood) A couple of years ago we had a storm Hurricane Igor lots of rain and no power...well after 3 days no power batteries dead crawl space starting to flood out generator time I said and back fed the house....problem solved...around a 100.00 in fuel later 3-4 days of rain 10 days no power... Then Hurricane Sandy paid us a visit this year system worked fine with the generator but time to upgrade I said NEED MORE POWER....This brings me to you guys..I have lots of roof (an A frame/Cape cod) roof slope facing North and south, but solar pannels are so expensive as compared to wind and there is lots of wind here in Newfoundland the ridge of my house is about 24 feet from ground. So of course in my opinion wind was the way to go. Alternative energy is not big here in Newfoundland, Canada yet. Some of the new commericial buildings are doing the geothermal thing and even some houses....There is one company that deals in residential alternative energy.....$3000.00 to come here and look at the house and draw a PLAN for a system. One year of testing for wind (even though I have all the wind charts for my house for the last 6 years. No testing needed for solar. This would not be a grid tie system. It was not allowed at the time I got the price, maybe it is now I never asked, but I did ask the alternative energy company over the last 6 month about a system for my home and there prices have dropped a little complete system around 35,000.00 basic system around 10-15,000.00 not including planing and permits. Here ya go now you know I do not know a whole lot about it and am getting more confused every hour. I am very independent and Mythbusters kind a guy....Love to learn hate to be misled. Some of the systems on line from what I am Hearing and reading dont give all the details and in most cases no one to ask....the sellar does not know either....they just sell it.... Thanks guys/girls Hope I never put you to sleep Phillip |
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Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
Philip, there are posts on this forum from a guy in Finland who uses wind power as an alternative energy source. I think his location might be similar to yours , cold & windswept I imagine, living here down in sunny Australia at 31 degree south latitude .
Anyway, do a search for 'Antares', I hope I got the name spelled right. Klaus |
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| mac46 Guru Joined: 07/02/2008 Location: United StatesPosts: 412 |
Hi phillip: I have a nephue that is on one of the highline service crews sent from the midwest to the east coast to help out, he says that you guys got knocked around pretty good in that "Sandy" storm. Haveing an electrical back ground you should fit in real good here on the forum...the front page has the search engine, otherwise you can go to the bottom of this page and 'page backward' to prior posts...believe me ...there are/is alot of good info on this forum...it will keep you reading and re-reading for mounths if you let it. Mac46 I'm just a farmer |
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| electrondady1 Senior Member  Joined: 12/02/2009 Location: CanadaPosts: 208 |
i'm nailing a new roof on today so i can't chat much but here's one way to go . no batteries no converters just a rope pump. you can let it run when the wind blows. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Rope_Pump .svg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66XCR2ZO4lI&feature=player_em bedded |
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| Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
well, the wiki link did not work for me so I looked it up anyway. For those who wish to do the same look here Klaus |
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| electrondady1 Senior Member Joined: 12/02/2009 Location: CanadaPosts: 208 |
thanks from that latest description, buddy's problem was essentially not enough sump pump capacity during a storm. i just happened to see that youtube video the day before. kind of low tech. i like the idea of a stand by pump directly powered by a storm just like a stand by heater directly powered by a blizzard. |
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