Hello,

Ive recently been given a wind turbine that I am in the process of installing.
I understand it must connect to the batteries via a charge controller.
I wonder if this switch panel is that controller or if it is something seperate all together.
Thanks for your advice,

Josh

Could be an older version of the present digital controller as here;

www.naviclub.com/electricite/eolienne/sun-watts/EO-420-Hybride/

Their publications page has numerous pdf files but they don't download too well;

Perhaps you could email them.

Looks to me like the panel is the turbine controller and not a voltage controller.
The panel looks to be set up for DC voltage so I would believe that the turbine may have the bridge rectifier/reg built in.
If you have two heavy wires (positive and negative) and maybe a small green earth wire coming from turbine it's usually a sign that the turbine has internal voltage control.
If you have three wires coming from the turbine(usually all red and not overly heavy) the output from the turbine will be AC and will need to be rectified and regulated before going to that control panel that you have.
Your control panel appears to only have an amp meter, two swiches and no bridge rectifier/reg

Thank you Jolene

Yes, the turbine has three equal thickness wires extruding from the base.

Red, black and green. I will inspect in the morning but I suspect they will be size 6awg

Isn't this just the best forum ?!!.

Looks like either an air x marine or breeze - Made in the USA I have the x marine with the carbon blades.
www.windpower-srp.com.au/cms/uploads/Air_X_Marine_Brochure.pdf
...they have an internal charge controller no need for a secondary mppt - eg wire via panel to battery

ChopesBro said..
Clearly I'm a ideas man and sorry for going off topic but I imagine one day we will have reverse engineered turbines?

Imagine a windless day and you use the power storage of your battery to drive the turbine to create the wind for the sails! Than your propeller thrust that's achieved by the turbine wind powered sails is reversed back to power and feeds into the battery!

I'll show myself out

LOL, no you cannot use a turbine mounted on the back of the boat to create wind to power the sails in front. In an ideal world, the backwards force created by the turbine pushing the air forwards would equal the forwards force caught by the sails. Basic Newton's law - action and reaction are opposite and equal. But, the real world would include many energy losses between turbine and sail, resulting in your boat being pushed backwards. Why not just use the wind turbine as an air-fan to push the boat forward, or, use the batteries to power the propeller?

The same fallacy asks if, when you are transporting a bird in a plane, does it weigh less if it flies inside the plane or if it is sitting on a perch. (The answer is no, because the downforce created by the bird's wings get transmitted to the plane by the air currents generated inside the plane by the bird's wings - if it didn't the bird would fall to the floor, or the perch, or something).

I'll show myself out now, too.