I currently have 3kWp of PV but (since having heat pump and battery) I’d like to increase the amount of generation. The remaining roof area of our 1970 era detached house is not ideal for solar.
So how about putting up a wind generator? I guess this would need planning permission. But how to decide what wind product to get and whether either of the existing 2 inverters could be used - ie. can this kind of inverter handle both types of generation (assuming both produce 48vDC)?
(Currently, the inverters are Fronius for PV and Luxpower 3600ACS for the battery. I suspect that neither is suitable but I might replace the 10 year old Fronius with something that has an API.)
You will need separate inverters for wind and PV. This is a pain if your DNO limits your export unless the inverters can negotiate with each other or you have some other way of limiting the export.
Does your battery allow for system expansion? That could be a cheaper solution for using more of your own existing production unless you currently don’t export anything. If your battery is nearing capacity and cannot be expanded then you could add a new battery to your wind turbine and run it as a separate system for the outbuildings and car (EV). But you would need some very tricky segregation of the systems within your consumer unit, unless you are on 2 or 3 phase supply. 2/3 can happily coexist if on different phases.
“Not ideal” does not mean “not usable”. My initial south facing system was installed 15 years ago. That’s ancient in solar technology. 2 years ago I added a similarly sized system on my north facing roof. Thanks to advances in PV technology the north facing system generates more power than the south facing one. (Anyone out there want 8 Sanyo panels? Buyer collects!)
Yes. I also realised that my PV inverter may not have spare capacity. I’m thinking that the battery can limit export. I might need to add a simple relay to cut off the turbine in (very unusual) times of excess generation.
Thanks for this. I might increase the battery or program it differently.
I’m afraid I don’t understand your point about “tricky segregation”. Consumed energy currenyl comes from grid, solar and battery as required. So why not grid, solar, battery and turbine?
When David Sawden says “Have you considered buying a stake in a wind farm ?”
he may be hinting that small scale Wind Turbines are difficult to install for efficient running. You need wind speeds above 6 metres per second and low turbulence. A Barrett Homes experiment showed that in urban areas small wind turbines can generate negative amounts of electricity. I.e. the necessary control and other equipment uses more electricity than the turbine generates. Hiring a competent specialist to assess the wind quality for a turbine site is necessary but expensive.
If you have 2 batteries that are not part of the same system they will see each other as load/grid and charge/discharge each other, with power loss of 10-15% with each cycle.
Thx @andyham.
That’s prob why you see few turbines on domestic roofs.
I have tried to reach out to MCS-accredited turbine installers. Even fewer than ASHP installers. No response so far but I’ll wait and see.
Too low, unless you live on top of a mountain. You would need a minimum of 16m pole/tower and far enough away from buildings, trees or rocky outcrops to avoid turbulence from them.
Paul - roof mounted wind is a difficult area. We had an experimental system on trial when I was at Keele university but never went into production and was only 1kW. There is a product called airturb being touted at present but I’m not sure of its pedigree. What ever you do be careful of loadings on the roof as you will get a big angular stress from a wind turbine.
As an alternative Jonathan, Kate Gilmartin, the community energy investment lead from the NorthWest Energy Hub and I are currently thinking about how we might go about securing some community owned wind generation in GM.
Hi, have you heard of Ripple? You can co-own a turbine and get a share of the electricity. Only down side is you save 25% if you purchase your current usage and currently this only works with Octopus.
A positive is that the supply will move with you if you move house.
Here is my referral link.