Wind generator and controller recommendations please

[Tinto]

Yes, I have an aqua gen and it produces about 6A, so useful but not as much as the Rutland generators produce at 20.

i have solar but I live in the west of scotland where sunshine is not plentiful but wind is, especially in winter when the boat is on the hard.

marlec are no use as their electronics are not compatible with lithium

 

[Tinto]

Different turbine controllers may work differently to mine. Basically, everything goes to the house batts (400Ah). Batts circuit have 100amp fuse between batts and live connection buz bar except wind turbine that has its own fuse (IIRC 50 amp) then direct to batts (following installation instructions).
Solar runs through an MPPT controler directly to the batt buz bar. Max charge voltage shows as 14v on batt monitor when only using solar.
Wind turbine has a built in controller that stops charging when it senses its max charging voltage (about 14.4v) and also has a manual shut off switch, again permanently wired through the switch to the battery via its own fuse.
Both wind and solar will charge together until each controller senses max charge voltage then shut off.
Engine charge directly to batts. When engine running wind turbine usually turned off manually but if not senses full charge voltage and shuts down. Solar regulator shows full batt light as it senses the alternator charge voltage.
Shore power smart charger directly to batts buz bar, but as this is manually operated the wind turbine can be turned off to stop them arguing with each other.
My solar and wind probably happily co-exist as they have different full charge cut off voltages. Both shutting at exactly the same voltage would probably result in incomplete charging.

I am doing something similar and I am using a Sterling Power Alt C alternator to battery charger with two alternators

mains charger will likely be run direct to house batteries but wind, solar and water generators will also feed into Alt C. The wind and solar will go. via their own MPPT control electronics first before being fed into the bus

 

[geem]

Yes, I have an aqua gen and it produces about 6A, so useful but not as much as the Rutland generators produce at 20.

i have solar but I live in the west of scotland where sunshine is not plentiful but wind is, especially in winter when the boat is on the hard.

marlec are no use as their electronics are not compatible with lithium

On a cloudy/rainy day my solar will put out as much as my Duogen does in 20kts of wind. The problem with wind power is the wind is so dynamic we rarely see a nice constant output. The daily log on the meter is always way lower than the power you see on the meter in a gust or squall. From the logged information I have I reckon my solar puts out typically 10 times the power over 24 hours. The solar does about 2kw per day

 

[Tinto]

I would appreciate it if we could stick to the question about wind

solar is not fully implemented yet and so not an option as my panels are not fixed

 

[geem]

I would appreciate it if we could stick to the question about wind

solar is not fully implemented yet and so not an option as my panels are not fixed

Just trying to explain that wind is very poor value for money. Have you seen how much solar you can buy for the cost of a decent output wind turbine. 9 years of liveabord with both wind and solar and if doing it all again I wouldn't bother with wind, even though we spend a lot of time in the Windy Caribbean

 

[Rappey]

There is no doubt solar is better to have but on a cold windy night its nice to be able to generate power.

The 6 bladed versions are a lot more quiet than 3 blades. Mounting on an aluminium pole reduces transmitted noises.

 

[geem]

There is no doubt solar is better to have but on a cold windy night its nice to be able to generate power.

The 6 bladed versions are a lot more quiet than 3 blades. Mounting on an aluminium pole reduces transmitted noises.

Do you have a data logger for the power your turbine actually produces. I do and it's pretty rubbish. Friend with a Rutland 913 reckons he struggled to make 3Ah in a typical day! Get a noisy one then at least you will think it's making loads of power even when it's not?

 

[Tinto]

Just trying to explain that wind is very poor value for money. Have you seen how much solar you can buy for the cost of a decent output wind turbine. 9 years of liveabord with both wind and solar and if doing it all again I wouldn't bother with wind, even though we spend a lot of time in the Windy Caribbean

yes, I have. Which is why I bought solar first

 

[geem]

I would rather stick an extra battery on the boat than install a wind turbine. This would stop the volts dropping too low over night when there is no solar.
We see few wind turbines here in the Caribbean. People manage well enough on solar. The days are short here compared to the UK. Typically 12 hrs of daylight in the summer and winter. Even so, we get enough solar to live on. The UK Summer has such long days I can't imagine not coping without a wind turbine. When we arrived back in the UK after an Atlantic circuit in 2005, I removed the wind turbine as it was so unnecessary in the UK with the solar we had.
Edit;
Quick count up in the Caribbean anchorage we are currently in. 17 sailing boats at anchor, of several different nationalities. Apart from us with our Duogen, there is only one other wind turbine on a boat. We are in the Windy Caribbean as well. Far more consistent winds than we would ever see in the UK but I still don't rate them as a useful addition to our boat. Too much noise and maintenance over the years

 

[NormanS]

I don't know where the OP's planning to be. In the UK, solar wins hands down in the summer months, but gives fairly meagre results in the winter.
So, if cruising in winter in the UK, ? then a wind driven generator is probably worth having. If it's summer sailing, and enough power for occasional use in the winter, solar is the answer.

