Is it worth fitting a Wind Generator ?

A

anniebray

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We are preparing our boat for a UK-Canaries 12 month cruise possibly including Madeira & Azores. Our boat has radar, chartplotter, autopilot, fridge, laptop, 12v TV etc . In many ports of call we will no doubt be connecting to shore power but in some perhaps there will be no power available or we may be at anchor. We have a 35watt deck fitted solar panel. The question is would it be worthwhile in our chosen cruising region to have a Wind Generator perhaps a Rutland 913 or an Air Breeze. What does the panel think ? Jonny_H of this parish decided that his Wind Gen was a waste of money on his trip UK to Australia.
 
anniebray said:
We are preparing our boat for a UK-Canaries 12 month cruise possibly including Madeira & Azores. Our boat has radar, chartplotter, autopilot, fridge, laptop, 12v TV etc . In many ports of call we will no doubt be connecting to shore power but in some perhaps there will be no power available or we may be at anchor. We have a 35watt deck fitted solar panel. The question is would it be worthwhile in our chosen cruising region to have a Wind Generator perhaps a Rutland 913 or an Air Breeze. What does the panel think ? Jonny_H of this parish decided that his Wind Gen was a waste of money on his trip UK to Australia.
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Ahem, didn't think it was the done thing to post on 2 forums but Hey Ho.
In answer, yes.
One thing that hasn't been addressed is the fact if you are sailing at night the solars aren't much use. Esp if you want to use nav lights, radar etc. Also sailing during the day your panels could well be shaded by the sails/rigging etc.
Our thoughts were if there is enough wind to sail then the generator should give some input. It's always best to have 2 sources of power.
 
anniebray said:
We are preparing our boat for a UK-Canaries 12 month cruise possibly including Madeira & Azores. Our boat has radar, chartplotter, autopilot, fridge, laptop, 12v TV etc . In many ports of call we will no doubt be connecting to shore power but in some perhaps there will be no power available or we may be at anchor. We have a 35watt deck fitted solar panel. The question is would it be worthwhile in our chosen cruising region to have a Wind Generator perhaps a Rutland 913 or an Air Breeze. What does the panel think ? Jonny_H of this parish decided that his Wind Gen was a waste of money on his trip UK to Australia.
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Would not be without ours (913) left it on all winter on the hard with no shore power, came back to boat after 4 months and batteries well up.Even in the Ionian it`s surprising how much wind there is .We do not use solar at all but are considering it for this year as the two together will provide a perfect solution for most needs.
 
From past posts on here, meddy solar, caribean, wind & solar.

But you are in between, so I would say, wind and solar. Plenty of wind in the atlantic.
 
ZigmundoVanDog said:
Ahem, didn't think it was the done thing to post on 2 forums but Hey Ho.
In answer, yes.
One thing that hasn't been addressed is the fact if you are sailing at night the solars aren't much use. Esp if you want to use nav lights, radar etc. Also sailing during the day your panels could well be shaded by the sails/rigging etc.
Our thoughts were if there is enough wind to sail then the generator should give some input. It's always best to have 2 sources of power.
Click to expand...

Sorry ! Didn't intend to post on 2 forums. I thought my first posting on PBO had been lost, but thanks anyway for your advice.
 
Too simple an explanation.

You need to do a little more work to answer your own question. First calculate the power you consume and then work out how you are going to generate it.

we are med based and our 150w of solar power only generates 5 amps per hour. As others have said a wind generator is good if there is an adequate breeze. Re the 913 or Air breeze. Two very different beasts. The Rutland is great when you only use your boat at weekend, (it produces little power in little wind) and has the chance to recharge all week. If you use power continually you'll need much more, like the Air X/Breeze or Superwind.

You might also consider a towed log, as it has negligible affect on boat speed and will produce approx 1 amp per knot of boat speed. At 5 knots thats 120 amp a day, probably sufficient for your needs.

Its all a compromise and there is no single answer, but you need to exactly understand your consumption, its no different to managing a bank account.

Good luck with your cruise.
 
From the description of your power usage and needs, about standard these days for a cruising yacht, it sounds like you are going to upgrade quite a lot.
Our power usage went up a huge amount once we became full time hot climate live aboards, your fridge will run for longer periods and you will need if you dont already have some, fans for the areas where you sleep and to vent out your saloon.

We have a 36ft cat and have now got fitted 2x85watts solar and 1 KISS wind gen and have enough to run every thing, but will up grade again when we get 12v RO watermaker.

The closer to equator you get the more efficient your solar panels get, but you are unlikely to get any where near their official rated output, so over size them and use a good solar ragulator, we have a Morningstar30 and are very happy.
The wind gen is regulated separately from the solar.

