Green energy :D
- Thread starter Toddy
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I agree, using less is never discussed in the media. The more we find the more we use and that is not the answer in my most humble opinion.
Oh, definitely needs scaling up. I haven't got mine sorted to actually generate yet as I want to make the generator, etc so it just spins in the wind as a thing currently but if you search for ugrinsky there, it's the stack of 3d printed sections - in theory easy to make a massive stack or multiples, etc. I don't have any real vision of it being a reliable system for my use as wind is not a big resource where I am.
Self installed solar will be more of a thing for me...
Switching over to LED lighting? It's old hat now but there are probably still some hold outs that haven't changed over.
Energy isn't 'one size fits all'.
I don't need 240V when I'm camping, but something to charge a phone, or a torch, a radio or provide a decent light is a blessing
Similarly at home, many items in common use do not require heavy power. The main domestic ones, cooker, washing machine, tumble dry, microwave and kettle do, but LED lights, trickle charge items and the like don't.
Horses for courses but 'free' power, think dynamo rather than generator ?
I'm wondering if it'd provide just enough power in the middle of Winter to provide for undersoil heating in a greenhouse ?
I don't need 240V when I'm camping, but something to charge a phone, or a torch, a radio or provide a decent light is a blessing
Similarly at home, many items in common use do not require heavy power. The main domestic ones, cooker, washing machine, tumble dry, microwave and kettle do, but LED lights, trickle charge items and the like don't.
Horses for courses
but 'free' power, think dynamo rather than generator ? I'm wondering if it'd provide just enough power in the middle of Winter to provide for undersoil heating in a greenhouse ?
Energy isn't 'one size fits all'.
I don't need 240V when I'm camping, but something to charge a phone, or a torch, a radio or provide a decent light is a blessing
Similarly at home, many items in common use do not require heavy power. The main domestic ones, cooker, washing machine, tumble dry, microwave and kettle do, but LED lights, trickle charge items and the like don't.
Horses for courses
I'm wondering if it'd provide just enough power in the middle of Winter to provide for undersoil heating in a greenhouse ?
There's only one way to find out...
The power generated by the wind is proportional to the swept square area of the blades for any given wind speed. If it's only got little blades the swept area is small and the power will be low. A 300w flexible solar panel will provide more power even on a dull day I suspect.
Solar panels are great in full sunlight and you may get more than the manufacturer rates them at but their output drops dramatically in diminished light conditions and if even a small area is in shadow the whole panel struggles and can be at as little as 10%!
Best to have multiple sources I think, solar, wind and hydro.
That just isn't my experience TBH. The solar panel on the hut in the wood continues generating when the trees are in full leaf and it's a cloudy day. OK, it may well be less than 50% but that will still be more (and more convenient) than a kite system IMO.
The kite system is fantasy, but wind turbines are a viable option for some.
Can I ask the model of solar panel you're using? Also when you say 50%, is that a monitored measurement or estimated?
Agreed .
Mine's only 100w; I needed it to curve over the shepherd's hut roof.
I measured 13.5v @ 3A on a cloudy day, late afternoon - so that's still 40w. It charges a leisure battery and the power is used for LED lighting and device charging (including the laptop occasionally) . The single panel manages to keep up with our usage even in Autumn. I confess, I've not stayed down there for more than a few days in Winter.
. Mine's only 100w; I needed it to curve over the shepherd's hut roof.
I measured 13.5v @ 3A on a cloudy day, late afternoon - so that's still 40w. It charges a leisure battery and the power is used for LED lighting and device charging (including the laptop occasionally) . The single panel manages to keep up with our usage even in Autumn. I confess, I've not stayed down there for more than a few days in Winter.
But not at night....and we have at most eight hours of light in Winter....that's a long time dark.
We have many periods when the wind would be so slow that it would hardly generate anything as well. You have to have battery charging and, as I said, a 100Ah leisure battery will last more than a week of use for just LED lighting and device charging. A powerful 10w LED light would discharge it in 120 hours if it was running continuously - assuming no charge at all from any device.
