Specifications

16
Figure 13, PowerCenter with Cover Removed
We recommend the following procedure for mak-
ing the electrical connections. Please ensure
that the wires do not pull on, or flex, the circuit
board.
Step 1:
Remove the cover to expose the circuit board and
terminals. The terminals are on the circuit board,
as shown in Figure 14.
Figure 14, Terminals for Electrical Connections
Step 2:
Connect Dump Load leads. This is an optional
resistance-heating load that will operate when the
batteries are full. Polarity is not important in mak-
ing this connection. Connecting the extra load
can be done at any time, but if the batteries are
full then there will be power on the terminals. This
will cause a spark when attempting to make this
connection
The specifications for the dump load are ex-
plained on page 8.
If you have already connected the wind turbine
and battery bank following the recommended pro-
cedure for installing the wind turbine, you can go
to Step 5.
Step 3:
Connect Battery leads. First connect the battery
negative (-) wire to the terminal marked “BAT –“.
With the battery positive wire touch the pad
marked “POLARITY CHECK”, if red LED (D80)
lights, the connections are backward, double
check everything to find the cause. The green
LED (D70) should come on, if it does leave the
wire in contact with the “POLARITY CHECK” pad
for 20 seconds to charge all capacitors and avoid
a spark when making the battery connection.
Quickly connect the battery positive wire to the
terminal marked “BAT +”. The system will not
operate correctly and could be damaged if the
polarity is reversed.
The maximum current to the batteries will be ~ 60
amps with no PV and up to ~ 90 amps with the
maximum allowed PV array size. Wiring to the
batteries must be sized accordingly (minimum
25mm
2
, 4 AWG)
Step 4:
Connect Wind Turbine leads. The turbine leads
should still be shorted from the turbine installation.
In order to make the connections to the Power-
Center a small wire can be connected to allow the
turbine wires to remain shorted until the wires are
fully connected to the circuit board. Ensure that
the wind turbine wires are connected with the
proper polarity. Once both turbine leads are con-
nected, remove the shorting wire. If there is suffi-
cient wind then the turbine will begin turning and
the turbine LED will begin blinking, indicating that
the turbine is charging the battery.
The system will not operate correctly if the polarity
is reversed. The polarity should have been
checked with a Volt-Ohm-Meter when the turbine
was being installed. If the turbine is installed with
reversed polarity, it will spin very slowly, provided
that the wind is sufficient. To check for reversed
connections with the turbine spinning slowly,
place the red lead from a multi-meter on the “TUR
+” terminal, and the black lead of the meter to the
“TUR –“ terminal. The voltage will read minus 0.7
VDC if the turbine is connected with reverse polar-
ity.