Wind energy...

Oscar13601

Hi,

I'm new in this forum and in renovable energy. I'm looking at get a wind enrgy system for a cabin in upstate NY.
I saw in this forum that people said to avoid the windmax 1K and the gudcraft 1.5k, WHY???. What is a good a good turbine, what brand? What i'm thinking about is:

1-wind turbine,type unknown, what you guys suggest? I'm thinking like a 1.5K
2-Xantrex 60A controller
3-Xantrex 2500W or something equivalent. What you guys suggest?
4-a 24V system, thinking on trojan 12V batteries. Posibly 8 Batteries at 150AH ea.

Later, i'll probably install 4 215W solar panels to supplement the system. The location where I'm installing is a 10-15 MPH winds. This is for a cabin which I'll be visiting on a regular basis. I have a water well just done, and I'm not sure on how to wire a 220V submergible pump with such system. What do you guys suggest. I'll appreciate any help.

Thanks,
New kid on the block

mike95490

Re: Wind energy...

welcome.

regarding water, do you have hill to store water up on? Above ground storage tank, or 40 gallon pressure tank??

vtmaps

Re: Wind energy...

Welcome to the forum
My first suggestion is to do the solar first and then the wind. The solar will be more reliable and less expensive. In my opinion small scale wind is for folks who like climbing 100 ft towers, like to tinker with mechanical things, and have plenty of time and money to keep the system running. It can be very satisfying to harvest the wind, but its not as practical as solar.

Regarding batteries, you are proposing four parallel strings. Bad idea. Read: http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?14674

The first step in designing a system is to precisely define your loads. How many kilowatthours per day do you need, what voltages, and what current draws. (Your submersible pump may force you to use a 220 volt inverter). There are many pumping options that are more efficient than a typical plumbing supply house centrifugal pump.

The second step is to decide on battery capacity and voltage.

Then you decide how to charge the batteries (wind, solar, generator).

--vtMaps

Cariboocoot

Re: Wind energy...

Before you buy any wind turbine, buy an anemometer and see if you really have enough wind available to make it worth the investment. Chances are you don't. Wind turbines like sustained (not gusty) winds and usually in the 20+ mph range; you can't get power from nothing (no matter what some unscrupulous sellers will say) and slow winds just do not have the mechanical energy it takes to produce any viable amount of electricity.

The #1 problem with failed wind installs is that the site isn't suited for it in the first place.

Like vtMaps said, solar first; much more reliable power production, even in Upstate NY.

Windsun

Re: Wind energy...

As others have mentioned in this and many other threads, wind is quite often not a good first choice for such setups. The major problems have been stated in other wind threads, but the most common are the unreliability of wind speed and of many small wind turbines, and the fact that most people highly overestimate how much wind they actually get.

As far as the actual wind turbines go, I would stay away from the many types of PMA (basically automotive alternators) advertised all over the internet and stick with something that is proven to (at least mostly) work, such as the ones from Southwest Windpower and TLG.

Oscar13601

Re: Wind energy...

I'm thinking on a 40-80 gallon pressure tank. what do you guys recommend as far as pump is concern? The DC pumps have a very low
output per minute compared to the 220V or 120V. Would you guys use the DC with a large pressure tank, or just a 220V pump. In order to get the grid where I'm at is goin to be kind of pricey. If I can set up a decent system would be great. As far as wind, where I'm at upstate NY is windy in the winter, in the summer there is hardly any wind but sunny. If, it make sense with the water pump and the fridge I will consider the use of solar first, and later supplement with wind. Is it 4 panels rated at 230W a good start??? Also, do I need to controllers for the solar and wind, or can I have a bus bar hook everything and then from there to the batteries?? Well guys, thanks alot for all your help...


OM

Cariboocoot

Re: Wind energy...

You have to know how much water you need to pump, how far it has to be lifted, and how far it has to be pushed. Once you determine the pumping needs that will dictate how much energy it will take and what sort of system you need to supply it.

The DC pumps work fine for small volumes and short distances. A standard AC pump can be found to handle just about any circumstance but require inverter and enough battery to power it. I use an AC pump because I've already got the power system capable of running it (it is turned on only midday when batteries are full and fills a 60 gallon pressure tank) and I can get replacements very easily should it break (always a danger in the frozen wilderness).

You really do need to determine the loads first. Trying to design a system any other way is pure guess work with always disappointing results.

You absolutely need separate charge controllers for solar and wind (although there are a few "dual purpose" ones out there). You can not just feed full output into batteries, unless you like having to replace them every few days.

BB.

Re: Wind energy...

Oscar, should I move your questions all to their own thread?

You probably will receive more and better answers if you have everything in your own thread.

-Bill