I have a technical question regarding the use of a Victron SmartShunt.
I recently purchased a Victron SmartShunt and I would like to know if it can be used to measure the voltage and current delivered by a small wind turbine.
My setup is as follows: the wind turbine generates three-phase AC, which is connected to a three-phase rectifier bridge. The rectifier output is DC, and this DC output is connected in parallel with a resistive load. My intention is to use the SmartShunt on the DC side, after the rectifier, to measure the voltage and current produced by the turbine.
Is this a suitable and correct application for the SmartShunt? Are there any limitations or considerations I should be aware of when using it in this type of configuration?
A shunt is fairly universal for measuring DC amperage. It really doesn’t matter where the amperage is coming from or going. If its sized and set up correctly it will measure the current/amperage. Victron makes shunts as small as 300amps.
You can set the SmartShunt up as a DC energy meter in the settings rather than as a battery monitor and tell it it is a wind turbine, therefore the info reported is suitableto measure a chargeror a load. Read the manual, this is covered.
Thank you both for the clarification, I really appreciate it.
Just to confirm: can the SmartShunt be used without a battery connected at all, purely as a DC energy meter on the rectified output of the wind turbine (i.e., no reference battery, only source → shunt → load)?
My question is: does that mean that the rectifier bridge output cannot be used as the DC source to power the SmartShunt?
Another question: what if I connect it to a battery only as a voltage reference, but place the shunt in the circuit that carries the current from the rectifier?
That way, it would measure the battery voltage (without the battery delivering current), while in reality it would be measuring a different current: the one delivered by the generator system.
It needs a power source >12V to operate, it can be in another negative line, but the negative must be common to the battery to complete the circuit, you can not have a totally independent positive supply.
Thank you all very much for your patience and for taking the time to reply.
Sorry for asking so many questions, but I’m still struggling to fully understand this.
At the beginning, when I first asked, I understood that it was possible to use the SmartShunt for this application, but as the discussion progressed, it seems that it’s not so straightforward, or that there are limitations that I wasn’t aware of.
So I would like to kindly ask if you could please indicate what the correct wiring diagram would be to measure both current and voltage delivered by my wind turbine, using the three-phase rectifier bridge, with this device.
How about you draw a circuit diagram of your turbine, rectifier and loads and then we will tell you how to install the shunt. Also what voltage does your system generate and have you checked the SmartShunt datasheet to check it is compatible.