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Forum Index : Windmills : How does this even work?
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wallablack Senior Member  Joined: 10/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 164 |
Scouring the internet for wind controllers and found this little puppy... A solar controller activating a clunker of a solenoid. Looking at the wiring on this I am unable to see how it works from a solar controller... LINKY Seems as though the solar controllers "LIGHT" points operate the solenoid...BUT HOW? Regards, Slightly Confused...  Foolproof systems do not take into account the ingenuity of fools. |
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Madness Guru  Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
It would be a very crude solar controller with poor regulation. How can it charge batteries properly, when it get to bulk charge maximum voltage all it can do is turn of the panels or turn on a dump load. Not the best way to charge your batteries. Although my Outback MPPT solar controller does have a function to turn on a dump load, I have not really looked into what it is really designed for. I imagine you could use excess power to heat water or something, this would work with a wind generator connected to the system. But to maintain batteries properly you need more than a on off switch. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| kitestrings Senior Member Joined: 23/04/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 102 |
I agree. Not a good way to charge batteries. Ideally you want 3-stage charging. Madness, you might check out this link & discussion: http://www.outbackpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2865& st=0&sk=t&sd=a&sid=d We've been preheating water using the Outback Aux Diversion for several years now. It works great and uses energy that otherwise goes to waste. And, you don't have to sacrifice good battery maintenance. ~ks |
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| kitestrings Senior Member Joined: 23/04/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 102 |
Here's ours: http://www.fieldlines.com/index.php/topic,130053.msg845366.h tml#msg845366 best, ~kitestrings |
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| wallablack Senior Member Joined: 10/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 164 |
Personally I use a PL20 with an external SSR and 2 rectifiers....the best in my eyes for wind IMO. I just saw it an said WTF is this
Is the light activating the solenoid though? Foolproof systems do not take into account the ingenuity of fools. |
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| kitestrings Senior Member Joined: 23/04/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 102 |
wallablack, we're also using dual-rectifiers into a pair of MPPT charge controllers. I was referring to this, I assumed here we were only talking about solar. The MX-60/80's can fetch lots more "opportunity" power with solar through aux diverion. I'm not suggesting using a solar controller for wind. Regards, ~ks |
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| wallablack Senior Member Joined: 10/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 164 |
The question was about how the solar controller controls the solenoid to dump. I was just stating I use the PL20 for wind with 2 rectifiers, one for the dump load and one for the battery bank. I never made mention of Outback as I totally understand how these work. What I was asking is does the "light" connection of the solar controller activate the solenoid to activate the dump? I didn't think this was possible. I don't think it is a very good charging method but simply stumbled across it and wondered how it worked. Foolproof systems do not take into account the ingenuity of fools. |
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| kitestrings Senior Member Joined: 23/04/2014 Location: United StatesPosts: 102 |
wallaback, Yes, I'm not sure we responded very well to the original question: I don't think so. It looks to me to simply be a voltage triggered relay. It doesn't even appear to have adjustable set-points in this case. There's a number of similar devices on the market. The problem IMO is they are often marketed as charge controllers. They are not. These are diversion controllers, meant to turn on an auxiliary load based on voltage. In theory you match the load on the end of thing to the available power and thereby maintain a steady voltage. The problem as you know is the sun, and less so the wind, don't behave in a very steady sort of way. They seem inexpensive until you have to replace batteries that have been prematurely spent. Sorry to have gotten off topic earlier. ~ks |
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solarwind Regular Member  Joined: 03/02/2008 Location: South AfricaPosts: 51 |
It might be a solution for some and the current rating is impressive, but I agree - not the best way to treat expensive batteries. Another concern in this design is when more than 12V system is controlled, i.e. 24V or 48V, then the sensing and the solenoid power is drawn from only one 12V section of the battery bank. If the sensing circuit is high impedance, no harm, but a solenoid draws more current than one thinks and this makes one battery to be discharged a little more than the others. Not good for equalisation over a period of time. You don't have success until you've tried it! |
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