Wind Turbine Water Heating
Wind Turbine Water Heating
Heat water directly using a wind turbine generator (with or without a battery bank)
wind | waterWind turbine generators are used primarily for electricity generation. The power used can be stored in a
battery bank or connected to the mains supply using a suitable
grid tie inverter. In very strong winds, and/or when the batteries are fully charged a wind turbine may generate more current than the batteries can handle. Therefore a
dump load is often used to divert the extra energy to heat water so it is not wasted and so that the wind turbine does not spin so quickly that it is damaged.
Diversion Load Water Heating
Pictured above is a typical
12V water heating element (200 Watt power) which can be screwed into an immersion heater
draincock hole. When used as a diversion (dump) load, such an element is connected to the batteries via a charge regulator. When the
regulator detects that the batteries are fully charged, it diverts the generated electricity to the
element which heats water.
Direct Wind Turbine Water Heating
It is not usually possible to connect a 12 Volt water heating element directly to the output from a
wind turbine. The voltages generated by a 12 Volt wind turbine are typically far in excess of their nominal 12 Volt rating - values of over 50 Volts can often be recorded in heavy winds which would rapidly burn out the heating element when you need it most. A 12 Volt heating element should not be used with just 12-15 Volts, a 24V heating element with just 24-30 Volts.
In order to prevent the
heating element from receiving fluctuating
over-voltages a
small battery should be used as a
buffer between the wind turbine output and the heating element. A
12V motorcycle battery is perfect for this task - no more powerful than
4 amp hours / 50 cold cranking amps, and it should be a lead-acid battery which can be refilled with water. A sealed gel type battery or dry cell should not be used.
The
heating element chosen should be closely matched to the power output of the wind turbine. If the element is too large (high wattage), the wind turbine will not be able to start up spinning unless the wind is very strong. If the element has a low wattage, nothing will be damaged since the small battery will limit the voltage to around 12v.
Note that if the element has either a low or high wattage compared to the
wind turbine generator, the element will be damaged if the battery is not added and the generator is exposed to high velocity wind.
Article Last Modified: 07:01, 24th Jul 2007
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