# Wind generator ?????



## topofmountain (Nov 1, 2013)

I have no experience with wind power & am looking for any & all info I can.

What I'm trying to do is power my travel trailer that is at my homestead. I have a 1000 watt inverter, & a small brushed 30 volt 15 amp max DC Motor with 15" blades. I want to add 4-6 volt deep cycle batteries in series/parallel or 2-12 volt batteries. I want to power a TV, DVD, phone & computer chargers along with a hotspot charger. Then my 12 volt lights. I bought the small motor & blades to start to experiment with. I do know brush-less motors are better etc. But I don't want to spend a bunch of money until I have a pretty good idea of what will & won't work, & just what size I may need. 

Should I look at a back up solar panel? I have a 2000 watt quiet inverter generator 53 db as a back up. I also have 6500/5500 generator but it is to loud &amp; thirsty for this.

Any help ideas, thoughts, or whatever is appreciated.

Thanks


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## Gray Wolf (Jan 25, 2013)

Take a look at Backwoods Solar and other sites for lots of good info.

We are off-grid on solar so take this with a grain of salt.

Using an electric motor or a car alternator or generator won't work very well. They are designed to work at far higher rpm. Aside from inefficient electrical output, the bearings are not intended to handle the loads you will put on them with 3'+ blades.

You will have to invent a way to automaticaly feather the blades or lock the rotation when the wind gets to fast. Purpose-built ones do this.

You will have to invent a rotating ring to feed power down when the head spins to follow the wind direction. Purpose-built ones do this.

Wind needs a tower tall enough to let the windmill be __ feet above anything within ____ feet of the tower. It has been a while since I looked into this for us but maybe 30' above anything within 200' in order to get 'clean' air? Find out the real numbers before you spend any time/money on it.

It takes quite a bit of sustained wind to make it worthwhile. One more time - quite a bit of sustained wind. A turbine may start producing in a light wind but needs much more to get to rated output.

By the time you buy a tower and a proper turbine, solar might be the way to go?


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## topofmountain (Nov 1, 2013)

Gray Wolf Thanks for you input. I was looking at possible using both wind & solar. Thanks for the site to look into.
As I adventure into this I will try to keep this updated.


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## Ky-Jeeper (Sep 5, 2010)

http://mikeswindmillshop.com/

just something to look at


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Is the motor a permiment magnet type? If not then it won't work as a genny.

You'll need to also get a dump load type charge controller to keep the batteries from getting overcharged.

WWW


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## hawknest (Nov 15, 2013)

We had solar until it was proven that wind could do a better job. And, wind is cheaper to own and maintain. I salvaged one from a wrecked sailboat in Seattle a few years ago. It runs on as little as 10mph and doesn't over rotate at 40mph plus.

http://www.emarineinc.com/pages/Wind-Generator-vs-Solar-Panels-Which-is-Better-For-Your-Boat.html

http://www.ampair.com/sites/all/files/product/resources/PBO Magazine.pdf


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## topofmountain (Nov 1, 2013)

Thanks for the links & all your input. Glad to find another Arizona business in wind & solar.


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## Alaska (Jun 16, 2012)

In Arizona? Go with solar. How many days does the sun shine? Panels are relatively cheap. No moving parts. No tower. I have both wind and solar. Its dark thirty and the wind is adding a little juice as I type. If I was on the grid I would not invest all my money in solar. And the wind ginny does make noise. Any neighbors? We only have 1kw bergey and at times it can be heard a half mile away.
Now if you are in the Yukon different story(lived in Alaska for 27 years) Texas now


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## topofmountain (Nov 1, 2013)

I'm hoping to use both. Yes I have neighbors so noise could be an issue. Thanks for the input.


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## Esprit (Dec 17, 2011)

Check these guys out. They sell low wind speed generators:
http://www.windbluepower.com/


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