Putting all the pieces together

[KBwind]

Hello Otherpower comrades,
I'm currently living off-grid in Nicaragua doing some wind turbine research and I was hoping that I could get some advice on how to best hook-up our RE system. Now overall our components are a bit of a mismatch of what was available when the house was built. For sources we have 3 80 watt panels (12v) connected to a phocos charge controller, 2 110 watt (12 v) panels hooked into a morningstar controller, and a 500 w turbine (dual rotor axial flux 4 pole) connected directly from the rectifier. The problem I'm having is with the battery bank configuration/setup. We have 4 110AH 12 volt Synthesis batteries and 4 220AH 6 volt batteries (2 strings of 2 batteries in series for 12v). Also, we have 2 1750 watt inverters. Now I've read that batteries shouldn't be mixed so I've been using the systems seperately with the 110 watt panels charging the 6volt batteries and the 80 watt panels charging the 12 volt batteries. The house circuits are plugged into the inverter but we seem to use more electricity than we make so by the time the sun goes down that horrible beeping sound rings and I have to switch the house circuit plug from one battery bank to the other. I imagine this is shortening the life of our batteries considerably since we are doing such a large discharge on each bank daily.
Does anyone have any suggestions how to better utilize this equipment...would it be a bad idea to connect the two battery banks together to power the one inverter? Should I connect all the solar panels and turbine into the larger battery bank and forget about the 12v batteries (I think they are about half dead anyway)?
Thanks for any help you can offer...if anyone can relate I'm getting a little tired of constantly fiddling with the configuration while squinting in a dark power shed.

[ghurd]

Everyone uses what they have, even if it is not a perfect situation.

I believe you would be much better off combining everything into one system.
All the batteries, and all the charging sources.

The batteries will charge more efficiently, discharge more efficiently, and spend less time in a critically low voltage condition.

It would be good to be sure none of the batteries are completely bad.
G-

[DamonHD]

Sounds good advice to me.

I'm being forced into increasingly baroque schemes to keep all my equipment integrated, and that generally means inefficiency, and some stuff overflowing while other is in drought.

Rgds

Damon

[KBwind]

Thanks for the help. I agree that the suggestion...I'll hook everything together into one big system and just use the one inverter to power everything. I think we would have a tough time using over 1750 watts regularly. The only trouble with that set-up is when I am using the jigsaw and if I'm not very gentle with the tool the inverter does a lovely continous beep and faults soon after. Then if I do that a few times the fridge then begins to fault the inverter when I turn it on. I was able to completely finish the turbine the day before we left so I'm really hoping that the extra watts will keep the bank in a better state of charge. The turbine isn't very big and is about sixteen feet off the ground so I'm not expecting any huge power figures - even just a nice 50 or 60 watt charge for a few hours on an average evening and especially in the evening when its great to be able to use the speakers and laptops for entertainment.
This has all got me thinking that I should use a plug-in power usage meter to measure exactly how many kwh s I'm using daily and either reduce my consumption through alternate means (I'm bringing down 8 solar porch lights and will use those on the walls like medevil torches) or add more generation capacity. I suppose the intriguing challenge with comfortable off-grid living on limited resources is finding creative ways to better your conditions little by little.

[ghurd]

You will not be happy with solar porch lights.

Conservation is good.

A couple things to consider.
Can the saw be fitted with a DC motor, like a treadmill motor?
Can a smaller inverter be used most of the time?  If the 1750W is only powering a pair of 13W CFLs, you would (often) be better off using a smaller inverter for them.
Can the fridge be externally insulated?  The heat releasing areas can not be insulated, and many of the newer fridges have the coils hidden in unexpected places.
G-

[Bruce S]

IF I may offer a different solution .
Take ALL the 80watt panels and 1 110watt panel along with the 'mill and combine them into one unit. use the 4 110Ah battery set along with the morning star and use this for house needs along with a single inverter OR as Ghurd said a smaller one if you can sort the lights from the fridge circuit. Possible sneak in a set of the 6v banks as well.


Using the left over 80watt panel, connect it along with a controller to the other string of batteries to run the power tools. BEFORE doing this though, I would let the batteries sit untouched for a full day if you can and check voltages of each to see if you have a dying battery on your hands. SG would be better, but if not available you use what-cha got right that would also mean separating the 6V banks and checking those as individuals.

Splitting these use(s) needs for power tool will keep the fridge from chattering and you should be able to get a deeper charge into the main bank, my thought is that you're just not getting a full charge into either bank and this should help. plus you'll have a nice 12V bank charging as a backup when not using the tools.

Best of luck!
Bruce S