Adding wind turbine to compliment existing Solar.

[Minerva]

On my boat we have 2x100W solar charging 3x120ah lead batteries via an MPPT charger. Boat based on West coast of Scotland.

This year we have been ‘blessed’ with a damn sight more wind than sun during our cruise so had to have the fridge off most of the time. This led to the indignity of drinking non-chilled fizz (although it never exactly got warm!!) and non chilled g&t’s!

In the quest to constantly improve comfort on board, it feels like in our situation, wind and solar would be quite complementary. I appreciate some turbines are very noisy, but we saw a few this year that were near silent…

Looking at the power curves of most wind turbines, 12-15kts of breeze would be sufficient to deliver >6a which is enough to power our fridge & instruments. By 20kts they are into significant charging currents.


Three questions;
Firstly, would a separate charger for the wind work alongside the existing MPPT one or would I have to get a combined charger to handle both wind & Solar inputs? These seem to be mostly PWM chargers which at less efficient and thus a retrograde step..?

Secondly, for the “Dump load” to prevent over charging, could this be the form of an inverter powering the 230v feed to the calorifier? The ability of being able to have a warm shower on inclement weather days sounds quite nice!

Thirdly, when we inevitably upgrade to LifoPo4 batteries when these lead ones die, is there and gotchas to bear in mind for down the line we should design in from the outset.

Thanks.

 

[SaltyC]

I am based in the NW, I have both and interrogation of the controller shows roughly 50% split for charge,particularly over winter.

The Solar (only 30W) copes with the Fridge and minimal domesic load at anchor in summer. When sailing, anything over F3 forward of the beam the wind generator will cope with the fridge, nav instruments and auto pilot thus arriving with full batteries. Inverters and 230V toHW immersion beyond my bear of little brain.

Yes the wind can be 'noisy' on a night, shut it down on the controller if high winds and happy. However, if at anchor in light winds, leave it on and if wind builds >F4 it will Humand wake you - a quick check and shut down. Better to be warned of building weather early???

 

[mrangry]

I sailed a boat with a wind generator and decided very quickly I would never have one because of the noise

 

[dunedin]

I am surprised that your 200w solar won't keep up. Our 150w generally does, also in Scotland, with a bit of motor at start and end of sailing day (and 20 mins to warm water for showers after 36hrs on anchor). Can you angle your solar better?
Like mrangry we are in the no way would we add a wind turbine (though if budget permitted would have water one if going across the pond)

 

[LittleSister]

I am reminded of a chap (James Buchanan?) who used to campaign a Hurley 20 from somewhere in the NE, including impressive long trips, and write occasional articles in PBO about it. He concluded the principle advantage of his wind generator (though this was a smaller boat and earlier technology) was that there was a step change in the noise it made when the wind reached F5, which reminded him to put a reef in!

 

[noelex]

In the quest to constantly improve comfort on board, it feels like in our situation, wind and solar would be quite complementary. I appreciate some turbines are very noisy, but we saw a few this year that were near silent…

This is true, when the wind is blowing, often the sun is not shining and vice versa, but there is a downside. On most yachts it is impossible to situate a wind turbine where it does not shade the solar panels. Even a small amount of shading can have a significant impact on solar energy harvested.

If considering a wind turbine make sure you factor in the likely reduction in solar output when estimating the electrical energy gain.

 

[Ribtecer]

Yes the wind can be 'noisy' on a night,

How do you know my wife?

 

[B27]

...

Looking at the power curves of most wind turbines, 12-15kts of breeze would be sufficient to deliver >6a which is enough to power our fridge & instruments. By 20kts they are into significant charging currents.

....

Thanks.

The catch is that weather forecasts talk about the wind speed at 10m in open country, you measure it at the masthead, but your wind generator will be much lower down where the wind is much less.
I'd suggest getting an anemometer and holding it where the wind generator will be.
You might find you see 15kt 2m above the deck when beating to windward, but not downwind.
Some places you moor, you may find the wind funnelling down the valley, others not much.

If you've got an NCI coastwatch or other interweb weatherstation nearby, you might find you can look at archive wind readings and get some idea of how often your generator is going to see useful wind speed.

