Windmill energy into usable power?

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Originally Posted by Pinelli

Until small scale storage is significantly cheaper, small scale generation is not going to solve any real issues for anyone, unless they are way off grid. large scale reliable generation (think solar thermal) or large scale storage (hydro) will be the things that help us move on from fossil fuels.

A further increase in small scale domestic intermittent alternative energy generation will be great for the middle classes, but is just going to hurt the poor even more as their power bills rise to compensate.

Playing with this sort of kit, though, is an awful lot of fun :)

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True that the cost has to fall, but that is likely to happen as mass production of lithium ion batteries gets going, just as the cost of solar panels has plummeted. I'm looking to 2019 to buy our battery bank, as part of our transition to retirement plan, so the battery cost should be well down by then

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Like I said, that'll be great for you! Won't do much to improve the cost structure of the system as a whole.

I'm not responsible for the 'cost structure of the sytem as a whole' - not my problem. The power companies have been using their government monopolies and low-cost government-backed financing costs to rip off the consumers with massive price rises, so why should I feel sorry for them?

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Lots of useful information about a range of wind generators at this site. They come in various sizes and outputs, can operate from as little as 6 km/h up to 60 km/h and most have pitch control to regulate spinning speed in high winds. Some produce up to 30 amps and others can even make AC power. Some are described as being suitable for caravans or cabins. No prices stated, so that would require further inquiries. Very interesting.

marine wind turbine information | buy marine wind turbines

For camping I would just be looking for something small and easily portable that could operate at night to replace the power drawn by the fridge. For home it would have to be sized to work permanently with a battery bank. So, two different sized applications.

I feel a retirement project coming on.

Interesting comparison here of wind generators versus solar for yachts. It's American, but the numbers are interesting.

https://www.emarineinc.com/Wind-Gene...-For-Your-Boat

Whitworths have this one for $1799:

https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_i...123&item=94190

This is also interesting:

http://www.mysailing.com.au/news/alm...ee-as-the-wind

These are $1995:

http://queenslandsbestboating.com.au...or-silentwind/

This site gives some pretty frank comparison information for several brands of wind generators for yachts and on land. The bloke installs them and talks about warranty claims. He recommends the Ampairs.

PWT - Wind Turbines