Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

Wind turbines
Wbx6dan
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2022 8:16 am

Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#1

Post by Wbx6dan »

Hi thanks for the add
We have downsides and moved to Exmoor in a little bungalow on a hill on the moor.
We left our solar array at max fit tarif behind but have managed to get new panels from the government who ho.
I have a thermal store ready to connect in and a oil fired boiler but can't help feeling I am missing out on wind generation.
So will a small 12v turbine roof mounted plug straight into the my solis system ?
I assume some type of inverter will be required to connect in?
We have a micro generation certificate so is export possible?
Would I require a battery or powerwall?
Are there any companies I could deal with in the south west?
Or is it all snake oil as I read on another thread on here?
Just after a bit of help really peops hopefully someone is in the same situation thanks Dan
Mr Gus
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Re: Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#2

Post by Mr Gus »

Roof mount!? .....screams.

Shame you were not at our now defunct old forum haunt whereby we went through "swindlesave" chocolate teapot hell trying to dissuade folk from giving money to crooks who the govt seemed to semi support at the time.

Never, ever roof mount a turbine. (Short version)

Welcome, and I don't mean to sound gruff, it's just they suck ass, all sorts of problems, plus did you ever read about that London tower block with mega w/it's built into it? (research it) or other architects ego driven vawt's that inevitably do not live up to expectations suffer from residents complaints & get shut down.

Sound vibration because it channels down the building & can play havoc for those living within.
1906 ripplewatts @wind Turb-ine-erry
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Mr Gus
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Re: Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#3

Post by Mr Gus »

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strata_SE1

The architects & structural engineers were j-effing idiots, the result has been the same.with regards to sound & vibration transferrance since the year dot.
(Basically they must have been kicking themselves for having missed out on more floor space to flog as a result)
There will be more in future.

In my own area (fens) a vawt is on a "ship" shaped building ship of the fens pun, council owned & space office block for buisnesses, the vast production was overstated from the outset, they bought into the design with naff all thought as for reality vs marketing hyperbole & became another expensive white elephant they get touchy about when asked, it remains switched off for the same cumulative reasons of noise & vibration transference throughout the building.
Everything has a natural resonance, a roof mounted w/t will find it even with attempts to damp it.
Last edited by Mr Gus on Mon Sep 26, 2022 11:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
1906 ripplewatts @wind Turb-ine-erry
It's the wifes Tesla 3 (she lets me wash it)
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marshman
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Re: Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#4

Post by marshman »

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Last edited by marshman on Sun Jun 11, 2023 6:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mr Gus
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Re: Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#5

Post by Mr Gus »

It's not just the view of MM, plenty have espoused the same view since renewables uptake expanded in the UK & solar came down in price.

Clockman, in France (clockman FRA) is well versed in wind, solar, solar water heating, solar trackers etc, & continues to fly turbines, he has space but also help within the community, getting them down "in case of storms" used to be a bi-weekly topic for some, which adds to cost & maintainability expenditure.
Many bit with pot luck success of loss from Chinese cheapies then in the main pursued other renewable avenues.

More solar being least problematic (fitted properly) & latterly expanded to accommodate battery storage (pylontech being popular pre inflation/ energy scares made that jump into silly money status.

As per MM, many of us dreamed of garden based wt's but free unhindered air space siting stops 95% in their tracks once location & turbulence is understood.
1906 ripplewatts @wind Turb-ine-erry
It's the wifes Tesla 3 (she lets me wash it)
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Moxi
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Re: Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#6

Post by Moxi »

If you’re in a windy aspect with very little trees or buildings nearby AND you have a good size garden then it might be suitable for a turbine away from the house on a tall mast.

But turbine’s are intensive bits of kit to own and not at all like solar PV.

As Mr Gus says be very weary of house mounted regards little or no power production, stress on your building structure and noise from vibration.

Tell us more about the local area regards trees buildings etc and we might be able to give you a steer.

Moxi
Adokforme
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Re: Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#7

Post by Adokforme »

Frustrating as it must be living on a windy exposed hill on Exmoor and learning that many before have tried to get smaller turbines to run effectively and trouble free without success, it may be worth checking out the thread below as a possible alternative or....... seek planning permission for a big bu**er... providing you have a suitable connection to the grid.


