Combining wind and solar generators to one battery storage

I am trying to merge two systems of wind and solar into one battery storage bank. I am starting with small systems (400w solar and 600w wind) to learn what I'm doing on a small scale in case I screw something up!
It "seems" obvious to me that since they each have their own charge controller, that I should just be able to run each of the output leads from their respective charge controllers to the same battery bank, which then runs to one inverter, in turn to my electric grid. Will it work, or should I wait till the 4th of July to try it so the neighbors can enjoy my ignorance if it blows up?!
Secondly, I am curious to know how to set up an overload dump to a secondary battery bank. ANY info to get me started in the right direction will be GREATLY appreciated.

 

It should work. I have similar system with 4 turbines and more than 500 watts solar and the only problem I had was when the sun is at its peak it was shutting down the turbines because I did not have heavy enough cable to the battery bank I upgraded the cable and it is no longer a major problem

 

@Yad Tsalach
You might go here and post up. Might get some more attention to your question.
New Member Introductions

 

People run multiple charge controllers to one battery bank all the time.
As long as all all power source run with in their charge controllers voltage range and the charge controllers are the same voltage as the battery bank it will run.

 

That's the simple answer I was looking for, thanks! I'm going for it!

thanks for the info!

 

I'll try that, thanks!

I love you smart guys! I wish I were a member of your family, but I'm not, so I'll start with one question and go from there. What is "float?"

 

Float is when they are still charging but only lightly....the bulk charge rate has done the 'bulk' of the work...more like a trickle charge as the battery voltage is close to being fully charged. 12.6-12.7v in the case of 12v systems. Many of the better charge controllers will have a screen telling what mode they are in at any given time.

 

Float charge is the final stage of charge after the other state or states of charge have completed. It is used to maintain the battery at a set voltage with low current - basically just enough to keep it from self-discharging. Batteries usually can be maintained at their float voltage, in BT's case 13.5 volts, (which is probably adjusted for the lower temperatures of up north) almost indefinitely without damage as long as they're watered (where flooded cell type batteries are used).

Is your charge controller temperature compensated?

Batteries at higher ambient temperatures will require lower charging voltages to keep from overcharging and when they're at lower ambient temperatures they require higher voltages to keep from undercharging. Temperature compensated charge controllers result in longer battery life.

Fellow Monkeys - let me know if I just put my foot in my mouth, but I don't think so.

 

This is awesome!!! I love you guys! I've learned more in one day from you guys than I've learned in months of trying read books with words I've never seen before and then try to decipher what they mean! If a battery bank reaches full charge capacity, is it the charge controller that then goes into "float" mode? Then do I have to add another fancy piece of equipment to direct the charge to another backup battery bank?

 

Wind turbines need a braking system so when power is not needed , the turbine will NOT over speed and destruct .
A KID CC from midnite can trip into a load braking system for small turbines up to 20 amps , Now the kid can do 30 amps solar , but for Wind , (since you can't feather the blades , you use a diversion load , The KID will use a 10 amp portion of its system to slow the blades ).
Two KIDS and connect them both to cross talk , one solar one wind , wind will tell solar to slow down and let me use the wind more ..
Make sense ??
http://www.midnitesolar.com/pages/kid/index.php

Sloth

Your correct , and that's WHY we use Temperature compensated charge controllers
Sloth

We use the CC internal relays for that as we can set them to the voltage we need to switch on a DTDP relay . The battery isolation systems are just large Diodes , so the voltage drop thru them means the cells are never really charged .. Good enough for car batterys ..
Sloth

 

Yad....this was what I told you in that PM you sent me....pay close attention to the above.

 

@TnAndy
We good , I didn't pm him , so all learn from my hunt and peck !
Sloth

 

You guys are out of my league, but I'm having a blast! I'm like a kid in a candy store with no money! But I got to chew on some of this before I can figure out how to ask an intelligent question... ya, tomorrow!

 

Now those are words to live by. Thank you ghrit!!

 

You tube has a lot of home energy vids.

Here's one on how to NOT assemble a system....


a clean installation using Tesla batteries



shows a "dump load" for the wind part

 

OK, you're the one who said questions don't have to be intelligent, so if this is a dumb question, it's your fault! Am I correct to say that a volt is a measurement of stored energy and an amp is a measurement of energy being used? So, high volts + low amp draw = long battery life. Low voltage + high amp draw = short battery life. Batteries store volts, tools/appliances/lights draw amps, and watts measure how many electrons were actually used to make that transfer happen irellevant to the time it took to do so??????????? How'd I do? You have permission to laugh at me if I got that wrong!