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Thread: Geno's Dodgy 12v solar/wind battery/grid tie setup

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    Senior Member ageno2gen1's Avatar
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    Default Geno's Dodgy 12v solar/wind battery/grid tie setup

    Ok guys after watching Learjets solar setup I decided to do a bit of my own and living where i live thinking i had a lot of wind thought id chuck a wind turbine in there aswell. Also having 4 kids and living in a rental property i thought id better restrict it to my shed which made me have a lot of excess power going to waste so instead of burning through a resistor i thought id try 1 of those cheap grid tie inverter.

    so here is my 80W folding camping solar panel on my neighbours roof and my 200W wind turbine.



    another veiw of the turbine so you can get an idea of the height.



    the reason i decided a wind turbine would be a good idea. It is a good couple of KM's to the other side of the lake.


    Then it goes down to my charge controller and batteries.






    Once my batteries are full the power gets diverted to the dodgy grid tie inverter which then pumps the excess power into the grid. If i use the power inverter the power is switched back to the batteries.

    My next step is to get some fuses and clean up all the wire's after that i will be experimenting with another wind turbine.I am learning very fast about what i have wrong.


    I am monitoring this of a killawatt meter which measure the amount of power going through a power point in both directions. I will post some readings later.
    Stop being so stupid.. it’s my turn!!

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    Oh Lord, I've inspired other people to create fire hazards also.

    I see you're using what looks like a Power Jack brand grid tie inverter. I must admit I was sorely tempted as I have power to burn at the moment. Power Jack have no Australian approval, not that I care, but when I saw the comments with this video I decided not to bother.

    [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AABcKHoyz_g]PowerJack 1200w LCD Grid Tie Inverter - YouTube[/ame]

    Apparently the 240 volt versions have problems with the mosfets blowing when the AC side is switched on. Some people turn off their GTI at night as they actually draw power from the mains. Then when they switch them back on in the morning, that's when they blow. It happens less when left on all the time, but as mentioned the 300 watt version draws about 4 watts on standby I think.

    The other reason I didn't get a Power Jack is the lack of EMC compliance. Apparently they radiate RFI for several blocks! Which is not compatible with my radio hobby.

    So I'd be interested to see how yours goes.

    The wind turbine looks like something I might like to experiment with. How much, where from and how much power does it generate?

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    Senior Member ageno2gen1's Avatar
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    Yeh, i have a smoke detector and a extinguisher not to far away. Lol. Im not to worried as there is not a lot of power going through it, but my next priority is safety, after fuses will be another charge cotroller set at a higher voltage to a resistor so if the gti blows my batteries will not over charge. My gti is left on all the time and so far is working well, it put on average 45W from the solar and with the wind got up to 65. I am loosing alot of power through my batteries, diodes and the lenght i am runing 12vdc. The wind turbine cost me $250 from ebay and was easily install. It doesent really give me much power, i am working on more and bigger blades thou, but really the dc motor in it is to small.

    The next wind tubine i get will be from missouri wind and solar and 9 blades.


    As for the rfi it doesnt bother me as im not into the radio thing, but if there is an easy way to test i would be happy to see how bad it is.
    Stop being so stupid.. it’s my turn!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by ageno2gen1 View Post
    As for the rfi it doesnt bother me as im not into the radio thing, but if there is an easy way to test i would be happy to see how bad it is.
    I think I know the wind turbine you have now.

    Do you have a portable AM radio? Tune around the AM band near the GTI and see how far you can pick it up. Edit... when the GTI is generating power during daytime.
    Last edited by Learjet; 14-09-11 at 09:18 PM.

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    Do I have a portable am radio! Um no. lol, but i borrowed the neighbours. And I hope there are no radio enthusiasts around here. About the 15 metre mark it started to reduce but that's when I found that my wireless door phone is pumping it out aswell. Seems I got it going on everywhere, but at a flick of the switch (or 2)it was gone.

    My killawatt meter says the GTI draws 2W when not being used.

    So far it has put in 5KW but am about to reset the killawatt meter so i can monitor it better.
    Stop being so stupid.. it’s my turn!!

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    So does this cause your meter to spin backwards when generating and what happens if the Grid goes down when its connected ?
    I stand unequivicably behind everything I say , I just dont ever remember saying it !!