Good luck with whichever path you choose.


https://camelot-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... ?f=28&t=20
Wbx6dan
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2022 8:16 am

Re: Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#8

Post by Wbx6dan »

Image
This is the rear aspect from the back of the garden (just under a acre) the wind is predominantly south South west but I neglected to say when I meant roof mounted I imagined the garage! It has 16mm armoured feed it's own board and the solar panels are fitted there too .
However was naive to miss the vibrations noise etc which is now obvious 😂 behind is moorland up to the highest sea cliff in Britain I can't believe there isn't something to regulate the fluctuations produced in voltage to feed in to the inverter such as a inline choke ? I also understand the ramifications of high winds and storms etc.
It's a bit like the Supercharged and turbocharged golf that VW brought out should have been a hit but never really made it even though on paper it was a no brainer.
I will follow that thread later off out in a bit and I didn't want to have a tall in your face mast as we are part of Exmoor law and don't fall under the local planning department legislation but if it wasn't blatantly obvious I don't imagine it would cause an issue .
Thanks for the advice I love my pv array very pleased to have it just want to utilise the cloudy days and night time it is beautiful but windy up here
Ps the elderly neighbors own the field directly behind our property (my bees are there ) which I hope to purchase some/all of at some point might have to get a mortgage to do that mind you
Oldgreybeard
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Re: Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#9

Post by Oldgreybeard »

Wind turbine output is proportional to the cube of wind speed, so relatively small changes in wind speed give large changes in output. Doubling the wind speed gives eight times the power.

Solar, on the other hand, is linear, double the amount of sunlight and the output doubles.

This is why wind turbines are fairly complicated beasts to design and control. Design one that delivers useful power at low wind speeds and it will very quickly get over-powered if the wind speed rises. There are ways around this, the simplest is just furling gear that turns the thing out of the wind when the wind speed increases. This works for small wind turbines OK. To control the speed when there's not enough electrical load the thing will need a dummy load to absorb the power, as off-load it may easily over-speed.

The other point is that turbulence has an absolutely massive impact on performance. Any obstacles, lumps in the ground, trees, buildings, etc will all cause turbulence in the air up to a height of roughly around three times the height of the obstacle. This is why there is no substitute for getting a wind turbine as high up as you can possibly get it, and why increasing the height of the mounting pole always gives a significant performance benefit.

I'd strongly recommend getting Hugh Piggott's book, as it explains the basics in an easy to understand format, as well as showing how to build very cost effective and reliable machines: https://scoraigwind.co.uk/a-wind-turbine-recipe-book/
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ClockmanFRA
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Re: Small wind turbine recommendation for newbie please

#10

Post by ClockmanFRA »

Okay had my 3.7m diameters up since 2007.

They are made here and are Hugh Piggotts design and a very simple, robust and cost effective Wind Turbine.

Every year they need maintenance and re-balancing.

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Chapter 18, making my wind turbines. Fiberglass and Cedar wood blades.

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And from the last page of this Chapter 18.

After 15 years of Wind Turbines MY CONCLUSIONS in 2022.
Sad to say, that today wind turbines of this size are just NOT COST EFFECTIVE. If I am asked, “Should I put up a wind turbine to make electricity”, I reply, "The sums no longer add up when PV has become such a very cost-effective solution.”
Okay, Costs for me today. I have just installed 3.3kW of PV, static mounting on one of our roofs and used GTI's, and the system all working for $1800. To make a complete Wind Turbine, Mast, controller etc, at a rated 1kW output is about $1900. So, my new PV installation is heading towards being 3 times better value. And added bonus, ‘there are no moving parts to service’. However, while i can still move about and have some sort of brain functions, i will keep my 3 wind turbines flying, as seeing them flying, it say's and looks like such a BOLD STATEMENT to the world.

Hugh Piggott’s design is fantastic, and after flying our HAWT wind turbines for over 14 years, one big thing i have learned, is the issues with materials that are subject to water impregnation, and water ingress, causing blade balance issues and harmful vibration. Each time one of our wind turbines gets a good overall /service and the blades are removed, then I now replace the 18mm thick Plywood Blade mounting discs with 12mm thick aluminium discs.
The plywood on theses Blade mounting discs when they were made, was supposed to be ‘Marine Plywood’ but obviously it was not. I sealed every screw hole and overpainted, i also mastic sealed around the 5off 12mm main blade hub bolts, but still the water got into the plywood and turns it into cardboard. See Photo with the cat inspecting the Fake Plywood.


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