Help-Thinking about putting up a wind power generator.?
I have an unheated garage to house my battery bank for residential wind power system. I am concerned because here in upper michigan temperatures get to - 30 degrees F. I read that the storage of battery banks should be kept arround 70 degree F. Any Ideas out there on what I should do?
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Lead acid batteries work OK at cold temperatures. Their output current becomes very limited, and the voltage drops, but when warmed up, the capacity returns.
Look at auto batteries. They can stay outside in very cold temperatures, and still start the engine, although not as well as at higher temperatures.
If you can, insulate the garage and install a heater, with a thermostat set at perhaps 32ºF.
Or put the batteries in a sealed insulated box with the heater inside, that way you only have to heat the box, not the entire garage.
Percy has some good info. But I’d use only sealed marine lead acid batteries to eliminate the hydrogen gas problem. And use a good charge controller to avoid overcharging, which also avoids the gas generation and extends the life of the batteries.
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Bill Russell has given you a perfectly good answer. If you do as he has suggested, make sure that you use a fan to ventilate the battery box. Any such fan and heater must not produce any sparks or hot spots. This is because the lead-acid cells are producing clouds of hydrogen gas the whole time that they are charging. Hydrogen + spark = explosion. I have never lived in Michigan but if the wind is as strong and as constant as it is in Chicago, you will easily produce the amount of energy needed to run a house. If you are going to use a static inverter to produce the AC, be sure to use a good one that produces a pure sine wave and not one that more closely resembles a square wave.
Wow… normally idiots answer the questions on here, but both these guys seem to be steering you well.
I would add that insulation will help tremendously. And that includes the battery storage area. Keep the batteries off the floor, and in a warmed area. If they get too cold, the internal cells can become damaged.
If you go lead acid, learn to check the water levels.
And finally, a crazy idea… you could get a remote thermometer to keep a read on the battery from inside the house.
Sounds like a great idea. Us trolls in the burbs can’t put wind turbines up.