Can they be wired directly to a charge controller and then attached to a 12 volt batter for charging or is there additional hardware in the system?


Example for water wheel or windmill powered....

I think this completely depends on the PM motor, but:

would this work?

http://www.solarpanelstore.com/solar-power.small-charge-controllers.eco-energy.bdf5-blocking-diode.info.1.html?gclid=CPn59YWOtMACFeRj7Aods0YA-Q

Depending on your system, yes. But it is only rated for 5 amps.

 

They're kind of proud of that 50 cent Schottkey rectifier...

Here's an 8 amp version for 83 cents.

"Diversion" charge regulators are often used with PM generators, particularly if there's some danger of damaging the generator due to overspeed without a load connected.

Basically, the generator connects directly to the battery (through a blocking diode), and the diversion regulator also connects directly to the battery.

When the regulator determines that the battery is fully charged (by measuring its voltage), it connects a large electrical load that overwhelms the output from the generator, thereby preventing the battery voltage from rising any higher.

This load can simply be bank of resistors that dissipate the extra power as useless heat, or some secondary device that uses the extra power for a specific purpose (i.e., an electric water heater, attic fan, water pump, etc.).