Solar Panels and Windmills???

If you check around there are a couple of other threads on the board about solar already.

I live in the US, in a very sunny area (except during monsoon season which is now). I have 5 solar panels, totalling a little under 300 watts. This provides my batteries with enough power for my inverter to run a small efficient fridge, a couple of lights at a time (compact flourescents), 10 hours of laptop use and some use of my satellite modem and cell phones. Of course if its cloudy for a while I need to run my generator, or if I use my computer all day and my wifes and the printer... you get the idea.

Wind, I think, may be a very good option in Cabarete. For wind to work (and this depends some on the model generator), you need a consistant wind of at least 15 mph on a regular basis. You do need a 'clean' wind reletively free of turbulance, and for this reason your wind generator would need to be located certain distances from trees, structures, etc. There are some small generators that can roof mount, you do need to space them out, a good example is the Air 400 series, if you are near the sea you NEED a marine version.

As a whole, wind is cheaper to set up than solar if you have the site for it. You will find that wind generators are more delicate than solar panels. In particular they do not like a high amount of static electricity such as you get with a thunderstorm. Proper grounding is a must, a lightning arrestor is recomended, and I would suggest disconnection during intense storms.

Unless you get several wind generators and a rather large battery bank, I think A/C is out of the question. Certainly six normal sized panels would not provide enough electricity. A few Air 400s going most of the time probably would handle it.

You need to total up what your loads are, figure what you can make more efficient (fridge, flourescent lights), and then plan your system around this. Unless you plan a seriously oversized (and overpriced) system you will need a backup power source for low sun / low wind times; a generator or charging off of the grid would both be workable.

Lamia said:

Hi all,
I just recently moved to Cabarete, Dr, I've been here for about a year now. And the electricity has just been getting worse and worse!!! I've decided it's time to take drastic measures. But there are so many options I don't know where to begin or rather who to trust. I have a power generator I could have fixed...but then there's the high cost of gas. I was thinking of just going all out and getting six solar panels to put on my roof and cut off from the city electricity here entirely. Hmmm...it sounds like it might work. But does it really??? Has anyone here used these before?? And also there's the option of getting a few wind mills on my roof that would generate power aswell. Do those work?...they have to be 30 ft off the ground hmmm...????? Well, if anyone has any info on this I'd be happy to hear it! Thanks.

Click to expand...

Cant answer your questions but let me know how you make out. Also come to my next party in Sosua. Last one was in July and next one is November.

Scott

I am going to do both

I am going for a combination of wind and solar. 2 wind-turbines and 4 solar cells.

http://shop.altenergystore.com/XQ/ASP/ic.BERXL.1-24/QX/itemdesc.htm

http://www.affordable-solar.com/ase-dgf-50315w50v.html

The only issue I have to solve is the aesthetics of the wind power. Even though they will only be 10 feet off my roof I do not want to piss off any neighbors.

So far I can only find the 300/315 watt solar cells in boxes of 20 at a decent price.

I am also researching ALL DC appliances. Serious savings but wire run lengths to size for high amp items are large. (Thebes pointed me in the right direction).

3200 watts of DC power charging 1350AH 48 volt system should give me a little 'wiggle' room.

Gary

Once I move to DR I am planning the same. I will go solar since I will be in the capital. I think soalr should be the way to go, less maintanance and solar technology is improving a lot. I have one interesting question though, in the US solar systems that are grid tied, feed excess electricity to the grid. When you get your monthly bill, you only pay what you used. Is this an otpion in DR, or will most likely screw you on that as well? Would you be better off eith an off-grid system?

what about noise from the "mills"?
i've yet to see wind make sense for anyone...even in the coachella valley

I just saw a proposal from a German company selling a windmill-solar-battery system that looks very interesting. While expensive initially, if you spec it right you can go off the power grid completely and run on this system 365 days per year. Now I haven't actually met anyone who has one, but I know of a few so I'm gonna check it out. I have the web site at my office, will edit this post tomorrow.

Solar and Solar

I know the main point of these notes is about solar/wind electricity production, but I noticed on a trip to Barbados to watch the West Indies cricket one year, they have solar water heaters on many many roofs.

A squash club here in Bermuda has a large array of glass panels under which lie a series of pipes which store the heated water for showering etc.
I would imagine the pipes would be copper sprayed matt black.

Even in DR, folks like a hot or warm shower, and what gobbles up juice more than an electric water heater?

Do folks in DR use solar to heat water?

Wind power

I saw a page on CNN's web site for a screw windmill.
The idea being the blades describe a DNA twisted shape.
It will spin with wind from any direction and the article pointed out that
with advances in materials the blades can now be very lightweight unlike very early attempts a few hundred years ago, which only worked in very strong winds.
Might be worth a look on Google for more info?

Hi guys. Too bad this thread was started in the Living forum. We have a number of good discussions on solar and wind systems in the Environment forum. Drop in some time!

Best Regards,
Keith

Air Conditioning and Yes.

bdaric said:

Even in DR, folks like a hot or warm shower, and what gobbles up juice more than an electric water heater?

Do folks in DR use solar to heat water?

Click to expand...

A/C uses more electricity since it is always on and a hot water tank, small 5 gallon-10 gallon type isn't until you use the hot water. And yes rooftop solar panels for hot water are everywhere - the Costalunga Hotel in Boca Chica uses only solar, no electric tanks at all now.

Noise can indeed be a problem with a wind generator.

However, it will only be significant in a really good blow. It will vary with the wind generator. The Southwest WindPower Air 403 I had (died due to bad bad static electrical storm) would furl the blades at around 60mph (would be about 53ish? MPH at sea level) and sounded like a motorcycle. There is a newer model that is not supposed to make this sound and is touted for more urban use.

My generator was installed about 50 feet from where my wife worked (in an older RV type trailer) on the phone and the noise was a worry but never much of a problem. I could see it being a problem with fussy neighbors, but only if they are really close to the generator. Also, when it blows that hard, the wind is making a lot of other noises too. At 100 yards away, it was never very noticable.

Other generators may be different. The Air series is the most common for this type of installation.

Wind power

Here is a site that has lots of info

http://www.solardyne.com/air403wingen.html