A small 300w 12v wind turbine (1m), and costing around £100 for the kit, together with a single solar panel and a 100Ah battery, will provide everything you need on 12v and even run an inverter for mains for short periods.
Any 300w system - wind or solar running for 8 hrs will fully charge a 100Ah battery even if operating at an average of 40%. As long as your daily consumption is less than 1,200wh it will last (ignoring some efficiency reductions). If it took two days (because operation was at 20%) you'd have to reduce your consumption to 600wh = running 2 x a 10w LED light+
The kite system is an interesting solution trying to find a problem I'm afraid (IMO of course
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No, I think it's valid, but then I live with wind. It is very rare for us to have 'no' wind. It's not rare for us not to see that hot yellow ball thing in the sky for weeks on end....and I wasn't joking about there only being eight hours of daylight when it 'might' be available.
We all have garden solar lights round here. Just now our evenings are lit up like a fairground..... they don't work at all for much of the year though.
A wee dynamo type wind thing however, and I could happily have light in my green house all year round
We all have garden solar lights round here. Just now our evenings are lit up like a fairground
..... they don't work at all for much of the year though.A wee dynamo type wind thing however, and I could happily have light in my green house all year round
No, I think it's valid, but then I live with wind. It is very rare for us to have 'no' wind. It's not rare for us not to see that hot yellow ball thing in the sky for weeks on end....and I wasn't joking about there only being eight hours of daylight when it 'might' be available.
We all have garden solar lights round here. Just now our evenings are lit up like a fairground
A wee dynamo type wind thing however, and I could happily have light in my green house all year round
Sorry, the solar cells and batteries in garden lighting is rubbish and not a good example of the technology at all. You will not get anything like the energy out of those kite system that you will get out of a cheap wind turbine - it will be a waste of space. We live in a converted clover threshing barn built to make use of the westerlies, at 800ft, and we still get still days in summer and winter.
Sorry, you'll just have to believe me - I spent 30 years running a technology innovation company that worked in a wide range of fields including off-grid and renewable energy. I also advised investors on technology start-ups; this would not have been on the list
The media is great at jumping on these 'innovation' stories, but it's just column inches for them. I would welcome being proven wrong, but I don't expect to see these as viable solutions in 10 or 15 years time.
However, it may be possible to make a packable system that could be taken in a rucksack up a mountain to charge a phone or similar - but I'd still take a solar panel
No, I think it's valid, but then I live with wind. It is very rare for us to have 'no' wind. It's not rare for us not to see that hot yellow ball thing in the sky for weeks on end....and I wasn't joking about there only being eight hours of daylight when it 'might' be available.
We all have garden solar lights round here. Just now our evenings are lit up like a fairground
A wee dynamo type wind thing however, and I could happily have light in my green house all year round
For "wee dynamo type wind thing" read "wind turbine"!
You can attach a kite if you must!
Wind turbines are noisy, even the wee ones stuck up on lamp posts or clothes poles are noisy....yet my wind spinner ornaments are pretty quiet.For "wee dynamo type wind thing" read "wind turbine"!
You can attach a kite if you must!
I once started a quilt, with a small block made every day of the weather of that day...I started it on the 1st of January and by the end of February I was so fed up of sewing grey and shades of grey that I gave up. I'm not joking about sunshine being a rare thing through a big bit of our year. Yet wind is pretty much commonplace.
The other thing is that this looks very die-able for small stuff....and I don't need to buy solar panels. I wonder if a windsock would work, like the Dyson fan ? I have 7m tall windsock poles that we use to fly flags upon around our sites. They're fibreglass thankfully because they're often bent almost flat with the wind.
Like I said, only one way to find out, give it a go and make sure to take pics and update as you progress.
Just wondering, what are you growing in your "greenhouse" that needs lighting all year round?
I don't, but I use the greenhouse all year round. It's cold here, and it's a safe place to stash plants that are a wee bit tender through Winter. Doesn't mean that I don't tend to them though, and honestly, eight hours of daylight is not enough to get everything done.
So, light, easily available without burning fuel ....that's a good thing
So, light, easily available without burning fuel ....that's a good thing
