I dunno. I recon you'd get plenty of wind as you drive along after mounting it on the front of the van

T1 Terry wrote:

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Captain Ron wrote:

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After 20 years living on a yacht I would take a wind generator over solar any day. (Just like I would have radar over GPS.) Of course the nature of the environment is totally different but the use of wind power for RVs is one that should not be overlooked.
Noise and vibration are no longer a problem, (some - not all), and with future developments the size and stow-ability should become less of an issue.
The RV market is huge and any manufacturer who can tap into it will be on a winner. Something that can fold down like a satellite dish is what is needed.

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Not a lot of trees around a yacht to mess up the smooth air flow Captain Ron, but a lot of shade I'd imagine 

Not being a sailor person I ask this question out of possible ignorance on my part, but as a matter of interest though, when under way sailing ahead of the wind, what wind speed is available to drive the wind turbine? Wouldn't the turbine being travelling at the same speed as the yacht and wouldn't the yacht be travelling at the same speed as the wind? That would mean no wind speed to drive the wind turbine wouldn't it?

T1 Terry

-- Edited by T1 Terry on Monday 19th of February 2018 11:46:02 AM

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 In a marina and surrounded by hundreds of masts - the wind genny still works!!

Only while sailing downwind does the speed of the yacht reduce the speed of the wind over the wind generator and in light conditions, as you surmised, the generator becomes ineffective. Any wind forward of the beam can be added to the wind speed as the 'apparent' angle changes and increases the airflow at the generator. (Whereas the 'true' wind speed might be 10 knots the speed of the yacht makes it 'appear' stronger.) The time that a yacht needs the most power is at night when lights and other aids are employed - solar panels are then useless. Then come those endless days of overcast, rain and squalls - here, the wind genny is a god send.

Overall the wind generator was the more consistent and efficient supplier of power. On the occasions when I was forced to live without it, (usually some errant bird committing hari kari in the blades) it was like loosing a leg.

T1 Terry wrote:

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Thankyou Ron, Homeless has a wind generator for his house boat that he keeps annoying me to connected up for him, so sounds like I should extract the digit and do it. He has plenty of solar (around 2kW from memory) and 400Ah of lithium batteries, but the houseboat is now full 240vac and no gas at all. It is a vertical mount type rather than the normal horizontal mount commonly seen, there are a few of those around the marina but all tied up because of the noise and vibration problems.

There is another one at an off grid house system we are updating, the noise and shake of the pole when it gets wound up is not something I'd enjoy living with and it is at least 100 mtrs from the house.

 

T1 Terry  

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 Marinas often have an across the board ban on using wind generators because of the noise that some (not all) make - but if you are in a marina you have shore power anyway. Vibration is usually a balance/installation problem. Mine was noisy when it really cranked up, but was forgiven for the, up to, 35 amps it would put out. The noise problem has been well and truly addressed by a few manufacturers making them almost silent.

The attached photo shows the condition of my yacht rounding Cape Horn after being capsized 380 miles to the west. The solar panels were destroyed. The wind generator, even after being completely submerged and having all its blades broken off to about one third their length was still churning out 10 amps and played a large part in me being able to get the boat to safety without calling for assistance. Talk about vibration!!!!!!!!!!