Quote:
Originally Posted by colemj
The smartest thing you could do is install an isolated starting battery so that you can always get your engine started.
Mark
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I'll second that. Have a starting battery and a "house" battery.
We have both
solar (40 watts only, on the davits) and wind (FourwindsII on a pole in back). Remember that wind generators have windage, they don't belong at the top of the mast IMHO. They like smooth air, so offset (port or starboard) from the mast/boom is good.
Note that while the average wind here is published as fairly high, when you look at the hourly winds you can see that the published wind speeds are more like average peak winds. We don't get as much from our wind genny as I expected, and I haven't balanced the blades, even after hours worth of attempts. If I had to do it over, I'd go with 100% solar. I'm
shopping around for a 130 or 210 watt panel for the top of the
davits.
Have you done an energy
budget? It's a lot cheaper to determine you needs in advance and a strategy to meet those needs. (For instance, LED
lighting is cheaper overall than powering incandescent
interior lights. And adding
insulation to you fridge/freezer can be a much better solution.)
Regards,
Brad
After installing our wind generator, we no longer need a riding/anchor sail. We used to tack 90 degrees or more at
anchor, now she rides steady (+/- 5 degrees).