Hydro and Wind Power

hi, i would like to know if victron mppt charge controllers support wind turbines? if yes could i run 2 controllers in parallel, one with solar and one with a wind turbine?

Thanks

Lief.

I am completely off grid, my question is can I connect a wind turbine to my quattro as an utility?

Hi, I am the owner of a 250/100 mppt charge controller and a 48 volt pylontech battery pack. Three photovoltaic strings that develop about 180 volts are connected in parallel to the regulator. How can I integrate a 24 volt dc wind turbine into this system?

Thank you

Andrea

• Total demand roughly 8 kWh
• Loads single phase/220 V / 50 Hz, though may need to add a 3-phase/380V/50-60Hz later on
• The hydro turbine should be able to produce about 3 kWh (365/7/24), and located about 150 meters from the house
• I am still working on sizing the solar capacity
• What storage/battery size, technology, and manufacturer would you recommend?
• Would you be able to recommend a configuration and specific equipment?

Thanks in advance !

When I turn on the water supply to my pelton wheel (smart drive motor, configured to run at 205 V AC with no load) my MPPT load slows the revs way down, and lowers the voltage to 70 V. This then makes my 110m cable run with higher amps, and less efficiently. Instead of the expected 900 to 1000 Watts, I'm only getting 350 W.

Is there a way to choose a minimum voltage on the MPPT, say 150 V and lower current, letting the turbine spin at the best revs?

Hi,

I know this question has nothing to do with Victron equipment in first place, but I think there are good electronics engineers around in this board, maybe someone can help me.

I have had a hydro power installation with a Victron MPPT Charge controller.

See: https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2017/12/18/diy-ingenuity-hydro-power-in-the-austrian-alps/
Unfortunately, a heavy storm and the affiliated flood flushed it all away.

I'm just about to rebuild everything bigger and better now. You can read about it in a near future blog from John Rushworth, when it is finished.

The problem I am heading now is, that the open circuit voltage of my generator after rectification is above the maximum MPPT input Voltage of my charger.

My charger accepts a maximum of 250V and the Voc of the generator is 300V.

My conclusion is to find a solution to electrically brake the generator so the Voc stay safe below 250V

I have to put a 1Ampere load to the generator to brake it down to safely below 240V

I have 3 approaches to solve this, but I do not know which way to go.

1.) connect a power resistor in parallel to the generator to brake it

This would be the easiest way to solve this, but I will lose usable energy through the resistor.

I do not like this solution

2.) build a voltage stabilisation circuit with a transistor and a Z-diode that short circuits the generator at e.g. 230V and over to brake but does not apply below 230V.

This is the most complicated solution, but a good one I think.

The problem here is, that I would need some help to calculate the components of the circuit.

I am just not good enough to do this completely on my own.

3.) build a serial diode brake.

The approach here is, that a silicon diode is not conductive in transmission direction below 0.7V

You can get 5A silicon rectifier diodes very cheap.

So when I solder 300 of them in serial and connect them in parallel to the rectified generator output, that should to the trick.

The diode characteristics would then be my generator "brake characteristics"

This is a bit of a dump solution but I do like it. The cost of 300 diodes would be around 30€.

The idea behind posting this here is, that maybe someone has a better idea.

I would tend to go and solder some diodes. :o)

Thanks,

Markus

Hi there,

I have the following setup:

- Multiplus II 48/5000

- 2 x SmartSolar MPPT 250/60

- FreedomWon 10kWh with BMS (Absorption and Float = 55.8V)

- 1500W Wind Turbine with its own controller 48V

When the sun goes down and the system is using battery power, I want the Turbine to supply power to the system (obviously when there is wind). I am not sure that this is actually happening. So my first question, can I use a SmartShunt to monitor the DC current coming from the Wind Turbine and then also display those values on the CCGX? And my second question, what would be the best settings for the wind turbine controller, as the controller cant communicate with the battery BMS?

I would appreciate your assistance.

Thank you

I have a micro hydroturbine which gives a variable cc voltage between 40 and 70v and up to 1kw of power. I wonder if I can connect the Phonenix Inverter VE.Direct 48v 1200VA directly to the hydro turbine for producing 230v AC to act as an electrical generator for my off-grid solar inverter which is connected to my batteries and the house.

During the winter, there are days where the solar panels don't produce enough energy and a I have plenty of water running through the creek.

In short my question would be: could the hydro turbine be a battery in disguise for the Victron inverter and produce AC as an electrical generator would do?

Thanks in advance.

I am confused please assist.

I have a BMV-712 with its shunt.

I have installed a Primus Air40. 24v windturbine and there wind generator control.

This gives me voltage, current and combined power accumulation. It also has a MCB and a brake.

I have had alot of back and forth with Primus as they insist that I need to wire the the positive and negative directly to my batteries positive and negative on the bank.

From Victrons side, I understand that all of the loads negatives should be connected to the shunt. This is to get reading.

Yesturday i got my PI with touchscreen running Venus. I am not sure if I can see anything from the turbine.

Currently the turbine is wired as Primus insisted I have it. Directly to the battery bank.

what is correct?

To the shunt or direct?

Hope someone knowledgeable can advise

Hi All

We currently have a 12v off grid solar setup with two 100/50 mppts that just doesn't keep up over the winter. This system is controlled and monitored with a Cerbo GX. Weve decided to add a Rutland 914i turbine with a hrdi controller as it appears suited to the weather conditions, high winds due to living on an open moorland.

If the hrdi controller is connected directly to the system would this interfere with the solar charge? Or would it be beneficial/work to have the hrdi battery output connected to 12/12-30 or 24/12-30 dc to dc charger either with or without an additional battery between the hrdi controller and the 12v system were looking to charge?

