Sunny Boy 1100 Inverter

[AllanMcDonald]

Can some one give me a bit of advice I am creating around 1kw from my hydro turbine and was wondering if its practical to fit a Sunny Boy 1100 Inverter to reduce my bills whilst staying on grid and not exporting?
What is involved?
Thanks
Allan

[billi]

  thought the waterturbines are AC ?

Billi

[AllanMcDonald]

thought the waterturbines are AC ?

Billi

Mine is AC 230-240 volt what can I do to use the power ? I am running an 800w storage heater at the mo and some lights but whats the best plan long term?
Allan

[billi]

Allan

I am  from the off grid section  , and have too little knowledge about how to connect to the grid  to advice

But  i would  with a 1 kw always  producing turbine go off grid   connect it to an Inverter /charger  and a small but good battery that  then  " powerassists (controlled by the inverter/charger)  the 1 kw (from your waterturbine) if you need more then 1 kw  say 3 or more KW for a short period


if you donot need more then the 1 kw from the Waterturbine ( that power is switched through into your house) then the battery is not touched = this can provide a very long live of the battery


Billi

[Ivan]

Yes, you can rectify it and turn it into high voltage DC. This is what the Sunny Boy needs on its input. You'd need to smooth it, so that it has less than 10% ripple - which means a bank of capacitors.

[AllanMcDonald]

Saddly it isnt always  producing 24/7 I dont know how often it will produce as its only been going a couple of weeks.
I am just looking for the best way to use what I have.
Allan

[guydewdney]

I have the competitors aurora inverter - this just needs rectifying from 3 phase to work. But they only do a 3.8kw version (or6kw) - so its a bit OTT for you.

1kw isnt to be sniffed at - at 10p / unit from good energy it soon pays back.

[Ivan]

You won't need the capacitors with SMA either if you have three phase to start with. When rectified there isn't much ripple, but there's big bits missing with rectified single phase, hence the need for the capacitors. SMA will cope with 10% ripple (unless they've changed the spec) - any idea what the maximum ripple tolerane is with Aurora?

I'm going to be testing the Aurora grid tie inverter in a few weeks, as Navitron is planning to stock it.

[billi]

  So why are most waterturbines AC single  phase then ? perhaps because the cheapest

And not DC  and connected direct to a sunny boy grid tie inverter or via a MPPT charge controller to a battery
Or 3 wires  wild AC  and connected to the windy boy grid tie inverter or via a  charge controller to a battery ?

Wouldnt that increase the possibilities to harvest energy independent from the varying flow rate ?


Billi

[stephend]

I'm guessing here, but if the turbine produces AC, then you might be able to use the SMA sunny backup system by connecting the turbine as if it was the grid and connect the grid as if it was a generator.  If the turbine stops producing then the system should automatically switch over to grid power.  You can then also install a battery bank to store some of that excess energy. 

[guydewdney]

Billi

turbines are generally AC as that means they can be brushless and not have the wearing out problems of DC brushes.


As said - I have a wild AC generator (up to 500 odd volts) which is rectified, and fed to an inverter. It generates mains at anything above 50 volts input (which = 50rpm).

Alllan -
Why are you not exporting? The likes of Good Energy pay 10p / kwh of everything GENERATED - let alone exported. Im not even sure you need to export to get paid! If you do, all you need is a 7 quid meter wired in (from here http://www.universalmeterservices.co.uk/store/ ) and a tiny bit of paperwork for G83 compliance - oh - and a G83 export type inverter or similar (somthing to prevent the system exporting if the grid is down). Talk to your DNO (western power for me). http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/AboutElectricity/DistributionCompanies/ some are more 'regulatory' than others. 

If you dont want / cant export, then what options are there?
1) heat water. theres only so much hot water you can have. Get a second tank?
2) charge batteries - talk to Billi I suspect he might tell you to get a victron charger :p
3) pump water to header tank like dinorwig(sp?)
4) um....

[billi]

thanks guydewdney

i do appreciate your Post , thanks again

Billi


Still i cannot shut up  , .....   what happens to a 240  AC volt turbine when  the flow off water is reduced  ?
Compared to a DC one connected to a good charge controller 

Billi

[guydewdney]

guessing here - but if the turbine is fixed voltage output - that means its a fixed speed.

two things can happen - the nozzle size is altered (or similar) to make the same speed, but at less power. or the voltage drops.... The alternative is the AC->DC->AC route, which seems madness, but allows the variable flow.

[billi]

Still  .... Windturbines start to produce at 3 meteres /s ,,,,, PV starts at low light       and what is a  AC waterturbine doing at low flow ?   I guess holidays    

something wrong there or me ....


Billi

[guydewdney]

and on a cold, not windy night - the turbine keeps going