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Wind Power Diversion Controller with LIFEPO4

itsmattmp

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Joined
Dec 15, 2020
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48
Location
Las Vegas, NV
I'm looking at getting a 1600 watt 48v Missouri Wind and Solar turbine to charge my 48v LIFEPO4 battery. My research has led me to use a Morningstar Tristar TS-60 to control an 1800 watt diversion load. The wind rotor would connect directly through the battery through a manual brake switch and 50 amp rectifier. The 50 amp rectifier converts to DC, but does not affect voltage. My question is whether this is safe for my batteries, or if the wind power needs to go through a charge controller. If the wind turbine puts out a constant voltage around 58 volts I think that should be fine since the diversion load will keep the battery from being overcharged.

But I've heard from some people that wind turbines can put out much higher voltages than they're rated for. In that case I would like to have a controller to keep things constant; however, if I put the controller before the battery and the controller shuts off the charge, then the wind rotor will go into free spin. So is it possible to set a PWM or MPPT charge controller to never shut off the charge?
 
It's a lot of hoops, but what if...

Windmill --(dirty AC)--> Rectified to DC --(dirty DC) --> DC/DC regulator --(clean steady DC) --> Charge controller.

From what I understand about Morningstar, that is exactly what Morningstar does. Take dirty AC and outputs steady DC to charge a battery. Dirty AC is just AC that doesn't have a constant frequency, like pretty much every wind turbine there is residential grade. As long as the Morningstar can be set with bulk and float charging in a user-defined battery, you can certainly use it on any battery chemistry.

I live in what many consider a very windy area, essentially 4 hours straight west of where Missouri Wind and Solar are headquartered. I thought very seriously about getting a turning also. But before I did any of that, I got a weather station just so I could know for certain if the wind was adequate at my location. It only took 2 months to realize that my location is not even kind of good for a turbine, but it is actually outright terrible for it. If you know you have the wind speed and consistency, it is easy to get and keep going. Now on the other hand, the last 18 months and 4 years have seen a drastic decrease in solar and battery prices. If you have space solar is the least expensive power-producing method on the planet now.
 
Agreed that solar is cheaper, but it would be nice to get some charging overnight or on overcast days. Looking at this for a supplement to solar. Does morningstar make a unit that has wind inputs? The video I watched from them on the TS-60 said not to connect the wind power to the controller, but direct to the battery. The controller just manages the dump load. Do they have a different controller that can receive a windmill input?
 
Morningstar Tristar TS-60 is the bomb, superior build quality. I'm looking to do the same wind turbine thing on my RV just smaller.

I'm on the lookout for a couple of them at lower prices myself.
 
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I don't think the tri-star has a AC-DC rectifier in it. Turbines generally are multi-phase, so you may need to match a rectifier pack to your turbine configuration.
 
I heard back from Missouri Wind and Solar. The 48v turbines can reach as high at 250v, so having a charge controller in-between is essential. Unfortunately the only solution they offer for LIFEPO4 costs about $2k, nearly 4 times the cost of the turbine. Still researching to find something that can control that voltage on a budget while also running the dump load.
 
I use a voltage controlled brake which stalls the turbine at 28.7v and recovers at 27v

I'm using the load output of an epever tracer mppt which gives signal to 2 other automotive relays which shorts the 3 phases together without the need for a dump load (just putting it out there).

There's this guy who runs a 48v turbine through a rectifer and then into a victron mppt, interesting idea.
 
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I use a voltage controlled brake which stalls the turbine at 28.7v and recovers at 27v

I'm using the load output of an epever tracer mppt which gives signal to 2 other automotive relays which shorts the 3 phases together without the need for a dump load.
Would be awesome if you did a Wind Thread for Show and Tell and left in your Signature block. Not many share successful stories of wind builds.
 
I use a voltage controlled brake which stalls the turbine at 28.7v and recovers at 27v

I'm using the load output of an epever tracer mppt which gives signal to 2 other automotive relays which shorts the 3 phases together without the need for a dump load (just putting it out there).

There's this guy who runs a 48v turbine through a rectifer and then into a victron mppt, interesting idea.
Shorting the phases on an over sped wind turbine is asking for a meltdown of the windings in the turbine. That's why a dump load is useful.
 
Hope this is ok to post I got this turbine and controller setup second hand off Facebook for £75 !!


Anyone has any questions drop me a comment , cheers.
 
What you need is a Midnite Classic 150 or 200 charge controller. You will need to program a wind graph manually into it or load one from Missouri Wind and Solar if they provide one (16 different set points of voltage-amps).

Midnite Classic 150 will support max 150 vdc and up to 95 amps.

Midnite Classic 200 will support max 200 vdc and up to 80 amps even though mine went above 80 amps (2600 watts on a 24 v Liyfepo4 battery bank with a 1500 watt nominal power wind turbine)

Midnite will control through AUX1 a SSR with a bigger load (water heater or radiator connected to the output of the inverter), the SSR will be triggered when SOC is anywhere between 80-90%, assuming that on AUX2 you have a Whizzbang Jr installed.

