Combining Micro Wind Turbine(s) with Solar?

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  • SunMan12
    Junior Member
    • Oct 2016
    • 1

    Combining Micro Wind Turbine(s) with Solar?

    I have a 9 panel grid-tied solar array (~ 2.2KW peak). I want to add some sort of wind power to supplement this for nights and windy days. Even something small would be fine as I am just trying to cover some lighting in the evenings (all LED so not much needed). I have 9 enphase microinverters (M215). Two questions:
    --Is there a small roof mount turbine that could work for this application (I was looking at the Windstream Solar Mill as an idea, but I don't want to buy this whole unit and I don't have space for it). Could I get these sort of small vertical turbines separately?
    --Would my installer be able to tie the turbine(s) to the grid and then allow me to monitor with the enphase envoy?
    Thanks in advance for any ideas.
    Last edited by SunMan12; 10-23-2016, 09:28 PM.
  • solar pete
    Administrator
    • May 2014
    • 1816

    #2
    Hi SunMan12 and welcome to Solar Panel Talk, dont want to rain on your parade but this is likely to fall into the too hard basket, most likely your inverter wont have the ability to do want you want. However I know next to nothing about wind turbines so maybe some more knowledgeable folks might chime inn at some stage, cheers

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    • inetdog
      Super Moderator
      • May 2012
      • 9909

      #3
      Do NOT try to use any kind of roof mount turbine, whether horizontal or vertical.
      1. The air flow close to any roof will be slower than the wind speed even twenty feet higher. And turbine power decreases with the cube of the wind speed.
      2. The flow will be turbulent rather than laminar, meaning a lot less power to the turbine
      3. The vibration will be intolerable throughout the building.

      Rule of thumb: Unless you literally have to tie your hat down every time you go outside you probably do not have enough wind to make small turbines practical, even with a tall tower.
      SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

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