How easy is it to add a wind turbine to a solar / battery system?

007apm

We have a 6KWP solar panel system with batteries (Fox ESS Hybrid inverter / Fox batteries.  ).  Our system faces S/W and so does most of it's generation before 4pm when Octopus Flux offers it's best rates.  I asked our solar sparky about adding panels to face N/E on a roof face to extend the generation window but the roof face isn't suitable.  He suggested a Wind Turbine and then sped off to another job.

I found a 4KWh 'quiet' turbine for £500 on amazon!  In theory, if I could get one installed, daisy chain it on to one of the solar panel strings, then in winter or duff days with wind, we could continue to generate more of the energy that we use...

Has anyone done this, is it that simple or am I being 'simple'? Could it be done for £1-£2k or are there a whole lot of additional costs? 

[Deleted User]

You would need to speak to your planning authority as planning approval might be required. The installer needs to be MCS certified, and your DNO will have to review any site export limit.

Source: EcoExperts

matt_drummer

007apm said:

We have a 6KWP solar panel system with batteries (Fox ESS Hybrid inverter / Fox batteries.  ).  Our system faces S/W and so does most of it's generation before 4pm when Octopus Flux offers it's best rates.  I asked our solar sparky about adding panels to face N/E on a roof face to extend the generation window but the roof face isn't suitable.  He suggested a Wind Turbine and then sped off to another job.

I found a 4KWh 'quiet' turbine for £500 on amazon!  In theory, if I could get one installed, daisy chain it on to one of the solar panel strings, then in winter or duff days with wind, we could continue to generate more of the energy that we use...

Has anyone done this, is it that simple or am I being 'simple'? Could it be done for £1-£2k or are there a whole lot of additional costs? 

What's wrong with the roof?

I put some panels on our north east facing roof and they work really well, better than I thought.

We also have south east facing panels.

QrizB

How easy is it? As easy as fitting your solar panels was.

The question you should ask, though, is how likely are you to ever see any benefit from the work and cost involved?

007apm said:

I found a 4KWh 'quiet' turbine for £500 on amazon!

I would be very surprised if a £500 turbine ever generates 4kW. At that price point I'd expect output of 200 watts or less.

A 3kW turbine has a diameter of almost four metres and costs about £7500:

https://renugen.co.uk/sd3-3kw-wind-turbine-300v-turbine-head-assembly-black/

Also, look at the power Vs wind speed charts. How often is it that windy at the place you live?

(Housing is usually in low-wind-speed locations, for all the obvious reasons.)

[Deleted User]

OP - this link is worth a read:

https://www.hiesscheme.org.uk/renewable-energy/home-wind-turbines/

Apart from the cost, this statement is particularly relevant:

‘Wind speed is key to getting the most from a domestic wind turbine system. It is estimated that a speed of six metres per second is necessary for a successful output.*7  Unfortunately, locations that benefit from this wind speed in the UK are quite rare’

CSI_Yorkshire

007apm said:

We have a 6KWP solar panel system with batteries (Fox ESS Hybrid inverter / Fox batteries.  ).  Our system faces S/W and so does most of it's generation before 4pm when Octopus Flux offers it's best rates.  I asked our solar sparky about adding panels to face N/E on a roof face to extend the generation window but the roof face isn't suitable.  He suggested a Wind Turbine and then sped off to another job.

I found a 4KWh 'quiet' turbine for £500 on amazon!  In theory, if I could get one installed, daisy chain it on to one of the solar panel strings, then in winter or duff days with wind, we could continue to generate more of the energy that we use...

Has anyone done this, is it that simple or am I being 'simple'? Could it be done for £1-£2k or are there a whole lot of additional costs? 

Adding an AC turbine (if that's what it is) to a DC string would not be a good thing.

I'm (like others) very sceptical of a 4kW wind turbine for £500.  Having had a quick look at the adverts I can find, they make no technical sense at all - talking about 3-phase DC, or claiming that the turbine is 220V and 12V at once for example - what they usually do is talk about the 'max rating', which means how much power you can put through the motor before it burns out, not the actual power output (which is likely to be no more the the low hundreds of watts).

If you really could generate 4kW for a £500 install, nobody would bother with anything else.

mmmmikey

There's an important difference here between a 4kW wind turbine and a 4kWh wind turbine.

A 4kW wind turbine has a maximum power output of 4kW and under ideal conditions could generate 4kWh of energy in 1h

A 4kWh wind turbine will generate 4kWh if it runs at full pelt for a given period and you need to check the spec to find out what that period is. If the period is 1 day, (24hours) the power output is 4/24 = 0.167kW which is a very different thing and more realistic for a £500 wind turbine.

007apm

Thanks for the responses, there certainly seems to be disconnect between a £500 turbine and the costs for the workable systems described in responses.  It looks like a better option would be to find a way to work around a Velux window on the roof surface.