Homemade Wind Turbine Charge Controllers

Why not disconnect the batteries? Well, the wind turbine will still be creating a current and if it has no place to send the charge to, then the turbine could be overloaded and lead to it being burnt out.

Some charge regulators won’t work with wind turbines. They observe the voltage of the batteries and once they are charged to full, the regulator will cut out the supply so that the batteries won’t be charged any further. If this type were installed on your wind turbine, it could destroy it because the charge would burn it out. It’s the same as disconnecting the batteries.

You will have to have a charge controller that is compatible with a wind turbine. These will charge your battery bank as per normal but when they are fully charged, the power isn’t just shut off, it is diverted to an alternative load so that the power won’t be wasted. The energy that is diverted can be used on anything that uses electricity and has the same voltage as the wind turbine. Different types of wind turbine will need charge controllers to suit them.