RE: More Power from the 400 Watt Wind Turbine with a Hybrid Wind/Solar MPPT Charge Controller
That is a really nice setup you have @jackdub! I found the same thing with wind turbines although mine is much smaller it would have been better to just invest in more batteries or solar panels. In high wind areas I am sure they are great but solar and hydro just seem way more viable and dependable.
One thing worth noting about solar panels in the fall and winter months is that even though there is not many hours of sun...the solar panels being cold/cool dramatically increase in efficiency and power production so it sort of evens out compared to the hotter months when the efficiency of the panels drop due to high heat.
I was doing some research recently on the subject of using mirrors to direct more sunlight onto solar panels and that lead me to reading about people that water cool their solar panels and in some cases nearly doubling the wattage output by doing so. One very interesting example of this was someone that used coiled copper on the back of the panels to heat water.
Anyway I enjoyed your article and have a great day!
That's interesting about the extra efficiency when they are colder. One of the issues with winter is that it gets dark about 5PM - the family's usually awake and using power until 10PM or so, while in the summer it doesn't get dark until after 9PM, so there's limited time using the power after dark. It's often cloudier in the winter up here has well :) We only have to use the generator for the darker 2 months of winter for an hour a day to top up the batteries. Other than those 2 months we rarely use the generator. I'll be adding more batteries and panels soon to curb the generator use :)
Yeah. The daylight hours are roughly the same here. I used a generator some last winter when I only had a twenty watt solar panel (and ten watt wind turbine) but after the generator went a bit haywire, burned up some gear and I started sinking money into it to fix it..I made a choice to no longer invest any money in fossil fuel oriented ways of generating electricity. I have not exactly regretted the decision but it has not made anything easier. With a family I would probably feel different about it but it is just me so I just work with what I have. This winter I have a 208 watt panel so maybe it will work out a bit better. My entire system is a complete hack job and the three batteries I have (not in a bank of any kind) are rather inadequate but it is all what I have so I just make the best of it. I see some of the setups of other folks and I am like 'whoa that is like having a power plant compared to my rig'. The last time I calculated all my monthly power needs it was the equivalent of one sixty watt light bulb being left on for an entire month.
I had no idea about the heat factor on the panels. Thank you for the info. Now, how to keep them cool? It's usually very warm here. Maybe misters on a timer? I'm going have to put a bit of a think on that.
I have not experimented with cooling them but there is a lot of info on the internet about doing it. I would advise misting the rear of the panels and using a tray to catch the evaporated water so that it can be reclaimed. I would also advise being careful to not use chlorinated water, water that contains salt or anything that might otherwise corrode or cause buildup on the panels. The real boost to efficiency comes from using mirrors (or other means of reflecting sunlight onto the panels) and Then water cooling them. The cooling itself only increases the efficiency (according to my research) by 10-20% but cooling and reflecting the sunlight gives a boost of 75-100%.
So best bet would be distilled water. How would one catch evaporated water?
With all the crap they spray in the skies any boost would be beneficial.
If you use mirrors, I'd imagine you would most definately need to cool them. I would be concerned about starting a fire.
Maybe 'evaporated' was not the best word to use. I am talking about the water that collects on the back of the panel and drips off. Perhaps an air-conditioner or water heater drip pan would work well for collecting the water. Most of them have a drain on them that can be attached to with standard plumbing fittings.
Also any reflective surface would work and you would not necessarily have to use mirrors. That is definitely a valid concern about fire but I think that it can be done safely. There are a lot of images of various reflective surfaces/material that people use to reflect more sunlight onto solar panels. Perhaps a simple online image search will show you some examples.
Distilled water would probably work best but I think as long as you do not have a lot of iron, calcium, sulfur or minerals in the water it would work fine.
My panels are all on the roof so reflecting something is not really possible.
Oh man... everyone says no to wind turbines....! Ok, I don't have the money for it yet anyway but what's this about heat and cold changing the efficiency of a solar panel? I had no idea about that and it sounds like it really could offset the sun hours missed in winter. Very interesting stuff, I want to look into it now too. Been looking for a new water heater
thanks for that info @jacobpeacock
You are welcome. You really need sustained high winds for wind power to be viable. A good test is to get a sixty dollar small wind turbine from Pacific Sky Power and see how often it actually spins before investing in a large scale turbine. As for cooling the panels look up reflecting sunlight onto them with mirrors as well because between doing that And water cooling (which is a must if you use mirrors) is where the real boost to electric production comes into play.
Ah man I almost forgot to look into that! Thanks for the reminder and really good idea about the 60 dollar turbine as a test. Thanks
You are welcome @senorcoconut.