Anyone research wind turbines for off grid? I've been searching for reputable builders that make durable products, but all I'm really finding are upstart foreign things, big claims and said claims disputed. My head is swimming ATM...
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Been consIdering wind as well. If I do invest in a remote site, it will have as many multiple sources as possible
Sailboats use them all the time for low demand equipment. Here is a link.
https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Power-70701-Turbine-2-Marine/dp/B00F4YANYU
Have no direct experience with them but most decent sized boat of thirty five feet or more usually had one. Some larger then others but down in the st Lawrence river and thousand islands I always noticed them spinning away.
Put a few up and help whatever solar one has. How well they would operate in the winter with snow and freezing rain, is something to look into.
Anyone have experience with them on land?
Not seeing the link,but I'm guessing it is one of those smaller 400W (or less) ones? I seem to recall that they need a pretty stiff breeze to generate any kind of power close to their rated output. Wind does seem like an important part of off-grid in winter. Personally, I think the ability to harvest a blizzard's energy, is probably worth the expenditure.
2000 watt ( that’s two thousand).
So three of them along with an over sized solar and battery system would help keep the lights on :ugeek:
What is the manufacturer? Know anything about them?
Know zip about them. If I do this, I will go to some major sail bot manufacturers to find out what they sell
When I was researching small wind, it seemed that two manufacturers in the USA had been at it for a while. Missouri Wind and Solar, and another whose name escapes me ATM. Bergey was also in there, but quite a bit more coin. The name "Hugh Piggott" came up a lot, when I was looking at them, also.
Thanks, will look into them and learn more. Still noodling on a side, size $$
I am in kinda the same position. It makes sense to augment solar with wind, but the lack of reputable + affordable small wind has left me in a state of analysis paralysis. I suspect, in the end, it'll come down to rolling the dice on a cheap Chinese/Indian product from whatever company of the moment is selling them, hope that it is well-made - or at least can be rendered good once I've received it.
Personally, I'm fixated with the VAWT design, would prefer to go that route even if it is less efficient than a horizontal prop, but there are even fewer choices when it comes to VAWTs. Thought I'd found a winner with the Kelso VAWT (Manitoba), but the quote was astronomical, and acquaintances have used words like "kook" and "scam" after meeting the manufacturer. A company called "Tumo Int" was selling a VAWT that was suspended on a maglev (possibly even a magnetic bearing), for a while on Amazon, I kinda regret not jumping on one of those when they were still available - it's how I would want to build one.
I also question if it is wiser to put up two or three smaller ones, rather than a single large turbine. My spot is mostly low-speed wind, though, so to capture any usable energy, I think I need the larger swept area of a higher-output turbine; make minimal power in "normal" wind, and capture whatever I can during blizzards & storms.
A family member living off-grid has just solar, and a small gas generator, won't go near wind. Fires the gen maybe three times a year, tells me he thinks wind simply isn't worth the hassle - too much maintenance/effort, too expensive up front, too fragile etc. Carbon power seems like a good option to have, but I still prefer the idea of being able to power my pack without having to rely on a market-supplied fuel source.
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I have zero experience with them, but I do know sailers to be generally frugal / cheap, so I can’t see them spending money with no return.
Having had a nice gasoline cruiser, I know that the quality of hardware, systems..can be really good. If and when I build another location, I will certainly be heading down to marine shops to buy electronic components, if things are built for salt water, high humidity, top notch sealing for water, sun/ crack resistant plastics...I think that this is a good way to go. Not cheap by any standards, but even if one doesn’t have the coin, I would still recommend looking into how things are built, wired...to get ideas. Maintenance on a boat is also an issue, little space to work in, so again, it would be worth while looking into how things are made so you can cut down on grief in puttling things apart.
I live in an area that does get some good winds coming down the valley so they may work, especially during those overcast windy winter days, when solar isn’t going to cut the mustard.
https://www.sailmagazine.com/diy/know-how-wind-generators
https://www.sailmagazine.com/diy/how-to-installing-a-wind-generator
https://www.leadingedgepower.com/marine-wind-generators-for-sailing-1235541.html
A family member living off-grid has just solar, and a small gas generator, won't go near wind. Fires the gen maybe three times a year, tells me he thinks wind simply isn't worth the hassle - too much maintenance/effort, too expensive up front, too fragile etc. Carbon power seems like a good option to have, but I still prefer the idea of being able to power my pack without having to rely on a market-supplied fuel source.
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You have a smart, experienced family member. Wind was really only viable dollars and since wise before 2010, before the price of solar panels dropped to nothing, and now with LiFeP04 falling in price....Wind power and what you get from it isn't worth the cost of the pole or tower you mount it on. YMMV
Edit...only place I think it might have any limited benefit, and only limited to a couple winter months at that, may be costal. If a person likes kinetic yard art, they will be happy with a wind turbine! If you want power, and performance ( day in day out like clock work) its solar panels and batteries (LiFeP04)
Edit again... should you want to go ahead with wind power I would be happy to sell you a never used all steel 53ft tall (from memory) take down tip up tower. You just need to add the guy wires, And its built with heavy wall steel pipe! Heavier wall pipe than any tower you can buy! On a steel I beam base. 1000.00 dollars takes it. I don't think you can even buy the steel for that price, actually I know you cant.
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
Quite a deal there Peppercorn. Is that called a "gin pole"? I am not (at the moment) in a position to commit to it, but perhaps if I feeling like wasting a bit of money on wind, I'll give you a nudge.
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Quite a deal there Peppercorn. Is that called a "gin pole"? I am not (at the moment) in a position to commit to it, but perhaps if I feeling like wasting a bit of money on wind, I'll give you a nudge.
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Yes on a fixed gin pole. From the time you walk out to the tower until the time you can have your turbine tipped down and at head height to work on is about 90 seconds. The time to crank it back up again....5 to 10 minutes (old guys 15 minutes to get it up..jk) depending on how heavy it is. Suitable for a 10 foot, maybe 12 foot diameter blade set, I would not go more, but that is a honest 800 to 1100 watt size turbine.
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
Quite a deal there Peppercorn. Is that called a "gin pole"? I am not (at the moment) in a position to commit to it, but perhaps if I feeling like wasting a bit of money on wind, I'll give you a nudge.
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Danux, You snooze, you lose. Tower no longer available. I have decided to put it to use and am getting it ready to put a turbine on it. (Otherpower/Hugh Piggott style)
I have just finished up making the blades out of clear knot free Cedar, you dont want to know the cost, but does the Cedar ever look nice when finished with Linseed oil. Its sad that the UV will just turn the blades pale gray in a few years.
I went to the trouble of building a wooden blade carving jig so that all the blades will come out the same. I just clamp a 2x8 into the trough and use a chain saw that has metal guides on the bar and the chain saw does the rough cutting following the guides, the belt sander with 40 grit does the rough sanding, followed by the belt sander with 120 grit, and lastly hand sanded with 220 grit. Takes 10 hours to pump out 3 finished blades from start to finish.
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
I can tell any one thinking about putting up a real turbine ( as opposed to those 400 watt (claimed) ebay specials ) that before you spend money on a turbine put up a tower for one first. I guarantee it will be a good learning experience. I admit I am going over kill by likely 2 maybe 2.5 times with the guy wires. I have about half on in this picture, when done I will have north of 30 on this tower. The weight of the cables alone is more than I could pick up at once with my arms. I am guessing somewhere around 200-275 pounds and the cost close to 800-900 dollars. Then you will need cable clamps for securing your guy wires, roughly over 200 needed, another200-225 dollars for those.
The phone has distorted the picture making it look shorter than it is .
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.