Wind turbine or Solar Panels?

Hello,

I've just bought a small sailboat wich is located near Montreal, Canada. I am new to sailing and would like to use some electrical equipment on board (TV, Microwave, etc.), without having to let the motor running to charge the batteries.

I have planned to buy a MINI-450 wind turbine from the EnergieVair's team (www.energievair.com), because they are quite small and powerfull. I've just noticed the weight of it, wich is quite heavy : 67 lbs (30 kg). Installing this kind of material would considerably change the boat's stability, right? I wonder, would it be best to use solar panels?

Thanks for any help.
Fred.

 

Hello, and welcome Fred,

how small is small? give us some deeper insight please (better pictures).

And have a deeeeep look into the most advanced powermanagement available today:
http://www.victronenergy.com/support-and-downloads/white-papers/
download: achieving the impossible dive deep into the matter and impress your club fellows.

Regards
Richard

 

The windmill will give you much more AFFORDABLE enegry (i.e. lower cost/KW), is much more durable, and takes up less space.
Myself, I'd probably mount the windmill whenever the boat is at dock/anchor, then unmount it & stow it below while I was underway. That way it's having a POSITIVE effect (ballast) on your stability while you're underway, and generating the energy for you when you're safely sitting at anchor/dock.


....just my $0.02, take it or leave it.

 

But the wind turbine is quite heavy and it is not that simple to mount and unmount it.

Thanks anyway for youradvise.

 

Nor are the panels!? You´ll need some 3 or more ft² min. sometimes difficult to mount them even on a 33´.
Let´s have some sufficient info to go deeper, or is it secret?

And ROB I disagree: is much more durable that was when we had a "Kaiser", is not valid any longer.

Regards
Richard

 

Richard:

I've seen countless windmills survive some nasty hailstorms; but to my knowledge, no solar panels (at least not ones that are either LIGHT, or at all COST EFFICIENT) can make the same claim. Or are there new, hail-resistant panels that I'm unaware of?
Pulling a windmill down before a nasty windstorm, hurricane, or tornado is easy enough; at least compared to removing a couple m^2 of solar panels.

 

No offence, Rob, we have to compete carefully, there are advantages for both of them systems. But we should wait until some proper info is given about the boat we are talking about, right?
Kindest
Regards
Richard

 

OK, I'll give you 2 scores for that one.

 

I do´nt know why, but sometimes I tend to feel sympathy for you....

 

And the details??? must we pay for it?

 

Excuse me for a moment....

*throws rope over a tree branch*

...come over here readyforboating......... (to be continued)

 

I've been using Siemens solar panels for 20 years now. One had its glass shattered when a storm ripped it from its (adhesive) mounting pads and threw it face down at the sea rail.
They are obviously not designed to fly, but when properly fixed with bolts and nuts, they are virtually indestructible. You find them on mountain tops, powering telephone and TV relay stations, where they cope with 12 Bf storms and hail the size of chicken eggs.

 

Right,

and if Fred would give us a rough idea about the boat, we could discuss which way to choose. But now we are just stumbling in the dark. The optimum might be having both, but that was´nt the question.

Regards
Richard

 

The answers aren't great but how could they be with such a poor question? If the boat is large enough to consider having a microwave and TV aboard, it should be large enough to take 67# on the stern without messing with performance.

 

Do both, it is seldom cloudy and windless.