I am connecting the rover generator and our wind turbine to the grid and need to know what type/brand of inverter to purchase. I know that the generator is 3 phase and is 300 W with a maximum amperage of 30 A. I know that I need a rectifier to convert the 3 phase AC to DC and then an inverter to convert it back to AC to tie to the grid. I am have difficulty selecting/finding an inverter. Any suggestions.
Try a Sun G 500 watt (WDL) Wind (ebay) rated inverter 10-30v. No one has experimented with the grid tie for the Rover as far a i know but this may be your bet. See other post's on why using only this type of inverter only.
I recently installed a wind turbine using the Rover 300 W generator and a Sun G 300 WDL Wind Grid Tie Inverter 10.8 V-30VAC 3 phase in The invertor specs say it needs a 300 W 3 ohm, dump load resistor, which I had trouble finding. I asked the seller about where to purchase the resister and he recommended a 450W 3 ohm dump load resistor, but did not know where to buy one. This turbine is supposed to tie to the grid without batteries. Should the inverter require a dump load resistor, or is possible the seller sent me the wrong inverter?
I just posted a link to our 2.9 Ohm resistor in response to your other post. A grid tie inverter that is designed for a wind turbine will almost always require a dump load. The only exception to this rule that I can think of is if the the turbine is loaded down by shorting the phases of the alternator. Generally speaking, a dump load is a much better option.
I'm building a micro hydro grid tie system. Can I, or should I use a wind rated GTI? What is the difference between 'wind rated' and not? Just dump load control only? There is an extremely remote chance that my PMA could produce voltage above the 10.8-30v. range, during a high water condition. Thanks all.
Grid tie inverters are programmed to find and track the optimum voltage (V) and current (I) point from a changing energy source, in order te extract the most power (Watts = V x I). Solar panels have a very tight voltage range where the current can vary quite a bit, so they are programmed to only make small shifts in the voltage once that optimum voltage is found. A wind turbine's voltage varies widely and rapidly, so the tracking programming built in for wind GTIs is significantly different, plus they must have a way to protect the GTI from high voltage, thus the dumpload fuction is added. GTIs programmed for solar panels do a poor job of tracking a wind turbine's voltage and can easily exceed the input voltage limit of the GTI, which will cause it to be damaged rather quickly. GTIs programmed for wind tend to do OK with wind or solar, though a true comparison of output of a wind GTI vs. a Solar GTI, both connected to identical solar panels, has not been done to my knowledge. That would make an interesting test. Though a hydro system might be more stable that a wind turbine, the RPM still will cover a wide range so a wind GTI should.
Thank you, Minnesota. It's difficult to find info like this, specific to small hydro. Your clarification is greatly appreciated.
