Wind generators

[Walcheren]

My Poulsbe Boat is getting closer to completion. So it is time to do my home work about wind generators. We used to have a "12 Volt" shop in town but they are gone. So advice is in order. What I am contemplating is to have a battery in the boat for operating a bilge pump, maybe a radio for coast guard contact and weather and an ancher light and/or light in the boat. (navigation lights?) I plan to be out for more than two days so the electrics would be fun to have. I realise it could all be done by small batteries, oil lamps etc. but having power available for the bilge pump, especially when the boat is left unattended at the dock, would make me sleep better. A bad idea?? And where do I get specs on these wind mills.

[Ian McColgin]

I have an ancient Windstream that's cooking along just fine. It does not have the kind of regulator that will completely stop the charge when topped off so I have a way of shutting off. This may or may not be a need for you.

Thoughts: The bigger the blade - maybe just a two blade of 3'-4' D - the quieter, in general. The small units with many blades can humm. But the small may be what fits your rig.

Cruise the internet and places like Jackrabit.

G'luck

[Walcheren]

Thanks for your reply. I expected this to be quite a popular problem. Maybe I should go to sources etc. I'll surf the net although I am not much of a surfer. I'll rather be in the shop. Dirk.

[Bruce Hooke]

Because most boats these days have a big hunk of iron somewhere that can generate electricity, wind generators are a somewhat specialized area. The long-distance cruising crowd (and liveabourds) are probably the biggest users. I have dealt with solar panels a good bit so I can offer two pointers:

1. You are going to need to work up a complete energy budget for the boat -- how much power you need, when, and for how long. From this you can decide how long you want to be able to 'run' without any elecricity input (i.e., how long you want to be able to use electicity between charges -- otherwise known as windless days in your case). From this you can determine how much battery capacity you need. From all of this you can also determine how much input you need -- in other words, how big a wind generator you need. A good book on boat electronics should help you with most of this.

2. The manufacturers and purveyors of wind generators should be able to provide you with the information on how much power their units can generate. A key piece, of course, is how much wind will be available to run the generator. Obviously a boat sailing in the tradewinds is in a different position from a boat sitting in a very sheltered anchorage, so a good bit of judgement on your part is called for. Chances are, of course, that your electicity needs while cruising will dominate the equation, and that the power used at the moaring will be relatively small, unless you have a very leaky boat. :D

There have been some discussions of this in the past on the forum so a search of the forum should turn up a bit more information...

[Walcheren]

Thank you. I am now surfing. Dirk