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Often, smaller diodes can be mounted in the solar panel junction box. Stud diodes need to be mounted on heat sinks and placed where proper cooling is possible.
Diode hookup for homemade solar panels.
Helpful youtube video of installing a diode in a solar junction box.
Note: More often than not, your turbine will hookup directly to the batteries. Some controllers allow a turbine hookup for monitoring the current flow but then pass the current directly to the battery.
A/C turbines do not need a blocking diode, but instead a rectifier. Three phase turbines require a 3 phase rectifier.
When running higher amperages (more than about 15 amps or so), the stud diode needs to be mounted to a heat sink. The image above shows a real nice installation of 3 stud diodes on a commercial heat sink These heat sinks are great, but somewhat expensive. You can often make a suitable heat sink out of aluminum plate or other heat conductive metal (copper and aluminum are by far the best for heat transfer). Running multiple diodes in parallel is not really recommended unless the current through each diode is less than 75% of the rated capacity of the diode and the diode has a VERY good heat sink. This is because, as a particular diodes heat up, it tends to hog more of the current which causes it to heat more, and the cycle continues. So it is best to use a single large diode if at all possible or use multiple diodes with lots of heat sink and lots of reserve capacity.
