EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Wind Power
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-14-12, 06:50 PM   #1
Phillip
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 1
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default New to wind power, need advise

I am new to wind power, but have been tinkering with an ac inverter and battery bank for a few years now. I have one in my house 3000 watt with 5 batteries in my bank currently charging my system with an ac charger and running a few plugs on the main floor of my house. I also have almost the same setup in each of my company e-250 vans. Except the banks are being charged by a 200 amp altenater.
I am currently looking at a wind setup and want to pull a couple of the smaller circuts in pannel box Ie: some plugs and lamps and connect them to a wind powered system.
Namely a
Apollo 650W AC 12V Wind Turbine
+ SolarWind Hybrid RX Charge Controller
for Land or Marine Use
Basicly what I need to know
1. Is this an ok system (best bank for the buck)
2. When I pull the circuts from my pannel.
1a. Most ac inverters have plugs on them, according to code you cannot plug in a house circut to the controller, the system has 3 outputs and I know that ac inverters are to be hooked in to them then the load hooked in accordingly.
3. The only ac inverter I see around that can be hard wired through a pony pannel is the grid tie inverters. I do not plan on feeding the grid. Can I for example hook up the wind system as per instructions and code where applicable. Then feed the grid tie inverter from the controller then into a small pony pannel, then wire up the circuts from the house to the other side of the pannel. Of course there will be disconnects and other things in the circut....I guess what I am trying to do is mimmic the pannel in the house now on a much smaller scale and substitute the power utility company with the wind setup.

As I can see the above Apollo system has what I need and can be expanded.

Thanks from the Newbee


Last edited by Phillip; 11-14-12 at 08:21 PM.. Reason: info left out
Phillip is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-22-14, 10:11 AM   #2
nibs
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 206
Thanks: 1
Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts
Default

As a now retired once upon a time maker of about 600 small wind turbines and an aficionado thereof, I recommend that you do not spend your money on a wind turbine unless you live in a particularly windy place. At todays prices, it is very difficult to beat photovoltaic which of course has the advantage of no moving parts.
Tony
nibs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-11-14, 09:05 PM   #3
WisJim
Helper EcoRenovator
 
WisJim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 42
Thanks: 7
Thanked 9 Times in 8 Posts
Default

Remember too, that you need to have your wind turbine 30 feet higher than anything within 500 feet, as a general rule of thumb. And never mount it on a roof or other structure, and it should be 60 to 80 feet up, at a minimum, higher if there is vegetation, trees, hilly ground, buildings, or other obstructions within a quarter mile or so. When you take the height requirements into account, you can see that a small turbine isn't cost effective, because the tower is going to be a large percentage of the installed cost. You need to have a wind turbine up in the WIND, where it is steadier and higher speed, and you just can't do that with a 30 foot tall tower.

PVs are so much cheaper than wind turbines in small system sizes that it really isn't worth considering a wind turbine. I speak from experience, having installed our first wind turbine in 1977 or so, used the wind to power our home for almost 12 years, then moved, taking the turbine along and reinstalling it, and we are still using it, but it wouldn't be cost effective to do that again, with the price of solar electric panels as inexpensive and maintenance free as they are.
WisJim is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to WisJim For This Useful Post:
stevehull (08-11-14)
Old 08-12-14, 05:52 AM   #4
philb
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Oklahoma City
Posts: 155
Thanks: 58
Thanked 17 Times in 14 Posts
Default

Look at your wind charts for your area. You need an average wind of 10 mph if you want to produce meaningful power.
Usually, a mix of sun and wind power does a good job.
Unless you have to have 12 volts for some reason, I would suggest using 48 or 24 volts in the RE system. Since you have a 12 vac wind turbine, you could take the power through a transformer or use a switching power supply to get the voltage higher in order to transport it to the batteries/inverter.
philb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-14, 08:05 AM   #5
WisJim
Helper EcoRenovator
 
WisJim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 42
Thanks: 7
Thanked 9 Times in 8 Posts
Default

Here is a link to a rough map of wind speeds at 30 meters height (over 90 feet but a good minimum height for a wind turbine). WINDExchange: Residential-Scale 30-Meter Wind Maps 10mph is about 4 1/2 m/s, so an area that is yellow or higher speed on the map MIGHT be suitable (any area with less windspeed isn't worth considering for economical energy production). Personally, I would say 12mph or more would be a minimum, and the map s just going to tell you areas where it isn't windy enough, to actually decide if wind power is a good idea for you, you also need to consider terrain, vegetation, and buildings, etc.
WisJim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-14, 07:42 AM   #6
johnsol
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Armenia
Posts: 1
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by WisJim View Post
Here is a link to a rough map of wind speeds at 30 meters height (over 90 feet but a good minimum height for a wind turbine). WINDExchange: Residential-Scale 30-Meter Wind Maps 10mph is about 4 1/2 m/s, so an area that is yellow or higher speed on the map MIGHT be suitable (any area with less windspeed isn't worth considering for economical energy production). Personally, I would say 12mph or more would be a minimum, and the map s just going to tell you areas where it isn't windy enough, to actually decide if wind power is a good idea for you, you also need to consider terrain, vegetation, and buildings, etc.
Hi, thanks for this url, that was very useful for me .

johnsol is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:15 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design