Wind Turbines vs Solar Panels?

Question

Which should I get?

How much will a medium sized of each cost?

How much power do they produce? (In terms of say, hours it will charge a TV or Laptop. Or will it be enough to charge the whole house?)

I live just outside London. As it will be summer soon, it won't always be windy but then again, it's only light during the day so do they work out as about the same?

Thanks

Answer 1

Solar Panel.

Answer 2

I'm not very familiar with your weather, however, you might consider a hybrid system where the wind turbines are in tandem with solar panels storing power to a single battery bank.

If sun is abundant all year around, solar powered system is advisable. Solar cells are not so expensive now as before. If the wind in the area is normal, there are inexpensive designs for a wind powered system. Both system has to store the power in battery banks.

Both system may easily be used in tandem storing energy to a single battery bank provided that your storage (battery banks) has enough capacity. Too much capacity would also mean higher cost. So the battery bank should just be enough to last until the next charging time (or cycle) normally every day.

Check your planned power requirement and match it with the system you might need.

For emergency cases, you must have a small engine driven generator set for lights and whatever emergency equipment you might have, just in case your batteries run out of power.

For suppliers of these system(s), you should check first for any local distributors and manufacturers closest to your cabin. It would make a difference at maintenance ( or other after sales services).

Answer 3

Both systems can come in sets that can produce only a few watts, right up to sets that can produce several kilo-watts.

The smaller units are obviously cheaper - a few hundred pounds, but can't do much more than charge batteries at a low (and therefore, slow, rate).

The bigger, and better, units can run into thousands of pounds, but can power an entire house (in ideal conditions!!).

The main points about renewable energy (micro generation) setups, is that they all produce direct current which has to be stored in batteries, then converted to alternating current in order for you to use it to power your domestic appliances.

The three main elements are therefore,  Power generator (solar panel or wind turbine),  power storage (batteries), power conversion (DC - AC inverter).

A unit of 7 to 10 kilo-watt will provide 'load lopping' power (the ability to take some, but not all, of the load from the mains) . It can  power a house on a steady load of lights, TV, pc, electric kettle, heating pumps etc, and so would provide most of your household needs, but wouldn't be able to run on full load - ie all of the above, plus cooker and/or electric shower or water heater.

To fully power a house on maximum load you would need to be thinking in terms of 15 to 20 kilo-watts.  Sounds good, but a unit of that size would cost tens of thousands of pounds, and would never return enough use to pay for itself.

One downside of renewable energy is the fickle nature of the elements you need to run it - Sun, and wind!  You just can't be sure of getting enough, so you'd still need to retain a connection to the mains (grid).

How much power you could put out would depend upon the capacity of the batteries and importantly the inverter.

Duration will depend on crude storage capacity - the more batteries and the bigger the batteries, the more you can store, and just like petrol in a car, "the more you can carry, the longer you can go without refilling".

Batteries are bulky, heavy, and must be replaced periodically (several years interval).  Some battery manufacturers, like Yuasa, make batteries for standby power that can last for 10 years and more, but they are expensive.

Solar panels only work in daylight, but you at least know that the daylight will break every day!  though winter days are rather shorter and therefore less power is produced.

Wind turbines will work 24/7 if there is the wind to power them, but if the wind drops for a several days - well, no power from them I'm affraid!

The best setups will use both, on the basis that if you don't get one, you'll get the other!

In theory, it should be possible to run entirely on micro-generation, but in practice, it comes down to what you can afford, whether you have the space to install all the necessary plant (equipment), enough storage capacity to survive the periods where you're not actually generating, and the ability to recharge your battery capacity whilst still being able to power your household needs, simultanaously.

Answer 4

You are proposing an off-grid system, which is not the ideal setup when possible.

A better use would be a grid-connected solar / wind mix.

Meaning, you generate power when the conditions are right, selling off any excess back to the National Grid, when you are not producing enough you buy in power the from National Grid, like you do at the moment.

For a system capable of powering your house in the right conditions and selling power back to the NG when not required, budget around £10,000 and get it professionally installed.

Edit: They are usually rated in Watts. For an idea of what you need, look at the appliances you use. For example, a washing machine uses around 1000 watt hours per cycle. A macbook pro runs at 23 watt hours, etc. Add up how much you are consuming at once then you know how many watts you need to be generating to be self sufficient.

Answer 5

To give you some idea of how cost relates to power produced from Solar, consider the following:

One avg Solar Panel will cost $300-$400. It will produce about 40-60 Watts of power per hour only when the sun is shining bright (Enough for one light bulb). You must then add a charge controller (About $500) in order to charge batteries. Batteries are about $300 each at least. Then in order for you to use the DC power for lights, etc., you will need and power inverter ($2000-$4000).

Since it would be more cost effective to buy several panels because the charger, batteries, and controller can handle many panels, lets get 10 panels. That will provide maybe 600 Watts of power when the sun is bright.

I now have a little system that will provide enough power to supply a few lights and some electronic equipment for maybe 10,000-12,000 dollars. I would probably need 2-3 times that for a decent system to provide most of the power for an average house. Even then it would not produce much on cloudy days.

Without some major subsidies, it would help the environment, but would never pay itself back Unless you happen to live in one of the desert areas where the sun shines most of the time.

Most calcs I have done for wind turbines are give the same conclusion.

I don't know where all these "Environmentalists" get there numbers from. I am an engineer and have built and worked on solar systems. My friends have whole house stand alone solar systems because there is no grid power available where they live out in the boonies near our town. Every one of them wishes they could get grid power.

Answer 6

You should consult your electric bill in order to see how much energy you consume over the different seasons of the year.  

This will help you determine your average annual energy consumption and cost.  With this information you will be able to find a dealer who will be able to assist you in finding the products available for you.  From that, you will also be able to calculate how long it will take you to amortize your investment.

Whenever you buy appliances, make sure to also compare their energy consumption.  You may also wish to see if replacing certain older appliances is worthy.  Their energy needs are usually written on the back panel on a label. some items like a radio can use 12-volts of electricity instead of 110 or 220 volts.  This can be a major source of energy consumption reductions.

As for the need for solar or wind, a combination of both is good.  I believe London has rain and sun.  Rain usually comes int he form of a storm, therefor windy conditions while the sunlight tends to be clamer.  

Maybe it is possible to find a map indicating the average hours of sunlight London recieves over each season produced by the governments meterology center.

You may also want to confirm with your local urban planning department to mkae sure that wind turbines are allowed and if so, if there are any restrictions to location, size and noise produced.

Good luck!