Low cost MPPT heating controller for wind turbines

Schams Electronic in Germany make some neat little MPPT controllers for solar and for wind.

The Windmax MPPT controllers are modular, built from 500W units, with capacity up to 2.5kW.  These controllers have built-in protection against over-voltage when the battery is full, diverting surplus power to a dedicated heating element.

Mostly when people ask me about using heaters directly on their wind turbines, I offer them a Solar Converters LDR circuit.  This acts a bit like a battery because it works at a fixed voltage.  Sometimes I recommend putting a heater in series with the supply cable from turbine to LDR.  This allows the voltage to rise and achieves a low cost MPPT effect.  But you need to have two heaters: one for the LDR control and one in series.

Schams also offer an MPPT heating controller for those who don’t need to charge a battery or connect their wind turbine to the grid.  It’s not on the web page but it is reasonably priced.  If you are interested then please contact Schams Electronic.  This controller provides MPPT control of the wind turbine and puts the output into a single heater.

About hugh

I live off-grid in NW Scotland and have spent my life playing with wind turbines. I also love small hydros. Hands on renewable energy is my thing and I like to learn and to share my experiences.
This entry was posted in products/technical. Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Low cost MPPT heating controller for wind turbines

  1. Brian Knaggs says:

    I have 4 – 24 v – 9000w wind turbines I would like to connect to form a small off grid energy source.
    They each came with a controller.
    What would be the best configuration and what additional monitoring set-up equipment will I require?

    • hugh says:

      Hi Brian sorry about the delay (!)
      I would connect all the turbines to the same battery. Monitor this with a battery voltmeter and multiple ammeters to show turbine output. Consider using a DC battery monitor that logs total current, power and energy accumulated.

  2. charlier says:

    we also have this type MPPT controller of wind turbine, maybe we can get collaration with mutual benefits. http://www.windpowercn.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *