Wind generator for Caribbean?

[davethedog]

Hi all,

New boat does not currently have a wind generator fitted , but does have some solar panels which I will look to upgrade anyway.

Planning to take the new boat to the canaries and then head across to the Caribbean end if this year and spend a few years in that area and then see what we want to do. Previous boat had a Rutland 1200 wind gen but did not feel it was the best investment as we only went from the UK to the canaries.

So, is it worth the cost for a wind generator on the new boat aware if what the plans are?

Thanks

DTD

 

[KevinV]

Not much use on the crossing of course, but that's only a small part of your plans.
I'll be very interested to see what answers you get to this - when I was out there, nearly 20 years ago now, they were ubiquitous, but solar has improved vastly since then - I wonder if you really need one? We got a lot more out of ours while sailing because many of the anchorages are so sheltered, but it did at least feed the power-hungry autohelm of the time - it always struck me that a windvane would have cut out the (noisy) middle man.
My biggest recommendation would be to invest in making the fridge as energy efficient as possible - they eat power in a hot cabin. Insulation, a full boom sunscreen to keep the cabin cool, and a water pick-up as deep as possible (to get the coolest water) will all help. Reduce this use and you can reduce the amount you need to generate.

 

[geem]

Not much use on the crossing of course, but that's only a small part of your plans.
I'll be very interested to see what answers you get to this - when I was out there, nearly 20 years ago now, they were ubiquitous, but solar has improved vastly since then - I wonder if you really need one? We got a lot more out of ours while sailing because many of the anchorages are so sheltered, but it did at least feed the power-hungry autohelm of the time - it always struck me that a windvane would have cut out the (noisy) middle man.
My biggest recommendation would be to invest in making the fridge as energy efficient as possible - they eat power in a hot cabin. Insulation, a full boom sunscreen to keep the cabin cool, and a water pick-up as deep as possible (to get the coolest water) will all help. Reduce this use and you can reduce the amount you need to generate.

Hi all,

New boat does not currently have a wind generator fitted , but does have some solar panels which I will look to upgrade anyway.

Planning to take the new boat to the canaries and then head across to the Caribbean end if this year and spend a few years in that area and then see what we want to do. Previous boat had a Rutland 1200 wind gen but did not feel it was the best investment as we only went from the UK to the canaries.

So, is it worth the cost for a wind generator on the new boat aware if what the plans are?

Thanks

DTD

We have a Duogen wind/hydro generator. The hydro gen is fantastic when crossing the pond but of little use when here. Wind generation can have its place if you are happy to run one over night. Otherwise there is so much solar power available that running a wind turbine during the day for us is a waste of time. We have 4No 180w solar panels on the guardrails.
Solar is so cheap I don't think I would add a wind turbine if I was setting up our boat again from scratch. When we purchased our Duogen in 2003 solar was expensive and there was limited choice of sizes of panels. Now of course, framed panels are very cheap. You get a hell of a lot of solar for the cost of even a poor performing small wind turbine like a Rutland.
In addition, some people are changing over to lithium. Incorporating wind charging into a lithium charging system is not straight forward like it is with solar. Save your money

 

[davethedog]

Thanks for the replies and the new boat has a water cooled fridge and freezer already and led lighting etc as well as 550ahr of domestic AGM batteries, 2 X alternators and a generator so thinking the cost may not be worth it ref a wind gen.

 

[capnsensible]

We cruised over twice on our yacht. Wind generator, no solar. If I did it again with all the improved solar technology, I would forget the very noisy wind generator. It was an older Rutland that you had to stop by lashing it. Loadsa fun in strong winds and bumpy seas.

Careful solar doesn't blow away in a hurricane though!

 

[Dantp]

Short answer: you don't need it if you have enough solar but it can help in certain situations.

Long answer:
It depends on how much solar you can sensably fit, how much power your boat uses and if you mind running the engine occasionally to charge.
With 400W of solar we did fine except when we had several days of bad (cloudy and normally windy) weather. We would then have to run the engine to charge the batteries.
Since fitting a Rutland 1200 we haven't had to run the engine to charge. But the payback period (fuel cost Vs turbine cost) is probably pretty long.
It also helped keep up with power usage on longer passages. Here mainly reaching with good wind so effective still). We are hopeful it will reduce our need to run the engine to charge (every 3 or 4 days) while crossing back the Azores next month.
We are currently happy to have bought one (at a reduced 2nd hand price), it's nice to have. Did we need it... No

I'm not sure but an extra 200W of solar might have been similarly effective (possibly more on passage) as it still gives out some power when cloudy.

I hope that helps.

 

[Neeves]

Your electrical energy needs increase to a point slightly larger than you ability to produce and store the electricity. You never have enough such that you do not think about it.

