Wind Turbine Controller

[alexzan]

What is everyone using? Is there a consensus on some of the good ones vs bad ones?

 

[FilterGuy]

One very popular one is Midnight $olar classic. However, 1) They are very expensive and 2) if the turbine outputs AC, you must rectify it to DC first.

 

[KohalaJim]

John Daniel up in Idaho uses an inline DC loading method controlled by a PWM voltage controller.
Shown here in onle-line with parts list:

Here's a small dedicated version of the same PWM controller:

 

[ghostwriter66]

I am about to purchase a wind turbine on my own (although we don't get allot of wind out here in the desert of Texas) ... john Daniels videos has made me feel pretty smart/dangerous ... looking at getting one of those 48V 500W 5blade turbines from GREEN E off of aliexpress -- they run about 310 delivered ... and then order some of the other parts from Daniels and amazon ... and then try to fifgure out how to tie it all into my solar without causing complications

 

[KohalaJim]

I am about to purchase a wind turbine on my own (although we don't get allot of wind out here in the desert of Texas) ... john Daniels videos has made me feel pretty smart/dangerous ... looking at getting one of those 48V 500W 5blade turbines from GREEN E off of aliexpress -- they run about 310 delivered ... and then order some of the other parts from Daniels and amazon ... and then try to fifgure out how to tie it all into my solar without causing complications

Nice @ghostwriter66!

I look forward to your exploits of a 48V turbine and would love to compare notes. I've purchased a lot of my turbine parts already, and have dealt directly with GreenE. They are a reputable supplier and I can report a legit experience with my purchase. One of the more recent John Daniels video discusses turbine voltage vs. battery bank voltage disparity for lower wind areas, so perhaps you'll be employing this strategy?

I'm taking a slightly different turbine controller tactic than the John Daniel method. Although his inline DC loading of battery and turbine is effective and plays nicely with his MPPT charge controllers, I will instead be using the new ElectroDacus DSSR20 SSR's leveraging the integral diversion capability of these little widgets.

The interesting part of these new ED SSR's is one can individually control battery engagement, diversion engagement, or both simultaneously, so this twist should allow me to go well beyond the single load, "voltage only" threshold that initiates the PWM control strategy of the diversion controller he uses.

Of course this means a customized diversion controller, but that's what I have done professionally for decades albeit more recently with full connectivity from anywhere. This controller will be playing directly with the ED SBMS0, and also be looking at pre-rectified AC voltage output from the turbine. With the full stack democratizing of IoT, this opens up local all types of interesting possibilities for my off-grid system. In parallel with this turbine controller project is a much more matured DC-lighting system I've been cooking up.

I'm finally pouring foundational concrete this weekend (weather permitting) and all my framing materials are ordered, so at long last I can go from desktop/bench to real-world installation and further development of these off-grid subsystem components.