 

[michael_w]

I'd never have another wind generator.
The manufacturer's seem to tell appalling fibs about their output, Once the boat is heeled the one I had spent most of its time spinning horizontally. Noisy. Could be a problem with high lock and dock walls. Expensive and weight just where you don't want it.

 

[Neeves]

We had an Aero4Aquagen for 25 years and wished we had bought the 6 version.

Noise was never an issue.

Now we would buy a Skywind and a WattnSea. By having a cranked, rotatable pole you can locate the wind gen outboard of any solar panels.

Jonathan

 

[Goldie]

I’m going to buck the trend! We love our Aerogen 6 and if it was to expire, we’d definitely replace it. Unlike some makes, it never makes enough noise to disturb nearby boats and unless the wind is really howling, we just experience a gentle hum onboard.

There are some makes though, that we avoid anchoring near!

Yes, we do have Solar too and to answer part of the OP’s question, the solars have their own MPPT.

 

[NormanS]

After our wind generator disintegrated in a gale, we changed over to PV panels. I would NEVER go back.
We now have 180w of fixed panels, with the option of slinging another 2 x 50w over the mizzen boom. All the normal equipment, including a fridge, which means that we only want to shop every ten days or so.

 

[B27]

I’m going to buck the trend! We love our Aerogen 6 and if it was to expire, we’d definitely replace it. Unlike some makes, it never makes enough noise to disturb nearby boats and unless the wind is really howling, we just experience a gentle hum onboard.

There are some makes though, that we avoid anchoring near!

Yes, we do have Solar too and to answer part of the OP’s question, the solars have their own MPPT.

Can you give any info on how much charge you get from it?

A bloke in our river has one, he says it's great 'keeps my batteries topped up all winter'.
I managed that with a 15 watt solar panel.

I'm sure they have a role, the people who fit them to things like off-grid monitoring equipment don't buy them for a laugh.
A local farmer I know has one about a metre across which he reckons is worth while for powering some cctv and stuff, in addition to solar.

 

[Goldie]

Can you give any info on how much charge you get from it?

I’ve never actually noted it down so off the top of my head; light breeze probably only 3 or 4 amps BUT that’s H24. Once the breeze is 12kts plus, the charge increases significantly and at 15kts maybe 6A and 9 or 10A at 20kts. Above 20kts and it’s pushing in a lot. We find that there’s a place for both solar AND wind unless you sail only on sunny areas. In Galicia at the moment, the skies are a different colour to what I usually experience at home in Cornwall! A wet and windy spell is where the wind scores over anything but the biggest solar array imho.

There’s no point in me linking to the Aerogen performance graph as you can’t get them any more however, most of the manufacturers make the data available on line. If replacing the Aerogen, I’d like a D400 but they’re very expensive and very heavy. Realistically, I’d probably go for a Silentwind Pro or Marlec’s Rutland 1200.

Don’t go ‘small’ - they really are only trickle chargers.

 

[Bristolfashion]

I’m going to buck the trend! We love our Aerogen 6 and if it was to expire, we’d definitely replace it. Unlike some makes, it never makes enough noise to disturb nearby boats and unless the wind is really howling, we just experience a gentle hum onboard.

There are some makes though, that we avoid anchoring near!

Yes, we do have Solar too and to answer part of the OP’s question, the solars have their own MPPT.

Yes, that's our experience with the Rutland - it never makes enough noise to be heard over the wind.

Wind & solar thru the Rutland controller.

 

[michael_w]

Mine was a POS Rutland 913. Unit burnt out once, the controller 3 times.

 

[Bristolfashion]

Rutland HDRi - it's worked for ages

 

[geem]

Yes, that's our experience with the Rutland - it never makes enough noise to be heard over the wind.

Wind & solar thru the Rutland controller.

They don't make any power either

 

[Bristolfashion]

They don't make any power either

Is that your experience? It certainly strikes me that the batteries appear to charge up overnight.

 

[MontyMariner]

Used a WG for about 17 years, maintenance was a pain, polishing blades, having to replace bearings etc and o/p wasn't fantastic. I wanted more power as a WG doesn't work when running down wind so I added 2x80w solar. WG finally reached EoL, replacement cost was high, so decided to just use solar, as it met my needs.
My 2d worth (old money) - find a place to deploy more solar if what you have doesn't meet your needs.