PV Gap

Georgia Said:

I'm wanting to set up solar and wind power together...what equipment (like inverters and stuff) will i need?

We Answered:

You need a battery or a set of batteries. A good charge controller that will handle two inputs and is sized for their power output and for your batteries. And an inverter, preferably sine output, sized for your load requirements, plus a margin.

Of course you need the solar arrays, and wind turbine mechanics and alternator.

If you plan on selling power to the power company, the inverter will have to be a type and brand approved by them, and they will want to install it or oversee the installation. This alternative means you can use a minimum number of batteries.

If you don't plan on selling power back, you will need a large battery bank, with the size determined by your estimate of the longest time you will be without either power source. This part can get expensive.

Size of all these parts depends on your power requirements and how much money you have.

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Joshua Said:

where can I find out what equipment I need to make my house solar powered?

We Answered:

Hey Iceman, the best place to start is Home Power Magazine, it's the only periodical that gets into the nuts and bolts of home grown electricity. I will include the link below. We started reading it 12 years ago, now our home is completely powered by the wind and sun. There are some great non profit groups worth looking into as well, list below.

I don't now if you are a DIY kind of guy or you generally hire jobs out. Either way, you'll want to be well informed before you spend a lot of time and money on this. There are tons of energy fairs going on in different states and countries, if you can get to one, you will know a great deal more about the subject than if you spent 6 months reading up on it. In the back of each issue of Home Power there is a list of fairs coming up. We went to one in Wisconsin 11 years ago and bought most of our initial equipment on the spot. If you are into DIY projects, I would suggest starting with something small, like one 50 watt panel, a couple golf cart batteries and an inverter from the auto parts store. It isn't hard to hook up, and then you'll be able to see it all working right in front of you. You can later add meters or charge controllers, and you'll be producing some power you can use right now. We did the same thing, and now we have 12 volt outlets in each room of our home, and all the cabinet lighting in the kitchen works straight off the small battery bank.

There are basically two types if installations. The stand alone uses solar and wind to charge batteries, that feed the inverter, that feeds the home. The intertie uses solar/wind to feed directly to a synchronous inverter that feeds back into the grid. During the day, or windy nights, the meter spins backwards, and at night, it spins forward. At the end of the month, you are charged only for the difference. It is using the grid as a battery, so you don't need to buy any. Only con to the intertie is that if the grid goes down, your system shuts down too, so you can find yourself at home on a sunny day with a solar array you don't have access to and now power in the home. Either way, a small system will always work, even if the power is out, so at least you will have some power in all conditions.

The editors at Home Power liked thesmall system idea so much they did an article on it, if you subscribe, you can look it up under "Starting Small." Learn what you can, look for installers, talk to suppliers on the phone, and get to one of the fairs. Then you'll be in a good position to start in. Good luck Iceman, and take care, Rudydoo