08/04/2009 The generator has been working exceptionally well, the charge controller is working exactly as it should, battery charge does not exceed preset level and once the battery level gets down to the low trip point it automatically switches over to charge. I had to monitor the system over a few battery charge / discharge cycles to set the controllers high and low trip points at a level suitable for my needs. My trip point for the "Full Battery Level" is set at 7.25 volts, and my "Switch over to charge the battery" trip point was set at 6.25 volts, so now when the battery levels get to 14.50 volts the system switches over to dump the generator output, if the battery level gets down to 12.50 the charge controller will automatically switch the generator output to charge the batteries, basically it is doing exactly as I intended.... So far so good, our "micro" generator seems to be outputting more power than I had originally thought..... now onto putting it to some good use.... Once I find a source for some deep cycle batteries with some decent amp hour ratings anyway! :)~
08/11/2009 Been trying to figure out where this would be more usefull to me and my household, My house consumes so much energy its not even funny....but most of it is through little parasite devices that keep consuming power even when you "turn it off".. most people do not realize that the transformer in those wall warts used to power or charge devices are still sucking juice even when not connected to anything... that DVD player in the living room which is on stand by, the receiver, the surround sound system, the tv, cable/satelite receiver.... all these things still consume energy when "powered off". Just im my computer room, you should see it when I turn off the lights.... its like all these little beady eyes staring at me in the dark... Anyway, since I have a 400 Amp service to my home, a small micro generator will not be sufficient to supply any usable power to my house, just powering an inverter suitable for my needs would require far more than what I have right now and the windmill will definately not even come close to outputting the power demands that such a system would require....