Hi

[Steve6273]

Hi. This is my first visit. I've bought a small house in France which is completely off grid - no electricity, water supply, telephone etc.. We use it as a holiday home - mainly for weekends but also for longer stays.

I've installed a small solar system which seems to work OK and copes with lighting and some heavier use (power tools, TV) and also powers the well pump. The system consists of:

Two 80 watt panels
One 30 amp MPPT charge controller
A 2000 watt inverter
4 x 110 amp-hour deep cycle batteries

I've bought one additional 80 watt panel to try to reduce the battery recharge time and I'll fit that while I'm over in France just after Christmas.

I'm also thinking about installing a small wind turbine - nothing too big or fancy, just something to provide charge at night and when the weather is dull. Can anyone advise me on this - specifically - can I run the charge from panels and wind turbine through the same controller? I don't see why not but at the same time I've not seen any examples posted. I appreciate that I'd need a larger controller.

Alternatively - if I used a separate controller for the turbine (I have a 20 amp controller that I'm not using right now) - can I have two controllers attached to my battery pack at the same time?

Any comments/observations/suggestions greatly appreciated.

Steve

[Mike90250]

The wind generator will need it's own controller.

But if you don't need to tie your hat on every time you step out side, you don't really have enough wind to be useful. Sure, every place has a breeze, but for power, you need WIND.

You should not discharge your batteries deeper, than they can be recharged in 24 hours, you would need more panels, or less loads. That's the best rule of thumb for now. If you plan on the batteries recharging all week while you are gone, they spend 4 of the 5 days, below full charge, and get sulfated and gradually loose capacity.

[Steve6273]

The wind generator will need it's own controller.

But if you don't need to tie your hat on every time you step out side, you don't really have enough wind to be useful. Sure, every place has a breeze, but for power, you need WIND.

You should not discharge your batteries deeper, than they can be recharged in 24 hours, you would need more panels, or less loads. That's the best rule of thumb for now. If you plan on the batteries recharging all week while you are gone, they spend 4 of the 5 days, below full charge, and get sulfated and gradually loose capacity.

HI Mike

Thanks very much - I hadn't thought about sulphation. I suppose it makes sense to get my existing system as efficient as possible and that just means adding panels. The wind isn't that strong anyway. By the way - I took a look at your links - the Lister looks fabulous. I used to own a steel narrowboat and always loved the sound of them. Thanks for the advice.


Steve

[russ]

If a wind turbine specs say 500 watt that is normally at 25 to 30 mph wind speed - storm conditions. At a more typical wind speed (most places) of maybe 10 mph the output would be a small fraction of that if anything at all.

Look at the turbine power curve to see what I mean.

A turbine typically requires constant tinkering to keep it functioning - most people are not interested in that.

A turbine HAS to be on a tall tower - up away from the house - both vertically and horizontally. Turbines should NEVER be roof mounted. Vibrations are a problem and if the thing throws a blade you really don't want it to come through the roof and into bed with you - most likely the neighbors aren't wanting that scenario to happen to them either. If you get high speed winds and things go wrong parts can start to come loose.

[Steve6273]

If a wind turbine specs say 500 watt that is normally at 25 to 30 mph wind speed - storm conditions. At a more typical wind speed (most places) of maybe 10 mph the output would be a small fraction of that if anything at all.

Look at the turbine power curve to see what I mean.

A turbine typically requires constant tinkering to keep it functioning - most people are not interested in that.

A turbine HAS to be on a tall tower - up away from the house - both vertically and horizontally. Turbines should NEVER be roof mounted. Vibrations are a problem and if the thing throws a blade you really don't want it to come through the roof and into bed with you - most likely the neighbors aren't wanting that scenario to happen to them either. If you get high speed winds and things go wrong parts can start to come loose.

Hi Russ

Thanks very much. From the advice I've received so far I guess the wind turbine's a bit of a non-starter. I'll concentrate on bringing the solar up to a higher standard.

Thanks again

Steve