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

I would appreciate it if we could stick to the question about wind

solar is not fully implemented yet and so not an option as my panels are not fixed

I think perhaps the OP would simply like an answer to his original question rather than all the verbal outpouring

 

[Tinto]

No point In talking about solar, I don’t have a solar arch

 

[dunedin]

No point In talking about solar, I don’t have a solar arch

You don’t need an arch for solar, though it would help if trying to power a lot of liveaboard stuff rather than just adding a bit of power for a typical cruiser

 

[Tinto]

You don’t need an arch for solar, though it would help if trying to power a lot of liveaboard stuff rather than just adding a bit of power for a typical cruiser

The plan is to live aboard in time. But one project at a time. As I have a pole on the boat to mount a turbine already, it makes sense to tackle low hanging fruit first.

I also have a towable water generator and plan to add 600Ah of lithium, again easy done.

the300 solar I have I lay on deck when at anchor

I will get to the solar arch in time, when I have worked out the best way to do it.

in the meantime, I would appreciate advice from
Those who have a wind turbine what they use and how they use it to charge lithium batteries as every controller for wind I find isn’t lithium compatible

 

[geem]

The plan is to live aboard in time. But one project at a time. As I have a pole on the boat to mount a turbine already, it makes sense to tackle low hanging fruit first.

I also have a towable water generator and plan to add 600Ah of lithium, again easy done.

the300 solar I have I lay on deck when at anchor

I will get to the solar arch in time, when I have worked out the best way to do it.

in the meantime, I would appreciate advice from
Those who have a wind turbine what they use and how they use it to charge lithium batteries as every controller for wind I find isn’t lithium compatible

The easiest way is to connect the wind turbine to the engine battery and use a B2B to charge the lithium

 

[Tinto]

The easiest way is to connect the wind turbine to the engine battery and use a B2B to charge the lithium

Sadly not compatible with my wiring

 

[Babylon]

The plan is to live aboard in time...
in the meantime, I would appreciate advice from
Those who have a wind turbine what they use and how they use it to charge lithium batteries as every controller for wind I find isn’t lithium compatible

I can't speak for lithium batteries or advise on what controller for them (call Marlec and ask to speak to their tech people), but my domestic bank of two bog-standard sealed lead-acids and the separate engine-start CCA lead-acid lasted 14 and 12 years respectively with just a Rutland 914. UK-based, no solar panels, just always arrive to find fully topped-up batts on the mooring and more than enough put back in when cruising. (We're a small boat with relatively low demand, but the Rutland has proved its worth for a very long time indeed.)

Under sail the whirr of the blades is irrelevant, and at anchor or on a buoy any airborne noise is usually blown downwind. If the there is any resonance down through the structure of the boat, then that simply suggests unbalanced blades and/or a poor installation.

The controller is just the basic Rutland unit. Whatever the source of volts (shore-power, alternator or wind-gen) everything goes first to the VSR which prioritises the engine-start battery, and when that it full the domestic bank gets fed.

 

[Tinto]

I can't speak for lithium batteries or advise on what controller for them (call Marlec and ask to speak to their tech people), but my domestic bank of two bog-standard sealed lead-acids and the separate engine-start CCA lead-acid lasted 14 and 12 years respectively with just a Rutland 914. UK-based, no solar panels, just always arrive to find fully topped-up batts on the mooring and more than enough put back in when cruising. (We're a small boat with relatively low demand, but the Rutland has proved its worth for a very long time indeed.)

Under sail the whirr of the blades is irrelevant, and at anchor or on a buoy any airborne noise is usually blown downwind. If the there is any resonance down through the structure of the boat, then that simply suggests unbalanced blades and/or a poor installation.

The controller is just the basic Rutland unit. Whatever the source of volts (shore-power, alternator or wind-gen) everything goes first to the VSR which prioritises the engine-start battery, and when that it full the domestic bank gets fed.

thanks for the info. I would like to get rid of gas because the gas locker only takes 2nr 2.25kg Camping Gaz bottles which were £42.50 each last year. Hence, looking at big battery capacity to cook with electricity

 

[dunedin]

thanks for the info. I would like to get rid of gas because the gas locker only takes 2nr 2.25kg Camping Gaz bottles which were £42.50 each last year. Hence, looking at big battery capacity to cook with electricity

Have you done the maths on cooking with electric. Uses a lot of kWh. Will need a very large solar arch at a minimum, and perhaps a diesel generator.
What is the payback time on all the batteries and equipment vs perhaps £150 a year on Camping Gas?
Worth reading Jimmy Cornell’s account of his abortive all electric Project Elcano, which was a cost no object new catamaran with lots of solar and hydro power generation, But they couldn’t keep up with the domestic power needs, so stopped and returned to base. I wonder if a couple of Camping Gas cylinders and a backup gas cooker could have saved the voyage.

 

[srm]

thanks for the info. I would like to get rid of gas because the gas locker only takes 2nr 2.25kg Camping Gaz bottles which were £42.50 each last year. Hence, looking at big battery capacity to cook with electricity

Somewhat off topic, but my boat came with dubious stowage for Camping Gaz bottles, which must be the most expensive way to buy gas. As we wanted to live aboard for at least six months each year I decided that the best way forward was to stow a domestic size gas cylinder fishing boat style on deck. Finally settled on a location in the forward corner of the cockpit that works with a short pipe run through a bulkhead to the galley. One Calor cylinder (about 15kg butane) lasted a season.

Now in Portugal I am using a similar sized plastic cylinder so lighter and no rust stains.