Integrated Battery Charger with Wind Turbine Controller

[chriswgardner]

Perhaps a simple question, and perhaps not. Haven't seen it asked quite this simply in any previous thread in this forum, so here goes ...

Are there any battery chargers made that are also designed to act as a wind turbine controller as well? Why must each wind turbine come with it's own proprietary "controller" that connects directly to the battery bank in order to monitor the charge of the batteries?

In other words, why aren't there DC inputs into battery chargers from devices such as wind turbine and solar panels that will smartly manage the "trickle feed" from the wind turbine to the battery bank so as to not overcharge, much in the same way it does when connected to shore power? So, the battery charger would be smart enough to only use shore power (ignore all other DC inputs from wind and solar) to charge the battery bank, and when shore power is off it will accept DC charge sources to smartly charge the batteries?

If such systems exist, can you provide make/models? I'm thinking of switching from AGM to a lithium system, so that would be a plus as well.

Thanks,
Chris.

[tkeithlu]

Hmmm. I can see some advantage in having one controller (the one in the battery charger) matched to your battery bank rather than several, one for each source. But beyond that, I don't see an advantage, since each of those controllers can meet the needs of your batteries.

The second part of the question, taking only from shore power when on shore power, could be handled by either a manual switch or an AC relay that shuts off the other sources when shore power arrives. But then, and assuming that your neighbors don't want you running your wind turbine at your slip, your solar panels can still contribute to your supply of energy.

[chriswgardner]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Hmmm. I can see some advantage in having one controller (the one in the battery charger) matched to your battery bank rather than several, one for each source. But beyond that, I don't see an advantage, since each of those controllers can meet the needs of your batteries.

The second part of the question, taking only from shore power when on shore power, could be handled by either a manual switch or an AC relay that shuts off the other sources when shore power arrives. But then, and assuming that your neighbors don't want you running your wind turbine at your slip, your solar panels can still contribute to your supply of energy.

Thanks much for your reply! Most appreciated.

I perhaps have an unfounded (unnecessary) concern that the wind turbine's controller might damage my $350 (times 2) AGM 100ah battery bank. I know my sophisticated battery charger does a spectacular job of "treating them right" with smart charging, and I didn't want to take a chance on yet another source of charging that may not be as nice to them. Again, perhaps my concern is unnecessary.

Thanks again for the advice!