Solar Panel/ Wind Generator

[dreamcatcher]

I have a small plot of land with a caravan on. I have installed a 100w solar panel and a 500w wind generator which charge four 90 ah gel batteries via a charge controller. This feeds a 1500w inverter which gives 240v to the caravan.
I can’t believe how well the system works. I can watch TV all evening run the fridge and my laptop. It did cost a few quid to set up, but I’m truly Off Grid.

[unsure]

do you have any links to the equipment you used .

[Arzosah]

Sounds great - I've love to hear more details. Piccies too - I'm an addict for piccies on a thread of projects like this.

[dazthechippy]

that sounds ideal for what i have in mind please share your pics and or instructions thanks v much

[junmist]

sounds good do you think you could run a freezer as well

[dreamcatcher]

sounds good do you think you could run a freezer as well

Yes a small box type but not a chest I would need to look at the watts.

[dreamcatcher]

All the products were purchased from E Bay.

The wind turbine is item number 261084057781. The Solar panel is item number 110945763248.
I have also purchased a Duel input controller, but you could use two separate controllers. The one I purchased is item number 321148500681 I have also purchased a Stirling power inverter (1500w)
I have used four 90ah Gel Batteries wired in Parallel. This gives me 12v and 360ah of battery power. You could wire in series if you need 24v. The solar panel is rated at 100w. The wind turbine is rated at 500w, therefore in theory giving me 600w of power. So 600w divided by 12v = 50amp of charging. It is unlikely I will get that amount of charge, but 20amp is reasonable.
The batteries are charged from the solar panel and the wind turbine. I mounted the solar panel on the roof of my barn. The wind turbine is mounted on a scaffold pole bolted to the barn, about two foot above the roof. I could put both on the caravan.
The cables from both run inside the barn. Both sets of cables are connected to the controller via a 300w dump resistor. The controller dumps voltage into the resistor when the batteries are fully charged. It also brakes the wind turbine, thus shutting off the input voltage so the batteries are not overcharged.
So that’s how we charge the batteries. The 1500w inverter is connected directly to the battery bank. It has a low power cut off so it will not drain the batteries below 12v.
The main power cable to the caravan is plugged directly into the inverter. I have run the cable underground in conduit about 25m.
I purchased a low consumption LED TV and a low consumption fridge. The fridge is running 24hrs and I can watch TV for hours. In time I will replace all the bulbs in the caravan for LED or low power. And of course I can charge mobiles and lap tops.
I have gone a bit over the top with the amount of power I have. I could run with the solar panel and two batteries. I could also drop down to a 1000w inverter.

[SkyWatcher]

Thanks for the links dreamcatcher I'll admit I have had my eye on the same size of turbine to keep a small battery bank *just in case*. At the moment I have a small solar panel that fits the size of half of my shed window which keeps the charge topped up but I would like to have more bigger ones when funds allow. Thanks for sharing though, it's all much appreciated!

[nickdutch]

Fantastic

I hope to buy my own home in three years and with some money i will get together i hope to get a wind turbine for it as well as home made solar.

Hope I can get a place with a chimney so that i can use a wood stove and not rely on the gas and electric companies. I will still be on broadband, TV and telephone though.

[Slazanger]

Do you find the combo of wind + solar gives you enough coverage for your power use ?