Today I'd maximise the amount of solar I could sensibly carry and I'd still use a wind gen, ideally the DuoGen as the power generating capacity using water is exceptional. If you had lots of money I'd suggest a WattnSea. But it does rain, there are cloudy days and the effectiveness of the solar panels reduces - but your usage of power was established based on full sunshine - suddenly you have to think about economising power.

It is possible to buy silent wind gens - you just need to look - our Aerogen is basically silent.

We have an old LVM Aero/aqua gen 4 (I wish we had bought the 6). On passage it will produce enough power in water mode to run the whole catamaran as long as we can make an average of 6-8 knots. We have all the usual navigation aids, autopilot and fridge, deep freeze and desalinator + all the modern bits of kit laptops and iPads. The fridge, and separate freezer, desal unit and autopilot tend to be the big consumers.

It all depends on your budget but most yachts have a limited space for solar and often that space if used to the maximum and makes a very inelegant piece of real estate over the cockpit (adding weight and windage). You can extend your solar array, I think mentioned by Geem, by adding cells to the life/line stanchions - that you fold out when necessary. But at the end of the day you will have a finite power generation ability, reduced in bad weather and often when at sea, because you are healed. With spare funds I'd look at the most effective wind gen - because you are going to spend most of your time at anchor and you will want the fridge and de-sal unit to work without thought. Wind gens tend to be cheaper than aqua generators depending on water flow WattnSea are expensive - but the DuoGen offers a good compromise. (you get aqua and wind). As well as depending on you bank balance there is also the consideration of where you are going to sail, higher latitudes, Patagonia, Greenland, will reward more focus on wind, not solar alone.

Adding extra insulation to your fridge, adding an extra computer fan to the compressor and or to remove warm air from round the fridge will rewards you with a better fridge. Switching off your MFD when in the middle of the Atlantic, as long as the autop[ilot still functions is useful - when you are 1,000nm from land there is little need for many of the functions on a MFD. Hand steering will keep some of you muscles toned

Discipline is also part of the answer - run the desal unit when you have excess power, don't keep opening and shutting the fridge door, have Navy showers, switch off lights you don't need, even LED use power, balance the sails religiously - then the autopilot does less work - its all part of a mind set.

Jonathan

 

[Zing]

Hi all,

New boat does not currently have a wind generator fitted , but does have some solar panels which I will look to upgrade anyway.

Planning to take the new boat to the canaries and then head across to the Caribbean end if this year and spend a few years in that area and then see what we want to do. Previous boat had a Rutland 1200 wind gen but did not feel it was the best investment as we only went from the UK to the canaries.

So, is it worth the cost for a wind generator on the new boat aware if what the plans are?

Thanks

DTD

I wouldn’t get one. Noisy, low output, ugly, cuts fingers off, better alternatives. They are declining fast in popularity.

 

[roaringgirl]

We added a Rutland 1200 to the boat while in the Canaries. We also have 770W of solar and a Watt&Sea. 10,000 miles later, the diversity of generation options means that we very rarely have to run the engine, even to make water.

There were some nights in Antigua & Barbuda when we'd wake up to a full battery bank! However, I think that the daily partial charge/discharge cycle contributed significantly to the shortened life (18 months) of our AGM power bank.

What you need for generation depends on your usage - our biggest drain is making water - 0.26Ah/L (@12V).

 

[geem]

However, I think that the daily partial charge/discharge cycle contributed significantly to the shortened life (18 months) of our AGM power bank.

Can you explain what you mean by this?
Are you saying you didn't get you batteries in to float each day?

 

[geem]

We added a Rutland 1200 to the boat while in the Canaries. We also have 770W of solar and a Watt&Sea. 10,000 miles later, the diversity of generation options means that we very rarely have to run the engine, even to make water.

There were some nights in Antigua & Barbuda when we'd wake up to a full battery bank! However, I think that the daily partial charge/discharge cycle contributed significantly to the shortened life (18 months) of our AGM power bank.

What you need for generation depends on your usage - our biggest drain is making water - 0.26Ah/L (@12V).

I believe that with the demands on yacht batteries as liveaboards it is very difficult to have healthy batteries, run fridge and freezers, electronics, lighting etc and a 12v watermaker with only 800w of solar. There is too much load unless the sky is perfect blue with fulltime sunshine. It can be done if you are super careful and only make water when the sun shines but that doesn't always work. We had that set up in our last boat but we had minimal demands on a small boat.
We make water on the current boat for the last 10 years with a generator. We only run it for 15mins per day for all our water needs. It's also an opportunity to run the vacuum cleaner.
Batteries are in float every day. If we have spare solar capacity we make hot water via the immersion heater or ice. We do this easily on an average day in the Tropics without abusing the batteries. We haven't charged the batteries with the generator this year. We have spent 99% of our time at anchor

 

[roaringgirl]

Yes, we did not achieve float every day when we had 540Ah (nominal) of 12V AGM. We now have 400Ah (nominal) of 12V LFP and it doesn't care about getting to float. It also can use all the charge being provided at any time, and takes up significantly less space in the saloon. In addition to the partial charging, I believe the AGMs were damaged by overcharging by the alternator, which was installed by someone who clearly didn't know what they were doing.