I have a small 48v Multiplu—II/BlueSolar/Pylontech/Venus system installation. It works perfectly.

I want to consider a charge aid in the form of a small wind turbine and wind charge controller for those dark rainy windy days. Nothing to big.

Hi all,

Are you all well? Hope so.

I am posting my questions and queries here as I am hoping to find fellow renewable energy enthusiast who will be able to help or at least point me in the right direction.

I'll cut to the chase but if anyone wants to read the rest and help I would be exceptionally grateful.

I am looking for someone in the UK (or elsewhere I guess) who has had experience in installing a pico-hydro set up. I need help on choosing the right type of turbine and how to wire it into my existing battery-storage system without frying it or anyone who happened to be standing nearby!

Here is some more detail.......

I have an existing off-grid solar system, with battery storage and capacity of about 11.98 amp hours @48v. It serves me really well as I don't use very much on a daily basis, but there is a generator as backup when the sun doesn't shine. I am completely stand alone and there is no scope for feeding any energy back to the grid as I am very remote (and nor would I consider it).

All is well here then...

However, I am fortunate enough to have access to a large head of water, a suitable drop of about (as it stands) 25m and a flow rate (when it isn't raining) of about 20l/ps, I have had a couple of engineers from a commercial-scale, local project tell me there is a lot of merit of installing a turbine as, if done properly, I would get anywhere from 500w to 2.5Kw from the flow.
(A point to note is that all of the above is on my land and my installation wouldn't have any impact on any other local water ways, so I don't want to get hung up on any legalities or permission things).

I am desperate to find someone who can help me on this. I am no electrical engineer but from my own knowledge, research, input from others I am certain there is merit in doing this - I think it would be a travesty not to try and exploit it as much as I can. I may only use around 700l of diesel a year for the generator, but if I can halve that then from an environment POV, I personally think it is worth it.

Finally, I am not looking to do this on a shoestring budget. Before I bought this place last year I factored in spending some money on the hydro. Therefore for the right help I am willing to recompense someone appropriately.

I am optimistic that one of the other 7.4bn of us on this planet someone can help me see this through. If anyone wants more info on the existing Victron stuff that is already in please I can let you know.

Thank you. Paul

Hello,

I have a pond (approximately 17 feet deep, 250feet x 100feet…measured many years ago, water rights information shows 5 acre feet). It has a 6 perhaps 8 inch drain that goes through a dam. The drain is reduced to 4 perhaps 2 inches (haven’t been down there in years) with a large shutoff valve. The valve when open creates a lot of pressure (PSI???…much greater than average home pressure…I’m thinkIng close to fire hose pressure). From what I’ve seen on line, this setup (after generator installed, etc.) could possibly be enough pressure to generate enough power to run my house (average). I’m not looking to generate more than a few hundred watts right now (money, time, complexity), but just wondering what steps to take to get this started. I haven’t come across any videos with step by step instructions (clear, concise) regarding install, products, etc. Looking for both DYI and commercial options.

I’m posting a short (vague) question to get things started. Happy to add more details if necessary.

Thank you,

Shawn

Hello. I am still new to the world of solar/renewable energy. I have become involved as my boat now has two Victron 100/30 MTTP controllers for the 2x310w solar panels. These charge my Lithium batteries -- well they will, the lithium batteries will only be installed next week (today lead acid batteries are installed). Of course, these controllers are configurable and I will swap them over to the lithium settings as we drop the new batteries in.

I am adding a Wind Turbine to help out during times of little or no sun - while the supplier tells me that its fine to connect to the batteries, I am deeply concerned due to the lack of any configurability on the (supplied in the same box) wind turbine controller.
So I was considering (without sufficient knowledge so that I why I am here) adding a

Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30A Non-Isolated DC-DC charger between the provided controller and the battery. My goal is to regulate/clean and control the power coming from the wind turbine.
I also saw a couple of suggestions to use the Victron BMS to do the same job.

Can you please help me with a solution - not requiring too much knowledge or a major build-out -- I want to protect the lithium as much as possible.

Thanks heaps for your input.

I have some simple questions that I have not been fully able to flush out in all my research and am hoping that someone will be able to give definitive, simple straightforward answers so I don’t make a costly mistake. (1) Of all the inverters what will be the best option for an off Grid Setup with a back up generator. I can see several options but I am not sure if I should be using a Quattro or and MultiPlus II. I want the generator to back stop the system in case the renewables are not enough to run the system and the batteries are getting low. I will be using a combination of Hydro, Wind and Solar.

Requirements

1. Max current out put 300A (200 A house panel and 100 A Shed Panel)
2. Output Voltage 240V to 120V
3. Generator activation when batteries hit predetermined low level
4. Battery Charging from Generator
5. Battery Bank 48VDC

I have attached my rough design on what I plan to do. The battery bank will be built out of LifePo4 batteries creating a 48VDC system and storing around 9600 ah. The batteries will have an average normal discharge rate 320 A per hour with a peak over 1000a but will need to be under 10 mins.

1. If the batteries are full and wind/hydro/solar are still producing power
   1. Does the MPPT prevent the extra power from over charging the batteries?
   2. If so what doe the MPPT do with the extra power? I known in some hydro system they have a burn off resister.
2. Can multiple Autotransformers be placed in parallel? I have seen several references in post about needing multiples, but no one has explicitly said they can be used in parallel. I need to have a 200A circuit of 120V L1, L2 for the house.
3. Is there any reasons why a Solar Charge Controller could not be used with a wind turbine if properly sized? They hydro turbine I plan to buy have been tested with the Victron MPPT(s) and they even recommend a model to be purchased based on what I buy from them. The wind turn bine has no suggestions from the manufacture.

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