Good luck on your trip :)
Mark- ps just my personal observations and not lore/law ;)
 
We find that the 913 needs a hell of a lot of breeze to put out anything substantial. Also have a 70w sunware solar pannel, just 1 day of good breeze puts in more charge per month than a month worth of solar. However i am at present installing another solar pannel (same size) ifeel a mix of both works well for us.
 
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>Our power usage went up a huge amount once we became full time hot climate live aboards

Entirely agree with that. I think it's a truism that you can never have too much power. A wind generator does the job.
 
Thanks again for additional replies which are most interesting. I think I'm warming towards an Air Breeze wind generator (they just look so sexy don't they) which appear to have a rather superior output compared to the Rutland 913. I can obtain from Blue Water Supplies (Jersey)at £710 ex stores when I visit in my boat or from Barden UK at £793. I don't think I will install more solar just now & I know that my existing 35watt panel will not provide liveaboard power.
Getting a 1kw sine wave petrol generator seems a good idea , 2kw would be nicer but limited space aboard a 29fter. A recent thread seems to indicate that my Sterling 30A smart charger might require more than 1KW input power.
I have 315AH domestic supply & 80AH engine battery. Yanmar 30hp with 60A alternator. Also have BEP600 battery monitor which refuses to register input from my mains charger (except voltage) & indicates a constantly reducing battery power level though I can tell charging is happening from voltage readings. When I unplug from shore power & fire up the Yanmar, charge level indication will usually rise to 100% . Connections of charger to the shunt are correct so I assume perhaps the waveform from the Sterling Charger somehow fools the BEP monitor.
 
anniebray said:
.....Also have BEP600 battery monitor which refuses to register input from my mains charger (except voltage) & indicates a constantly reducing battery power level though I can tell charging is happening from voltage readings.
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You must have wired up the Batterry Monitor wrongly, or maybe the negative of the charger goes straight to the batterry - and not through the BEP shunt.
 
noelex said:
5 A for 150w in the med is low, are you sure there is not an electrical problem?
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is that at 24volts or 12volts? If 24 then its ok. If 12 then I agree low.

I have 320 watts, (4 x 80w) which give a max, 10 amps at charging voltage of 29 volts.
But I have to move them around for best possible position, to get the max.

No wind genny, just not worth it in the meddy. IMHO.
 
ccscott49 said:
is that at 24volts or 12volts? If 24 then its ok. If 12 then I agree low.

I have 320 watts, (4 x 80w) which give a max, 10 amps at charging voltage of 29 volts.
But I have to move them around for best possible position, to get the max.

No wind genny, just not worth it in the meddy. IMHO.
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Whilst there is some truth in your comment, a wind generator is certainly worth it in the Eastern Med.

More significant is the capital cost between the 2 methods - here in Greece a wind generator costs £33/ah while solar panels work out at £18/ah.

I'd suggest all those who don't have one to invest in an MPPT controller - it's added nearly 35% to my panel output compared to an ordinary controller. I got mine from the States £97 + £56 VAT, carriage, customs.
It tracks volts, amps in from the PV panels and amps into the battery, so I don't need the added complications of a battery monitor and copes with up to 500 watts - any volts in up to 100 and a, variable, 14.1v float point.
 
charles_reed said:
Whilst there is some truth in your comment, a wind generator is certainly worth it in the Eastern Med.

More significant is the capital cost between the 2 methods - here in Greece a wind generator costs £33/ah while solar panels work out at £18/ah.

I'd suggest all those who don't have one to invest in an MPPT controller - it's added nearly 35% to my panel output compared to an ordinary controller. I got mine from the States £97 + £56 VAT, carriage, customs.
It tracks volts, amps in from the PV panels and amps into the battery, so I don't need the added complications of a battery monitor and copes with up to 500 watts - any volts in up to 100 and a, variable, 14.1v float point.
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I do not have a regulator could this be the problem with my batteries? They are left connected to Solar panel throughout the winter when I go on board the batteries are completely dead and will not accept a charge. They are in total about 400 amps
 
I do have a controller for my solars, but, I guess, not the MPPT type, what is the difference? Is it worth investing in one? They are expensive.
 
rtboss1 said:
I do not have a regulator could this be the problem with my batteries? They are left connected to Solar panel throughout the winter when I go on board the batteries are completely dead and will not accept a charge. They are in total about 400 amps
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Maybe your batteries are self discharging through the panels, if they dont have diodes fitted. But in any event, normally totally flat for any length of time, means knackered batteries, especially if they will not now accept a charge.
Also if they were fully charged at the end of the season and then totally flat over winter, then I think there is a discharge somewhere anyway.
Needs checking.
 
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