Grid Tie Wind Inverter
I finally got my Aurora grid tie wind inverter. I am in the process of programming it. I can enter 16 data points, describing how much power to extract at a given voltage. The inverter generates the necessary power curve in order to extract power at various points. I programmed the available power for a 10.5' turbine that runs at 15% efficiency. I will tweek the parameters over time. Maybe I can enter 20% or better depending on how my turbine performs.
Below is my laptop, which is connected by a USB to the inverter. I am running the company's software to enter the voltage/wattage data points. The power curve is to the right. Once I am finished I can upload the data to the inverter.
Here you see the inverter, laptop and my DC power source. I have to provide at least 50vdc to turn on the inverter. I am not connected to the GRID at this time, so there is no AC input.
Below are the electronics. In the upper left is the electronic brake, which shorts all three phases. The switch is rated for 600v/80A. The unshorted outputs go to an AC disconnect switch in the middle left. From here, the lines go to the lower right. This is the rectifier/filtering box. It displays DC voltage and amperage. The DC output goes to the internally fan-cooled shunt controller. This will start diverting power if the voltage exceeds 260 volts. There is an LED to indicate active shunting, and there is a selector switch to set the voltage threshold to begin shunting. The dump load is 10 ohms/2600 watts.
The shunt controller sends its output to a DC disconnect swich, which goes into the 3.6kw wind inverter. The inverter will begin feeding power at 50v and can go up to 600v. There is an AC circuit breaker/disconnect in a sub-panel box directly above the wind inverter.
I was able to verify that everything works by feeding AC into my rectifier box. WARNING: When feeding AC or DC into the system you must make sure you are using an isolated circuit as the DC and AC inputs to the inverter share some common connections, and you can blow the inverter. I used a variac to slowly increase the voltage to an isolation transformer. The output of the transformer went to my rectifier box to simulate wind AC. Everything worked perfectly. The inverter turned on and locked into the grid; and, when the voltage exceeded my shunt controller threshold, the controller diverted the excess current to my dump load.
