Hi there.
I recently added solar and batteries to my house. And have really enjoyed being quite self sufficient and sticking it to energy companies. I would like to take it a bit further, with the onset of winter, and have thought about getting a small wind generator.
I do mean relatively small, maybe just to top up batteries a little overnight.
Would it be possible to utilise the same system/inverter to do this? Or am I just trying to be too clever (cheapskate).
Thanks
Hybrid inverters + wind and solar together.
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1328
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
This is a tough subject as getting a wind generator installed that generates sufficient power takes a large rotor and it needs to be mounted high (10 metres),
have a look at https://www.rensmart.com/Maps it shows your wind speeds at the various heights for where you live.
The two things needed for wind power, size of blades (even the vertical fans don't increase the area of the blades significantly ) and most importantly wind speed with a clear un-interrupted outlook, and typically mounted at 10M or above e.g. a typical 2 metre micro wind turbine will produce 80-100W in 10-12mph winds.
It's written for the US market but some good information in this guide https://www.solacity.com/small-wind-turbine-truth/
If this works for you, it can be monitored by a second CT clamp from your inverter to the output of the wind generator so that the Fox inverter knows how much external generation there is, and it will use it to charge the batteries if generating enough power.
have a look at https://www.rensmart.com/Maps it shows your wind speeds at the various heights for where you live.
The two things needed for wind power, size of blades (even the vertical fans don't increase the area of the blades significantly ) and most importantly wind speed with a clear un-interrupted outlook, and typically mounted at 10M or above e.g. a typical 2 metre micro wind turbine will produce 80-100W in 10-12mph winds.
It's written for the US market but some good information in this guide https://www.solacity.com/small-wind-turbine-truth/
If this works for you, it can be monitored by a second CT clamp from your inverter to the output of the wind generator so that the Fox inverter knows how much external generation there is, and it will use it to charge the batteries if generating enough power.
Cool, thanks for this. I think that looking into it a bit further, the wind generation needs to be a bit more positive/productive for the outlay. I think ill have to wait for more efficient turbines to make it worthwhile. It is good to know that the inverter will be able to handle it, though if/when wind generators improve.