wind turbine versus solar panels

mumsandra

I am thinking of having a FREE wind turbine on my land which will generate electricity through my meter back to the national grid.
Problem is, I already have solar panels installed (my own ) and I am worried that the turbine generation will interfere with my solar
generation and the turbine company will be getting some of my FIT payments.
I asked them to write a clause in the contract stating that they would pay me the difference if this was the case, however, they will only
issue a LETTER FROM THE COMPANY DIRECTOR, as such, " As per our conversation we cannot amend our contracts to
accommodate your request of the clarification of the interference of the Feed-in Tariff for your solar panels with our turbines.
We guarantee that our turbine installation, once connected to your electrical installation, will have no adverse effect on any pre-existing
solar generation systems. As your Solar panels installation is on a separate Feed-in-Tariff we cannot specify how much this will generate
and so therefore cannot guarantee payment for a tariff that is purely based on the generation of electricity via natural sunlight that is not
manageable on a day to day basis.

We can guarantee that our turbine installations and Feed-in-Tariff are completely separated from your solar installations and this will
have no adverse effects on this tariff for the period of the 20 year contract or interfere with your Feed-in-Tariff rate for your solar panel
agreement. "

What does anyone else think, shall I or shall I Not ?

spinybif_2

Your solar panels have a separate generation meter so you will know exactly how much power they have generated. The fact that the wind turbine is separately feeding electricity back into the grid will have no effect .

ecoguy

spinybif is correct. My question is why aren't you installing the wind turbine yourself? Based on most calculations I've seen homeowners are almost always better off installing solar panels and/or wind turbines themselves. If it didn't then companies wouldn't be offering them for 'free' would they?

Equaliser123

ecoguy wrote: »

spinybif is correct. My question is why aren't you installing the wind turbine yourself? Based on most calculations I've seen homeowners are almost always better off installing solar panels and/or wind turbines themselves. If it didn't then companies wouldn't be offering them for 'free' would they?

At a guess, OP may not have the money available for capital purchase....?

EricMears

Equaliser123 wrote: »

At a guess, OP may not have the money available for capital purchase....?

Even if not, most homeowners would be able to extend existing mortgage (or even take out a new one if property mortgage free) at a much lower rate than projected FIT payments.

Martyn1981

mumsandra wrote: »

Problem is, I already have solar panels installed (my own ) and I am worried that the turbine generation will interfere with my solar
generation and the turbine company will be getting some of my FIT payments.

What does anyone else think, shall I or shall I Not ?

Hiya mumsandra, been pondering this question for a day, but it might be easier just to ask you what the problems are you anticipate?

Some thoughts:

I remember once reading that a PV'er was experiencing problems with their inverter due to some frequency interference from a nearby large wind farm, but I think that was on a different scale to what you are considering.

Since the two systems will use different inverters and TGM's I can't see how any units could be 'stolen or transferred'.

What type of electricity connection does your property have? Do you have a normal domestic connection (single phase) or a larger commercial connection (3 phase). If single, is there any spare capacity within the DNO's 16A (3,680W) export limit, after deducting your inverters rating?

As you are looking at a free turbine, I'd think the DNO approval is for the company to obtain, whether G83 stage 1, or stage 2 or G59. But you might want to ensure that there are no comebacks on you if approval is not obtained (or obtainable), especially if you have to pay any kind of deposit, that might not be re-fundable.

Lastly, what restrictions apply regarding the free turbine, will it be like a RaR PV system, in which case you may want to consider future sales or mortgaging issues.

Is there a web link or something you can post that explains how the deals work? I remember there used to be a scheme for farmers where they got paid a lease rental for permission to install 3 turbines (15m jobs I think), or instead of rent, you could have a fourth turbine installed for yourself at a cheap price. But this was years ago, and my memory is straining a bit on the details.

Mart.

mumsandra

Thanks everyone for your opinions. Equaliser 123 is right about the funding. EricMears, I'm weighing up the mortgage options and martyn1981 a bit too technical for me !

Jon_Tiffany

The wind turbine will not be seperate from your solar panels - they will share the same grid connection. If the turbine causes problems with the grid connection the DNO can shut it down, along with your solar panels.

If you are getting a wind turbine be careful of the smaller units - anything 5kW and below often do not perform well.

Who is going to deal with the planning process? Who is going to discuss it with your neighbours when they complain about it?

Martyn1981

mumsandra wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your opinions. Equaliser 123 is right about the funding. EricMears, I'm weighing up the mortgage options and martyn1981 a bit too technical for me !

Sorry mumsandra, wasn't trying to confuse you, just racking my brains to work out what the problem was that you'd identified.

Maybe it would be easier if you just explain how the wind turbine can 'steal' some of your PV generation?

Out of curiosity, what size inverter do you have for your PV? How much headroom is there between that and the 3.68kW export limit?

Mart.

Oscargrouch

mumsandra wrote: »

I am thinking of having a FREE wind turbine on my land which will generate electricity through my meter back to the national grid.
What does anyone else think, shall I or shall I Not ?

My gutt feeling is; try and do it on your own if possible. Don't know what the deal is for tariffs if you exceed the <4kW capability or perhaps Solar is one thing and Wind is another (not being rude).:) But, don't be duped into letting someone else make a great profit out of the fact that you have space for a wind turbine. If at all possible, use that space yourself.;)

Equaliser123

EricMears wrote: »

Even if not, most homeowners would be able to extend existing mortgage (or even take out a new one if property mortgage free) at a much lower rate than projected FIT payments.

Yes but I would think that taking debt to fund what is ultimately an investment is a very risky way forward.