What do you guys think about wind turbine on a small van?

[Gueyog8a7]

Saw this users postings after someone on that sub suggested it and that some user, this one I guess, had brought it up as an alternative source to solar in the winter.

This seems just the ticket for UK because when the weather is awful, with next to no solar, it is more than likely also going to be windy. This could plug the gap nicely.

The user on there is being deliberately evasive with specifics on setup as they are trying to get people to pay them to dish the dirt.

I just did a quick search for "500w wind turbine" and they are only £200 something pounds.

So rather than pay for this persons services what other costs do you think may be associated to get it up and running? Another one of their self plugging posts giving some more info.

Would it be enough to cover the shortfall to power diesel heating over the winter months as discussed in my previous recent post? Sorry I am not good on maths and have not used a heater yet to know the average numbers.

Although this might work it does totally blow the stealth aspect out the water . As people say though, in vanlife you have to decide which compromises you are willing to make. I also got into this because I want to be isolated from people for the foreseeable and having a wind turbine I guess would attract a lot of curiosity from perhaps the general public but also envious vanlifers wanting to do the same. It is a pretty huge beacon!

It probably isnt suitable for camping in urban areas anyway due to antisocial nature of the noise so could just break it out in really remote places where there are unlikely to be loads of glampers swarming around.

 

[MisterB1959]

not on my motorhome EVER .....

if you consider the potential strain/stress on the roof, i wonder how much damage might be caused. A much better use of your hard earned would be to get yourself a decent lithium battery and a B2B (DC to DC charger), with that set up you may only have to drive for an hour to recharge your battery to cover the previous days power we have a Fogstar 300Ah and Renogy 3kw inverter, so we can use 240v appliances off grid and have a 60A B2B.

 

[kommando]

Grossly inflated output figures are normal in turbine outputs published by Chinese makers. Unless you are in the Orkney's with decent wind and a good non Chinese Turbine then forget it.

 

[pollenface]

The noise is less than you think. I think they sound nice.

If you're parked up somewhere with a decent breeze, like next to the sea or on the edge of a mountain they work great. Not necessarily well in urban settings close to the ground.

dc-dc chargers are great if you've just driven for 2hrs+

 

[DIYrich]

Make sure you can easily remove it while driving.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

What about using a receiver hitch, with one of the verticals coming out of the receiver at an angle, with two more legs to form a tripod mast. Get it some feet above the van roof?

Taking from the aviation industry, one might do well to place a “Remove Before Flight” banner attached at the ignition keyhole when the turbine is set up.

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This is, after all, a diy forum.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

From the post:

At 25mph winds with this 500w turbine I can bring in between 4-7-amps continuously, left my van for 9days with only the turbine and almost dead main van batteries and I was at 14.2v

So, at 25mph wind speeds, you get 50 to 100W (I'm pretty sure much closer to 50, and below).

Wind doesn't scale to small turbines. The math proves this - you're dealing with two fundamental issues:

- The Betz Limit
- The Power in Wind equation

The Betz Limit is basically a theoretical number of the maximum efficiency you can possibly get. At most, only 59.3% of the kinetic wind energy can be used to spin the turbine and generate electricity. Remember this is a theoretical limit; in practice, you're going to be closer to 40%.

The Power in Wind equation is given as:

P = 1/2 x ρ x A x V³

Where:

P = power in Watts
ρ = air density (kg/m³, at about 1.2 at sea level)
A = Swept area of the blades (m²)
V = Velocity of the wind

So, no matter how good your turbine is, you will get in practice at most 40% of the wind energy converted to electricity. To capture the wind energy in the first place, you have two variables to increase (one in your control, the other not): swept area and wind velocity. The smaller you make the turbine, the faster you need to spin to make any meaningful energy. The only variable you control is the swept area, which means making the blades as big as possible (good luck on a van). Also notice that the velocity is cubed in that equation, so you'll generate much, much less power at low wind speeds...

 

[chrisski]

If you're parked up somewhere with a decent breeze, like next to the sea or on the edge of a mountain they work great.

Do you have any data on that? I have never read a successful post about a windturbne for a portable build.

I have seen one wind turbine on one portable setup, but that looked like a cheap Chinese setup with the windmill 5’ high. Owner was not around but looked like a non producer.

I had a plan to build one with the goal of 150 Wh to 360 wH a day from a 500 watt turbine, but the price of decent equipment for that build is crazy. Also, 360 Wh of power covers parasitic draw on my rig for a day.

I’m also afraid of people putting their hands in a turbine too close to the ground.

 

[pollenface]

Do you have any data on that? I have never read a successful post about a windturbne for a portable build.

just memories.

 

[chrisski]

just memories.

If you had success, I’d like to hear.

I’d like to get motivated and finish my project.

There is a tongue ring hitch for a pick up and wind mills and with guy wires, could work.

There was a race car driver here who had a wind turbine for power or up r to solar being affordable.

 

[Rocketman]

Last winter I was in Baja Mexico on the beach. One person had installed a wind turbine on a palapa (small shelter) on the beach. It was about 15’ high pole (w/3 cable for additional support) my guess the turbine blades were 4 or 5 feet in diameter. It slowly spun - but I doubt it generated much power. Until a storm came in one day, then it was screaming and howling as the gusts came in - I thought for sure it would get destroyed. They made power that day…

If you want to do it - it probably can be done - but there will need to be some very serious thought and engineering done to make sure it will work. I think instead of a hitch mount - get a plate you park a tire on and the pole goes on that. But then you really need 3 or 4 guy wires to keep your pole from bending. Challenges all around.

