Wind Power Part 2

Now a different view on it all let’s say you just want to make power to go into the grid due to you have no time or interest in setting up to be off grid.
I don’t like that attitude but hey whatever it’s your choice so that’s where the higher voltage comes into play. Here is why if you have all 48v setup and you buy a pure sine wave inverter that is able to handle all that you make it will work better than a 12v or even a 24v. You may ask why it’s simple the more you have to up step the voltage the more the amps get cut down. So with a 48v setup you can buy inverters made to handle the higher voltage and they don’t have to work as hard to make the AC power in turn they work more efficient than a 12v setup.

 

Now for the person that wants full off grid what’s the best some will say just one setup I disagree for many reasons. Let’s say you are setup with just one system a 24v or 12v by only having one setup if it’s down due to upgrades or repairs then you have nothing. Now on the other hand if you have a 12v setup for lighting and the stuff that works on it. You also have a 24v for the stuff that works on it like if you convert over TV’s and other electronics you can setup 24v DC motors to run blowers for heating and a lot more a 24v setup is needed to still have all those goodies. Now with this setup if one has trouble you still have power to use not as much but you’re not in the dark too. If you have to shut one down you can have jumpers and breakers to jump one to the other to still power up those needed goods. Now if you have the cash and are a full blown all out person then you may also have a separate 48v setup to make the AC power that u want and what you don’t use you can also sell to the power company. The nice thing about having all 3 is let’s say you have it so all your stuff works on all the power you make but now you have some extra cash. Well you don’t need to add in any more for yourself due to you already make a small amount more than you use each month. Here is where you can make real cash back add in more on the 48v setup just add another turbine and bingo over a period of time if all it does is make power that you sell it will pay for its self. So as you can see there really is a lot to b4 jumping into this all but once you get a plan on what you want to do then you can work on the money to do it. Keep in mind never take and do anything until you have that plan no madder how good it sounds.

  Some of the 7 or even 12 or 13 blade micro wind turbines start to make power in the 2 or 3 mph wind speed. The nice thing is that some of the newer designs have self-regulating blades and with some not all micro turbines, you can buy the parts and piece a nice custom setup just for your needs. I just went to my favorite place and added up how much a good setup would cost just the turbine and I went with a 13 blade hub $250 I also added in the Complete Wind Turbine Tail Kit with PMA Mounting Bracket for $150. Then I went for the best PMA with a middle price not to low not to high but with a high output possible that is a PMA 1600 watt potential 3 phase AC to DC output for $300. One thing that I say is needed is a breaking setup it also comes with the rectifier and that lets u move the 3phase AC into the house the big advantage here is AC current travels better than DC so add 3-Phase Brake Switch and Rectifier Combo for $90. So let’s add that up 250+150+300+90 = 790 + to have it shipped about $40 now this doesn’t include any other things needed like hookup wire or any pole to put it up on also you would need a controller pack and some other small items so let’s get a whole picture as if we have nothing at all but wanted a one stop shopping to get everything to set it up. Now let’s add the other stuff to our list Permanent Magnet Alternator Wind Turbine PMA Coating for $29 now add in 2 Wind Turbine Guy Wire Rings $6 add in 1 Wind Turbine Locking Collar With Nylon Washer for $20 this is what the unit sits on, on top the pipe. Then add in 2 Wind Turbine Locking Collar at $30 these are needed to lock down the Guy Wire Rings.

Now here is the big choice part in the charge controller there are a lot of different options here witch is nice for one reason money cheaper ones have less but still if you get the ones that have the higher rated voltage and amps rating than you can always add on to them as you get the money. If you have the money you can have them build one the way you want it. The main thing here is get what you can afford a good started is the $280 setup no frizz just main needed things and its rated at 440amps and 10,000 watts the nice thing here is it already has the turbine break and rectifier on it so no need to buy one separate. 

There is one thing that I say if you buy a cheaper one spend the extra money to get a voltage and amperage add on meters so you can always look at output it just gives a nice feeling to see those numbers in front of your face. Like on a windy day you can go look and see and say wow it’s at 80v with x amps. I like to wire up the meters in what some say an odd way I like it where I can switch to the different things I have up making power to be able to see what each is making and then also have a switch to see the final overall output. What’s a lot of fun to do is if it’s your first setup put up a notebook next to it and check it in the morning and write down what each item is making then check and write it down as much as you can. Some of you may be asking why easy after a while of writing down all those numbers if you are one that is tight on money like most of us are. If you have kept track by what each did every day this will be your way of knowing what to add next. Let’s say you spent $1500 and it was all you had to do it but you got one 500w wind turbine and 2 solar panels that also make about 450 to 500w that is a great starting place here is why. If you got production numbers from some summer time and some winter time from each and if you add up each for a total for the wind turbine as one number the other is number is the solar. Now you can say without a guess what one has made you more power. This is a big thing for people that don’t really have the money to spend but can squeeze out some here and some there. With those numbers you then can make the next investment in the one that makes more power without guessing and won’t wind up buying what won’t make the most power.

  This like I said is the hard choice for many reasons this is where I say is the most important part due to if you buy a cheaper one if you want to just add solar. On the cheaper ones it takes more work some even need a separate controller b4 going into these cheaper setups. Now if you spend the extra money here and say get the $700 or more setup most of them have it already setup to add on solar all you need to is buy the solar panels and wire and hook it up. To me that is well worth it and with the better setups you could have a few wind turbines and some solar all on one controller unit. Now if you are going to setup more than one voltage setup a 12v, 24v and 48v, there are some cheats but I won’t say them nor will I tell them at any point they are not worth it over the long haul. So if you are looking at setting up a multi voltage systems this gets costly fast due to you need a separate controller for each different voltage.