Adding Wind Generator to 12V Solar

[GTS225]

ROI is important but we don't have room for anymore panels we already have 3 100 watt panels and it's not going to solve our need for power on cloudy rainy days and at night we only need 300-400 watts anyway.

OK, TX.....you aren't stuck with 100 watt panels anymore. (I don't know when you got these.) There are residential panels that produce as much as 300 watts each, but I don't know how they compare (dimensionally) with your existing panels. I suggest that you might want to consider a panel upgrade.
I do still applaud you for the wind harvesting effort, though. I was starting to think along the lines of an alternator available to the aviation crowd, that pivots out of the fuselage, into the airstream for power, but you won't benefit from that unless you're moving, which you don't, by choice.
You might also want to research the effect (negative) of surrounding trees on the available wind energy when considering the best choice for your endeavors.

Do watch out for the hype-hucksters, though.

Good luck.....Roger

 

[TheLooks]

I had 40 200 watt panels on my home with enphase micro inverters, 8kwh system. Typically generated 40-50kwh per day. From 2012 until divorce court took my home I had not paid an electric bill.

Installed the system myself. Cost me $20k in 2010 and recovered that in roughly 4 years. Avg electric bill prior was $500/month.

14ish years not one failure with the enphase micros

My guess is you didn't live in Maine or someplace like it.

 

[Rich W.]

ROI is important but we don't have room for anymore panels we already have 3 100 watt panels and it's not going to solve our need for power on cloudy rainy days and at night we only need 300-400 watts anyway.

My 30’ Bay Star had room for five 315w panels. But the real key, as mentioned above, is storage. Increasing your storage would also work well as a backup since you are on the grid which is reliable most of the time. I’m guessing the real problem is the occasional outage that lasts for several days?

 

[mjeds]

My guess is you didn't live in Maine or someplace like it.

SoCal

 

[TXfreeze]

OK, TX.....you aren't stuck with 100 watt panels anymore. (I don't know when you got these.) There are residential panels that produce as much as 300 watts each, but I don't know how they compare (dimensionally) with your existing panels. I suggest that you might want to consider a panel upgrade.
I do still applaud you for the wind harvesting effort, though. I was starting to think along the lines of an alternator available to the aviation crowd, that pivots out of the fuselage, into the airstream for power, but you won't benefit from that unless you're moving, which you don't, by choice.
You might also want to research the effect (negative) of surrounding trees on the available wind energy when considering the best choice for your endeavors.

Do watch out for the hype-hucksters, though.

Good luck.....Roger

Thanks for the upgrade suggestion, if we were going to hang onto the motorhome we would consider upgrading but since we won't be keeping it, it doesn't make much sense.

 

[TXfreeze]

My 30’ Bay Star had room for five 315w panels. But the real key, as mentioned above, is storage. Increasing your storage would also work well as a backup since you are on the grid which is reliable most of the time. I’m guessing the real problem is the occasional outage that lasts for several days?

Well here in Texas the grid is fairly dependable having it's own independent grid but you never known when a bad storm may take out the power, and that could last for days sometimes a week like it was in the Rio Grande Valley last month.

 

[TXfreeze]

ok I will be the first admit I know zero about wind turbines,

but one would think that this style would be best for driving vs. the blade style:

View attachment 19259View attachment 19260


both claim to be vibration free and stable up to 100mph winds.


*EDIT*
so.. reading about these. completely useless, they are rated for ~1200watt they claim, but it appears that claim is 1200 over 24 hour day, so ~50watts per hour in 35mph sustained winds.

so yeah, just get another solar panel and more batteries.


FWIW: I have an ecoflow delta max 7200wh system in my RV, with 4x300 watt solar panels (came with the unit), Those 4 panels keep the delta max between 80% and 100% even with the June gloom SoCal has been experiencing.

for me that is 9 - 14 hours of battery power on the Delta Max. The nice thing about these units is they have a 30 connector on the unit, the controller, etc is all inclusive. All I had to do was plug it in to my RV and I have full power.

If I run the HVAC, I only get about 2 hours out of it, but for everything else (12v lights, Micro, Water Heater, TV, etc.) I see 9-14 hours battery only.

I recently came to the same realization and conclusion having read the Amazon reviews, 1200 watts is more like 60, I'm considering going the make your own route, maybe use a treadmill motor and make a project out of it, but for now the idea is on the back burner, thanks