Does Solar trump Wind Generators these days?

[chile1]

I'm from the pacific north-west and will be doing most of my sailing around Vancouve and north of Vancouver. This area is known for its a rainy, cloudy winters. Can solar panels be very useful in this part of the world? Would a wind generator be more useful in the pacific north-west? Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks, john

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

There is this little problem called SPACE....it's much easier to type 1250W of solar than for many boats to find room for it. My aircraft carrier has 1300W but that's a lot of surface area.

I'm buying an aircraft carrier. I'm going to try and stuff 4kw on it. Hell, I might hit 12 kts without even raising a sail, just from windage!

LOL

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by chile1

I'm from the pacific north-west and will be doing most of my sailing around Vancouve and north of Vancouver. This area is known for its a rainy, cloudy winters. Can solar panels be very useful in this part of the world? Would a wind generator be more useful in the pacific north-west? Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks, john

Yes, I'd guess a wind generator would be more useful than solar panels in that climate, aside from providing shelter from the rain.

Another possible solution would be to sail somewhere sunny, I'm sure it would be... more fun.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by newhaul

You seem to have missed a very important part of the original post ( don't worry most of the ppl posting have missed it as well ) he already has the wind generator and wanted to know if it was worth mounting and the short answer is yes but the long answer is also yes mount it.

Since I quoted his post, I was quite clearly responding to Kenomac's post about the Superwind 350, not the OP.

I think I replied to him earlier in the thread, since he has the wind genny already, might as well mount it as long as he's not shading his solar panels.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

Here, I'll help clarify your mind.

$2400 PLUS SHIPPING for the wind genny.
$800 PLUS SHIPPING for the pole kit.


I intentionally used caps on the shipping part, who knows how much that raping is gonna hurt. As if $3200 wasn't enough to make the sphincter slam shut.

Even if I spent $700 ea for the most expensive MPPT controllers, I could get a HELL of a lot more power than 350 measly watts for $3200...

plus shipping.

Even at $2/watt for high end panels, I could buy an 80 amp controller for $700, have $2500 left over and buy 1250 watts of solar panels with that. Yes, I know the sun doesn't shine at night, but the wind doesn't always blow, especially if you like to anchor in quiet inlets.

Besides being a rude and ignorant post, you seem to have missed the point that I was simply pointing out how silent the wind generator is. The Superwind does not necessarily cost $3200. We already have a pole that is quite useless now holding up just an old satellite dome, and if the Superwind is purchased in Germany where my neighbor purchased hers, it's cheaper. She has a specific need in the Caribbean where the wind plows continuously, and the wind generator helps along with her solar panels. The only place she says it doesn't work very well is when she crosses the Atlantic each year following the tradewinds. Personally, I don't plan on buying one.

Another example of an armchair internet surfer spewing expert advice which runs contrary to actual facts and people out doing it and using it.

If I did buy a Superwind 350 along with 400w of solar, I probably wouldn't need to run my genset evveryday.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Besides being a rude and ignorant post, you seem to have missed the point that I was simply pointing out how silent the wind generator is. The Superwind does not necessarily cost $3200. We already have a pole that is quite useless now holding up just an old satellite dome, and if the Superwind is purchased in Germany where my neighbor purchased hers, it's cheaper. She has a specific need in the Caribbean where the wind plows continuously, and the wind generator helps along with her solar panels. The only place she says it doesn't work very well is when she crosses the Atlantic each year following the tradewinds. Personally, I don't plan on buying one.

Another example of an armchair internet surfer spewing expert advice which runs contrary to actual facts and people out doing it and using it.

If I did buy a Superwind 350 along with 400w of solar, I probably wouldn't need to run my genset evveryday.

Sorry, I didn't see anything rude or ignorant about it. If one has room for 1200 watts of solar, then I highly recommend it. If one doesn't, (and I'd try to get very creative with mounting them) then as much as you have room for would certainly help.

I think $2400 for a measly 350 watts is incredibly rude though.

Just for the record, solar panels are considered pretty quiet as well. I never said the superwind wasn't silent.



Since the better solar panels are approaching and surpassing 350 watts ea, and a wind generator never makes full power all of the time unless you're in sustained 30 kt winds or so, I'm still partial to solar. Unless one has a 20 ft boat, in which case one's power requirements might not be so high.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

I think $2400 for a measly 350 watts is incredibly rude though..

As is the case with most things in life. You get what you pay for. Price is usually a good indicator of quality.

If I was in the market for wind power, I'd be willing to pay twice the price for a German made quality product instead of some Chinese crap with noisy rotor blades with a propensity to spontaniously self detach.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

As is the case with most things in life. You get what you pay for. Price is usually a good indicator of quality.

