Electricity from solar or wind - what's your view?

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Iain_H

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Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

What would be more efficient for producing electricity - solar panels or wind generator?
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

A bit more information about the location of the boat please, before we wade in with answers.

Do you want to include lifetime cost analysis, or are you going to concentrate on just the efficiency of the conversion process ?
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

Assuming you're not interested in all the physics - in which case I will defer to someone more knowledgeable - the thing to bear in mind with both methods is that they will produce modest amounts of charge only, unless you add an absolutely huge array to your boat. Simply put, neither method is all that efficient.

None of which is meant to imply that alternative power is a waste of time, merely that you should manage your expectations of what it will provide you with. You should also consider that while solar or wind power is free, the equipment that harnesses it is not. It's quite expensive, in fact, and particularly so as you move up the scale towards kit that will actually produce a useful charge (as opposed to merely maintaining your battery with a trickle charge).

I personally use a 36Wp solar panel, which is not too large to be permanently mounted on the coach roof of a small boat. On a sunny day, I reckon I may get 6Ah out of it allowing for inefficiencies. That's more than enough to keep my 115Ah battery charged up between uses and saves on shorepower bills. It only partially sets off the draw on the battery when the boat is in use however - in other words it isn't of itself self-sufficient on a multi-day trip. I would have to use the engine from time to time to top-up the battery during such a trip.

I have less experience in wind power (but others will be along I'm sure). However, people do say that in the UK and Northern Europe, wind power makes more sense than solar simply because our climate gives us more wind and less sun than, say, the climate in the Med or the Tropics. In my case, I decided I couldn't live with whirring blades over the cockpit, but you'll encounter plenty of other people of the opposite persuasion.
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

Depends whether you're in a windy place or a sunny place - or both.

In Scotland, sun is relatively rare, but the winds are frequent, night and day.

In the Med, sun is king, and winds frequently die at night.

In the Carribean, wind and sun rule, so either or both may be suitable.

In UK, just plug in the electricity . . .
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

We are South Coast UK based and cruise the Channel and regularly into the Biscay coast of France. We have both substantial wind generating power and substantial solar power in the form of an Aerogen 6, a rigid 75w solar panel permanently mounted on a gantry and another rigid 110w solar panel that we put out on deck at anchor when needed.

In practice and in UK/France summer season sailing the solar panels handle most of our demand when at anchor. We seek out anchorages generally that are sheltered from the wind and anyway in some harbours, but not in a berth where power is available, the winds are often flukey, swirling around such that the wind genny 'hunts' the changing direction producing less power than expected because of this. Given a steady clear wind our Aerogen 6 does produce a good output and of course it runs 24hrs and in the dark. The solar panels however are better than might be expected and work a bit even in foggy conditions and ours are not pointed at the sun but mounted flat, albeit we move the mobile one a couple of times per day to avoid shadows on it.

Our Aerogen is regulated and split to feed any or all of our 3 battery banks, however it is tied off when not in use. The rigid solar panel is not regulated and I switch it off when not needed or under engine. The mobile panel can plug into either of our 2 main battery banks and is simply disconnected when not needed so no regulator on this one either. I should stress that we have both voltmeters and ammeters to monitor batteries and wind/solar power and can select one, all or none at all options as needs be. We often have had to unplug the mobile panel to avoid overcharging even after 5 days at anchor running a big fridge and all the other usual consumers.

So either or both and depends on what power you need, where you are and whether in summer, winter or both.
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

Er..Scotland is still in the UK as far as I know....
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

I have had both a small 15 watt solar panel and a Rutland 913 wind generator, which keeps 400 amps of battery power in two banks topped up for the last 4 years in Portsmouth harbour on a swinging mooring, without any mains power.
Three weekends ago spent a night ona pontoon next to a Hanse which had same Rutland 913, and which produced more power than mine. Reason wa sthe mast on mine was not strictly vertical and needed more wind to start. Have now corrected this, and think that the solar panel is probably redundant, because it rarely produces more than 0.25 of an amp whilst ina Force 4 the Rutland produces now about 1.5 amps and over 3 amps in a F5. The wind in Pompey harbour blows night and day most of the time whilst the sun only 12 hours a day and has not been seen in the last 3 weeks due to global warming - or is it just a normal British summer?
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

So have you had it made straight yet ?? Asks that Hanse owner

I hope the missus has recovered from her tummy upset.
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

The answer is both.

I have 80 watts of solar panel and a Rutland 913 with an HRDX charge controller. This keeps up with all our electronics, the fridge and living on board. the yacht is on a swinging mooring and is always fully charged (300 amps in two battery banks) up each time we arrive on board. When the wind is blowing the inverter is used to heat the water, boil the kettle and also use of the toaster.

We dont therefore need to plug into marina power even when visiting marinas. A small but significant saving to set against the initial capital costs.
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

Connect the cows to the gas power stations.

Easy!!

re wind and sun, both are expensive ways of power generation compared to a 240 power supply in the marina.

If you don't have this luxury, them they come into their own. Especially if sailing across oceans or away from 'civilisation'.

mj
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

My set up is the other way around. I have 130 watts of solar power installed at present. I get 4 or 5 amps when the sun is out and 1 or 2 amps when it is cloudy. I have a wind turbine but since I am not currently a full time live aboard I have removed it. I didnt like the spinning blades or noise/vibration. And any storms passing through run the risk of lost blades!
The solar panels by comparison are just fit and forget. You do need space to fit the panels though.
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

Never used wind but a 10w panel easily tops up batteries over a week. Panels do not need direct sunlight to work and in mid summer, UK gets 25% more daylight hours than S Spain. You can get a 10w panel controller on Ebay for £43 delivered.
One thing I have noticed is a fair proportion of wind generators unmoved by even strongish winds, whether this is intentional or not I don't know.
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

As people have said, both have their merits. I use a lot of solar and have been thinking of adding wind. Solar is great for float charging (especially in sunny climes) but wind will give you more potential power if there is a lot of it (however as you've probably seen from the graphs you need over 15kts to get most windgens producing useful power). The big advantage of solar over wind, all other things being equal, is that you have typically 20 years guarantees, fit and forget (though be sure to protect the cables from UV). I have a lot of friends who spend time maintaining their windgens, and turning them off because of the noise and vibration. My solar array just gets a wipe down now and again. Just some more thoughts to put into the pot...
 
Re: Electricity from solar or wind - what\'s your view?

Have a rutland 913 - best accessory we ever bought - wind blows 24 hrs - no contest imho
 
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