Suburban Off-Grid Power Source

I have been using this system as a way to self-learn about off-grid wind and solar energy with the intention of building a much larger system after I retire. I started with 4 x 200W panels. I recently added two more.

I had been using an unbranded, Chinese MPPT charge controller, but it did not take in any higher voltage from the panels than was sent to the batteries. This drove the amperage from the panels up to 20-22 A. When I added the new panels, It would not take the power from them. It actually generated slightly less wattage.

So I took the wind offline and have it presently set in its own circuit charging a car battery. You can see the presently-disconnected dumpload wires in this photo. The wind charge controller is under the Victron, and it is now connected to a car battery, which is not in this photo so you can see the rest of it.

The 2 smaller panels are the most recent additions, and with them and the Victron, which is performing swimmingly, I have had 13 3+ KWH days out of the past 35, compared to 16 out of the previous 400 or so. With the Victron, I could conceivably add 2 more panels, but I don’t know where to put them on this platform. Any expansion of the platform would require a new CP.

.

3 Likes