This way the battery bank will NEVER get to 100% (you don't want that with a wind turbine!)
 
I'm looking at getting a 1600 watt 48v Missouri Wind and Solar turbine to charge my 48v LIFEPO4 battery. My research has led me to use a Morningstar Tristar TS-60 to control an 1800 watt diversion load. The wind rotor would connect directly through the battery through a manual brake switch and 50 amp rectifier. The 50 amp rectifier converts to DC, but does not affect voltage. My question is whether this is safe for my batteries, or if the wind power needs to go through a charge controller. If the wind turbine puts out a constant voltage around 58 volts I think that should be fine since the diversion load will keep the battery from being overcharged.

But I've heard from some people that wind turbines can put out much higher voltages than they're rated for. In that case I would like to have a controller to keep things constant; however, if I put the controller before the battery and the controller shuts off the charge, then the wind rotor will go into free spin. So is it possible to set a PWM or MPPT charge controller to never shut off the charge?
Before you go much further down the road with small wind search this forum for Missouri Wind. After that drop "Missouri Wind and Solar complaints" into your favorite search engine.
 
I'm looking at getting a 1600 watt 48v Missouri Wind and Solar turbine to charge my 48v LIFEPO4 battery. My research has led me to use a Morningstar Tristar TS-60 to control an 1800 watt diversion load. The wind rotor would connect directly through the battery through a manual brake switch and 50 amp rectifier. The 50 amp rectifier converts to DC, but does not affect voltage. My question is whether this is safe for my batteries, or if the wind power needs to go through a charge controller. If the wind turbine puts out a constant voltage around 58 volts I think that should be fine since the diversion load will keep the battery from being overcharged.

But I've heard from some people that wind turbines can put out much higher voltages than they're rated for. In that case I would like to have a controller to keep things constant; however, if I put the controller before the battery and the controller shuts off the charge, then the wind rotor will go into free spin. So is it possible to set a PWM or MPPT charge controller to never shut off the charge?
My personal opinion. Do not buy anything from Missouri wind and Solar.

Look at their reviews all over the internet.
 
Not many share successful stories of wind builds.
Has there been any successful stories? Personal experience plus combing this forum and as well as others and I have yet to find one.

I'm not talking about about a 30 second video showing a turbine making power during a high wind event. I want someone that can actually document that thier wind turbine produces usable energy. Bueller? Bueller?
 
I'm not talking about about a 30 second video showing a turbine making power during a high wind event. I want someone that can actually document that thier wind turbine produces usable energy. Bueller? Bueller?
From what I find, they’re never maintenance free and require care, but the success stories I found are on fieldlines.com
 
From what I find, they’re never maintenance free and require care, but the success stories I found are on fieldlines.com
I've dug around there a little bit. Lots of hobbyists but no one actually talking about energy. Mostly just people getting into the weeds of PVC blades or DC servo motors, etc but yet to find an actual success story of one that produces energy. Plenty of "why isn't my turbine working" posts though.
 
There’s a couple I remember. One guy had three turbines on top of a hill.

Fieldlines.com is the best site I found for wind. That seems like agoid question: Has this worked for anyone as a primary source of power.

The impression I got of wind is it will always be cheaper and easier to runs generator than to use it as the source for your power. It also only works in a narrow set of circumstances which include in an area with trees growing crooked and ona tower.

The turbine on a tower makes periodic maintenance hard, sometimes need s crane to get it down. At work we had a piece of equipment on a 100+ foot tower. It would cost over $10k to take it down. The guy who had three towers on a hill could do it with help; the towers were smaller, but still a huge project.
 
There’s a couple I remember. One guy had three turbines on top of a hill.

Fieldlines.com is the best site I found for wind. That seems like a good question: Has this worked for anyone as a primary source of power.

The impression I got of wind is it will always be cheaper and easier to runs generator than to use it as the source for your power. It also only works in a narrow set of circumstances which include in an area with trees growing crooked and on a tower.

The turbine on a tower makes periodic maintenance hard, sometimes need s crane to get it down. At work we had a piece of equipment on a 100+ foot tower. It would cost over $10k to take it down. The guy who had three towers on a hill could do it with help; the towers were smaller, but still a huge project.

All good points.

Of course I think small wind is really cool, and I myself have been mesmerized by it but after some painful times I finally did realize if you're looking for something that works you'd better not touch small wind.

What I continue to find is that no one can actually document that thier wind turbine, whether it's home made from salvage yard parts all the up to the "crème de la crème" $70,000 Bergey 10 kW are even worth the wire from the tower to the house.

Now if you go into it with eyes wide open and just want to home build something then that's an entirely different thing.
 
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