If I was in the market for wind power, I'd be willing to pay twice the price for a German made quality product instead of some Chinese crap with noisy rotor blades with a propensity to spontaniously self detach.

I think there are some American made ones that are silent, or nearly silent, that don't break apart that are maybe half that price.

Price alone is never an indication of quality. Quality should be easily discerned by build quality, performance or features. It's usually not cheap, but sometimes some items are just over priced, even if they are a quality item.

I'm not against wind generators, I just feel solar is a better ROI if one has the room. Heck, a single 327 watt panel will probably outperform a 350 watt wind gen on average over a yr, unless one is parked in a very windy (annoyingly windy) spot.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by mackrobertson

You assume they are going to remove the bolts to get them off??? HA HA Also, they have no need of what you have inside your boat. They live in the mangroves on stilt houses and run in dugout canoes with 15 hp Yamahas. Go to town shopping for a couple of hours and they are gone when you come back! You have not experienced the mindset of the indigenous native of Central America, thus you cannot understand it.

How else would they get them off? It is aluminum bolted to aluminum. They can't break the panels or there would be no point in stealing them. It would take them a long time to cut them off the aluminum hardtop. Even if they were mounted on a tubular structure, it would be difficult cutting them off.

I have lived and cruised in Central America for 5 years. Never had a problem or worry about our panels being stolen. We leave the boat all the time to go shopping, etc.

I do worry more about the outboard being stolen, and can assure you that outboards are very much more desirable than solar panels.

If they need the solar panels to power their TV's in their stilt houses, why wouldn't they be interested in the TV's, computers, tablets, phones, money, etc inside the boat?

Mark

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by chile1

I'm from the pacific north-west and will be doing most of my sailing around Vancouve and north of Vancouver. This area is known for its a rainy, cloudy winters. Can solar panels be very useful in this part of the world? Would a wind generator be more useful in the pacific north-west? Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks, john

We are just about a hundred miles south of you in the Tacoma Seattle metroplex and our 200 watts solar have provided all out 12 volt needs since the end of February fully led and a really efficient refer system. Think about'this a cheap couple hundred watt kit like ours is about 325 now all things included. And if it saves you even a gallon of diesel by not running the mains 1 day out of 3 that's at least $3.50 in your pocket won't take long to pay for its self considering a 25 year service life ( minimum)

[zboss]

Originally Posted by colemj

How else would they get them off? It is aluminum bolted to aluminum. They can't break the panels or there would be no point in stealing them. It would take them a long time to cut them off the aluminum hardtop. Even if they were mounted on a tubular structure, it would be difficult cutting them off.

I have lived and cruised in Central America for 5 years. Never had a problem or worry about our panels being stolen. We leave the boat all the time to go shopping, etc.

I do worry more about the outboard being stolen, and can assure you that outboards are very much more desirable than solar panels.

If they need the solar panels to power their TV's in their stilt houses, why wouldn't they be interested in the TV's, computers, tablets, phones, money, etc inside the boat?

Mark

A friend just had her solar panels stolen off her boat in Haiti in the middle of the night. She awoke to a clamoring on the deck to find 3-4 kids cutting the wires and making off with them in her dinghy.

I'm a solar and wind type sailor. I see use in both BUT I also have a honda genny. If I had an inboard generator I could start with a switch then I would probably not have a wind generator.

[Dennis.G]

Solar: Does not make noise and does not break.
Wind Generator: Makes noise and breaks.

TRUMP

[colemj]

Originally Posted by zboss

A friend just had her solar panels stolen off her boat in Haiti in the middle of the night. She awoke to a clamoring on the deck to find 3-4 kids cutting the wires and making off with them in her dinghy.

They obviously were not permanently mounted if all was needed was cutting a wire and carrying them off. I bet the dinghy will be considered the greater loss.

Using "theft logic" for choosing equipment, none of us should be carrying dinghies.

Mark

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by mackrobertson

You assume they are going to remove the bolts to get them off??? HA HA Also, they have no need of what you have inside your boat. They live in the mangroves on stilt houses and run in dugout canoes with 15 hp Yamahas. Go to town shopping for a couple of hours and they are gone when you come back! You have not experienced the mindset of the indigenous native of Central America, thus you cannot understand it.

And they could just as easily tear the wind generator off it's pole...but they know solar is more reliable.

[a64pilot]

I just installed 750W on my boat over the davits, actually in the middle of the install. I never thought about theft, but now that it has been mentioned, I believe it's child's play to install some Cherry-Max rivets where the panels mount to the frame pretty much requiring the panels either be drilled off, or carry a 9'8" frame with 120 lbs of panels off in a dinghy


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