Solar Panels Vs Wind Power For Kau/HOVE Property?

[cagary]

Originally Posted by 67Cam

Sounds cool. Got any details? Is it a home made rig or a commercial unit?

Its very much a commercial unit similar to the one in the link below.

Elevation drop is the key.

Micro Hydro Electric Turbines

[hotzcatz]

That looks like a fun little turbine! How much elevation drop do you have? Will there be just one or can you add several to get more power? Will you be running it all in DC?

[pbmaise]

I have both aboard my sailboat and find the solar panels greatly out perform my wind generator. The wind generator is also loud.

I would now rather have two more batteries and two more solar instead of one wind generator.

[hotzcatz]

Yup, we came up with the same conclusion about possible wind power at our house. They make a loud whirrrring noise and the solar panels are absolutely silent.

Don't they have drag behind water turbines for sailboats? Not that those would work while in port or for folks living on land, though.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Yup, we came up with the same conclusion about possible wind power at our house. They make a loud whirrrring noise and the solar panels are absolutely silent.

And solar panels don't kill birds like spinning blades do.

"The giant spinning turbines are basically bird death traps - and often they cut through prime flying space making the carnage even worse"

How Many Birds Do Wind Turbines Really Kill? | Smart News | Smithsonian

[smarino]

If you've ever dealt w/ HELCO even once, you will never want to hear their name again.

The most successful solar power installations that I ever saw on the BI (and the only type I ever saw) were stand alone schemes that were totally off grid, and used banks of batteries for cloudy days. You need to downsize your electrical needs (12V for elect stuff, propane for your fridge, cooking and water heater, etc), but better to have it all self contained. Theft would be a big concern of mine, but there are ways to make things difficult for those types.

Ka'u would sound perfect for wind. It was always crazy windy whenever we went there. But the bigger question is, do you want to live in Ka'u? It would be too remote for me.

I've often wondered if you couldn't have a super efficient gas generator used in conjunction w/ solar or wind. It would be possible to build a concrete house for it, so as to contain noise and discourage theft. Not sure on the codes, but this would be the cheaper solution by far. Not as clean, but maybe not so bad when used as part of a hybrid system. With a catalytic converter and a super big muffler, the noise would be low, and the emissions quite reasonable. Today's 4, 6, and 8 cylinder autos are super quiet. There's no reason that a small generator couldn't be equally as quiet.