 

[Gueyog8a7]

not on my motorhome EVER .....

if you consider the potential strain/stress on the roof, i wonder how much damage might be caused. A much better use of your hard earned would be to get yourself a decent lithium battery and a B2B (DC to DC charger), with that set up you may only have to drive for an hour to recharge your battery to cover the previous days power we have a Fogstar 300Ah and Renogy 3kw inverter, so we can use 240v appliances off grid and have a 60A B2B.

Well work vans, which is what most people are using to convert, are designed to carry heavy loads all the time so dont see this as an issue. They have reinforced roofs as standard. Mine has extra metal strips down every other rib which I presume is specifically to handle loads.

Last winter I was in Baja Mexico on the beach. One person had installed a wind turbine on a palapa (small shelter) on the beach. It was about 15’ high pole (w/3 cable for additional support) my guess the turbine blades were 4 or 5 feet in diameter. It slowly spun - but I doubt it generated much power. Until a storm came in one day, then it was screaming and howling as the gusts came in - I thought for sure it would get destroyed. They made power that day…

If you want to do it - it probably can be done - but there will need to be some very serious thought and engineering done to make sure it will work. I think instead of a hitch mount - get a plate you park a tire on and the pole goes on that. But then you really need 3 or 4 guy wires to keep your pole from bending. Challenges all around.

The user who posted shows it in action though mounted on a van and also their stats for what they generate. It is pointless imo to mount on the ground or else I can just buy a generator instead which is much more reliable and well documented for power.

I was thinking wind is great, escpecially since we have been having galeforce winds these last few days in the uk, because it is really quite simply to chase some gusts whereas solar is like hens teeth at the moment. If it isnt on the lowlands it is simple to just drive on to one of the moors or other high places which are all over the uk. I dont remember a time when it wasnt windy when out walking on those places.

 

[Gueyog8a7]

Do you have any data on that? I have never read a successful post about a windturbne for a portable build.

I have seen one wind turbine on one portable setup, but that looked like a cheap Chinese setup with the windmill 5’ high. Owner was not around but looked like a non producer.

I had a plan to build one with the goal of 150 Wh to 360 wH a day from a 500 watt turbine, but the price of decent equipment for that build is crazy. Also, 360 Wh of power covers parasitic draw on my rig for a day.

I’m also afraid of people putting their hands in a turbine too close to the ground.

The user linked in the OP mentions their stats as others have even written out here in this post.

 

[Hedges]

Has something like this ever worked on a small scale?

Airborne wind turbine - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

High-flying turbine produces more power

MIT alumni develop airborne wind turbine that floats 1,000 feet aloft to capture stronger, steadier winds.

news.mit.edu

Maybe don't deploy during thunderstorms.

 

[Hogheavenfarm]

These will work, but at vastly reduced power outputs. I have seen where people run a small "wind farm" of several of these into one bank of batteries (episode on Doomsday Preppers NatGeo series). Don't expect to get "solar equivalent" power from them. Charging a cell phone or tool batteries or maybe some lighting would be a reasonable expectation. Lower towers make the wind production less stable and more variable, so charging batteries where a float or equalization is needed doesnt work well as the voltage/current is not consistent.

 

[Warpspeed]

How about something that could easily be assembled and erected, or stowed away out of sight most of the time.

I think it would be a great option to have, if you can figure out a place to store the damned thing when not in use.

 

[Hogheavenfarm]

the only real value I got from mine is that I built it myself and learned alot along the way, and it does help extend my battery life on those long blizzard nights when the winds are howling and the sun won't be rising anytime soon in the morning. And the dump load resistance heaters throw some warmth into the barn. I do like to watch it spin though.

 

[Gueyog8a7]

How about something that could easily be assembled and erected, or stowed away out of sight most of the time.

I think it would be a great option to have, if you can figure out a place to store the damned thing when not in use.

Stowed away is a big problem for me being that I am living in a ford transit connect which has very limited space. I am thinking from looking at those linked videos in OP again that the footprint is actually rather small. For me it would have to stay on the roof but maybe find a way to raise it and lower when not in use.

 

[Gueyog8a7]

These will work, but at vastly reduced power outputs. I have seen where people run a small "wind farm" of several of these into one bank of batteries (episode on Doomsday Preppers NatGeo series). Don't expect to get "solar equivalent" power from them. Charging a cell phone or tool batteries or maybe some lighting would be a reasonable expectation. Lower towers make the wind production less stable and more variable, so charging batteries where a float or equalization is needed doesnt work well as the voltage/current is not consistent.

My goal would not be looking for a solar equivalent but rather draw enough for essentials like heating through the darkest months. In that sense I think the use case is modest and from the numbers given by that user who did it it looks like it should easily fulfill that task if my rudimentary calculations are correct; still getting my head around the maths of all this stuff.

I am getting more and more into this idea especially since it has been so windy recently but even when it isn't in the lower lying land I don't remember a time it wasn't when walking in higher regions of the UK and so it is easy to hunt down a bit of wind.

 

[MisterB1959]

My goal would not be looking for a solar equivalent but rather draw enough for essentials like heating through the darkest months. In that sense I think the use case is modest and from the numbers given by that user who did it it looks like it should easily fulfill that task if my rudimentary calculations are correct; still getting my head around the maths of all this stuff.

I am getting more and more into this idea especially since it has been so windy recently but even when it isn't in the lower lying land I don't remember a time it wasn't when walking in higher regions of the UK and so it is easy to hunt down a bit of wind.

if you really are committed to this project, then look at youtube, there is a UK engineer on there that makes lots of things, and he has done a lot of work on wind turbines -

robert murray smith