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    Well if I had everything turned off yes it would, and if the grid goes down I need to shut it down or my batteries will overcharge, unless I am using some power. Thats why I am getting another controller set at a slightly higher voltage so if this happens it just gets diverted to a resistor.
    Stop being so stupid.. it’s my turn!!

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    I wasnt thinking that your batteries would overcharge but from my limited knowledge of these arrangements, as soon as the devise detects the loss of the Grid, it isolates the system to stop you trying very ineffectivly to power up the Grid.
    If the Grid was lost, couldnt the system just go 'Open Circuit' between the panels and the batteries untill the Grid was restored or would that cause a 'hit' ?
    I stand unequivicably behind everything I say , I just dont ever remember saying it !!

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    Yes once the grid goes down there is nowhere to divert the power so the batteries take it, when i say shut it down its just a switch between the batteries and the panel/wind turbine.
    Stop being so stupid.. it’s my turn!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by ageno2gen1 View Post
    Do I have a portable am radio! Um no. lol, but i borrowed the neighbours. And I hope there are no radio enthusiasts around here. About the 15 metre mark it started to reduce but that's when I found that my wireless door phone is pumping it out aswell. Seems I got it going on everywhere...
    I'm glad I don't live near you then lol. It's a sign of these modern times. Everything radiates EMF or RF these days, even the bloody toaster.

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    Hey, a few things to consider if you are thinking of doing this dodgy grid tie idea-

    The newer digital meters WILL record that power has flowed back to the grid. Not a good look when they come to read your meter and ask why un-approved power is flowing the wrong way.

    The older spinning disc meters will probably slow down or may even spin backwards.

    The cheaper chinese wind turbines can be significantly improved, see for some great info including making the blades more efficient and silent.

    Also note the section on making your own wind generator from an old Fisher & Paykel washing machine 'motor'.

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    Hey Geno, just wondering how your wind turbine is doing now that you've had it for a little while.

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    Hey mate, been flat out at work lately, finally got an early day. I ended up getting another 1 as that 1 needed to much wind to turn then didn't get the voltage high enough to turn on my gti, so i got another 1 of them to.



    Uploaded with

    and my finished control board with new gti and amp meter



    Uploaded with

    The new wind turbine is a lot better than the last, it gets going in around 10Kph winds and puts in good wattage consistent with wind speed's. It did take a while to break in thou.
    My new gti starts at 10.5 volts which is way better than my last 1 (that i still have and will reconnect at a later date) that started at 14.5 volts so it only turned on when my battery was full and the charge voltage was 14.5 or over, this one can drain my battery if I want it to or just shut down depending on how I set the charge controller.
    All in all i am happy with this wind turbine where as the other 1 is now sitting behind my garage.lol.
    Last edited by ageno2gen1; 13-12-11 at 12:21 PM.
    Stop being so stupid.. it’s my turn!!

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    mmmm my pics didnt work, right click them and open in new tab, I will make a video when i have time and the right conditions so you can see the amps it produce's at what wind speed.i Get 4 weeks off soon so will have plenty of time.
    Stop being so stupid.. it’s my turn!!

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    You need to use the "embed image" links on the imageshack page. I thumbnailed one because it was so big.

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    How many watts is the new wind generator?

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    You mad bugger, how you going geno? luv the power control board, looks well set out.

    geez, a little time with rat bags like me and tony and you'll soon be try to get the home reactor going, (oh by the way if you still want that shipment of "hot dirt...." let me know)
    When I explained to the guy what avatar I wanted, that wasn't what I meant!

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    hey guys, the new wind generator is max 500W but I have only seen it get to 120W. But i have not been home when the big winds have been around. my max wattage on my killawatt meter is 223 and have only seen my panel hit 70 so it may of hit 150 at 1 stage.

    Iwac im going well, the control boards easy when you have a cnc router on hand to,lol. Might have to look into that reactor aswell, i hear some guys are now extracting hydrogen from water and using that instead of batterie's.
    Stop being so stupid.. it’s my turn!!

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    Ok Learjet i finally got a good reading of my wind turbine, have been down at the nats for 4 days but last Wednesday we got a violent hail storm and the wind picked up really good, ( I have to get my new wireless weather station up in the right place then I can tell you exactly how fast ) I was out driving but when I got back I went and checked my killawatt meter and my turbine put in a whopping 446 watts. I am pretty impressed with that.
    Stop being so stupid.. it’s my turn!!

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    Lol okay thanks.

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