My aim with our electrical system is to meet all our needs using renewables. We don't have a generator, nor do we have space for one, and our fuel tank is relatively small.

We haven't been in a marina for a few months, but I don't plug in anyway as that's the only time the anodes shrink!

 

[geem]

Yes, we did not achieve float every day when we had 540Ah (nominal) of 12V AGM. We now have 400Ah (nominal) of 12V LFP and it doesn't care about getting to float. It also can use all the charge being provided at any time, and takes up significantly less space in the saloon. In addition to the partial charging, I believe the AGMs were damaged by overcharging by the alternator, which was installed by someone who clearly didn't know what they were doing.

My aim with our electrical system is to meet all our needs using renewables. We don't have a generator, nor do we have space for one, and our fuel tank is relatively small.

We haven't been in a marina for a few months, but I don't plug in anyway as that's the only time the anodes shrink!

Yep, different solutions entirely. Not getting to float on lead batteries every day is a very good way to kill them prematurely.

 

[Neeves]

We are not liveaboards in your sense, we cheat and only live aboard for 3 months of the year.

Slight drift

Power, electricity, the ability to generate it and store it is a religion almost as bad as anchors!

We run a desal unit (we have two hot Navy showers each day), fridge, separate freezer, and all the usual navigational equipment - we also have a bread maker, but no vacumm cleaner (wipe clean floors). We don't have a gen set. We have solar and a Aero4aquagen and the aqua gen will product 10 amps at 10 knots (and from memory 8amps at 8 knots (but it drops off a lower speeds maybe 4 amp at 6 knots...). We can have the batteries on float - and then we run the desal and time the baking of the bread, when the breadmaker uses lots of power, for our approach to an anchorage under engine (we are not purists. We don't need to run the engines to re-charge as we tend to move from location to location (whereas maybe in the Caribbean you stay in one location for weeks). We turn to more cold for the fridge and freezer when we are entering or leaving an anchorage - under engine etc etc - its all about self discipline.

I do like the idea of the need for the vacuum cleaner

Roaringgirl - I did not quite understand your comment that you could wake up each morning with the batteries on float - surely usage over night, fridge, is quite high and you had no solar - was the windgen keeping up with the fridge. If this is/was the case it undermines the idea that windgens are a waste of time and very NonU.

Jonathan

 

[roaringgirl]

Yes - in Barbuda, the windgen was keeping up with the fridge overnight.

 

[emmalina]

Bought a cheap Chinese one changed the bearings etc and it works fine about 120-150w at 20kn of wind

 

[john_morris_uk]

Nothing to add to the comments above except to say we have a Superwind which we bought after lots of research. It’s VERY quiet. I’d been out off wind generators by their noise previously but the Superwind is barely audible. Decent output too.
Mactra Marine Equipment - Superwind Wind Generator 350
(No connection except as a customer. )
I confess to keeping all options open as we’re about to fit solar and a generator.

 

[[2574]]

Nothing to add to the comments above except to say we have a Superwind which we bought after lots of research. It’s VERY quiet. I’d been out off wind generators by their noise previously but the Superwind is barely audible. Decent output too.
Mactra Marine Equipment - Superwind Wind Generator 350
(No connection except as a customer. )
I confess to keeping all options open as we’re about to fit solar and a generator.

What genny are you fitting? How much solar?

 

[geem]

We are not liveaboards in your sense, we cheat and only live aboard for 3 months of the year.

Slight drift


Roaringgirl - I did not quite understand your comment that you could wake up each morning with the batteries on float - surely usage over night, fridge, is quite high and you had no solar - was the windgen keeping up with the fridge. If this is/was the case it undermines the idea that windgens are a waste of time and very NonU.

Jonathan

There are a couple of places on the East side of Antigua, Green Island, North Sound where you anchor behind a reef so the sea is flat but you are in the full force of the Easterly Trades. I suspect this is where Roaringgirl was anchored. We are currently at Green Island and the batteries are full each morning if we leave our Duogen wind gen on overnight. This doesn't work in the normal anchorages on the leeward side of the island

 

[Neeves]

Nothing to add to the comments above except to say we have a Superwind which we bought after lots of research. It’s VERY quiet. I’d been out off wind generators by their noise previously but the Superwind is barely audible. Decent output too.
Mactra Marine Equipment - Superwind Wind Generator 350
(No connection except as a customer. )
I confess to keeping all options open as we’re about to fit solar and a generator.

I'm not sure about the generator (though there are generators and GENERATORS) but keeping you options open is wise - if you want to use your yacht 365 (and they are an expensive asset so why not try to use them 365).

It is also refreshing to have someone confirm that their wind generator is silent.

Jonathan