Adding wind to your solar

[Motrukdriver]

Assuming you have a nice solar setup already doing the job it was designed to do but now you want to add wind energy. Lots of wind out there in Arizona. I'm seeing more and more of those relatively small turbines and the ratings on them are pretty good.  Low start up wind speed and able to withstand high winds etc. 

So, would you use a separate charge controller for the wind size of your system or go with one of those hybrid charge controllers?  Seeing a lot of them for sale on Alibaba and I'm gonna say I'd not even consider that route.  Warranty would be pretty much zero since you are buying directly from China most of the time.  Missouri Wind and Solar would have some information.  I'm sure Arizona Wind and Sun would have a ton of information too.

I have very minimal knowledge regarding solar and probably less when it comes to wind.  For those that know enough about solar and wind to talk intelligently about it, how would YOU set a system up like this?   Would you also include your generator in the system?

[justjim]

I have a 400 watt wind turbine. It takes 10 MPH winds to start producing anything, 23.5 MPH to produce 400 watts. The latter I have only seen for short periods three times. It is a Eco-worthy kit Bob picked up for a video and I built the mast, etc. With a 100 watt panel and a hi-bred controller that ran both it was $400.

I have not even finished wiring it up. Why? because it is so rare that I see the kinds of winds that it requires. It was windy enough the other day but it was sunny too. As soon as the sun went down, the wind stopped. It would be great if you were in a spot that stayed windy but who wants to sit in 24 MPH winds all the time? As it is, it is too much hassle to put up and take down every few weeks for as little as I would get out of it most of the time.

This is a three blade model. I am told with 7 blades it would start generating at lower speeds.

Last thing is that they make noise.

[Blacktank]

yep,from what i have heard they are quite noisy

i dont use much electricity at the moment but when there is sun my 100w panel fills up the battery nicely with out noise

[TWIH]

Unless you park in or nearby one of those wind farm places, or down off the beach on some spur/point, the low altitude (<50’) small turbines don’t seem worthwhile. I agree with Jim, I don’t want to be parked in a windy spot (hate wind!) and they are noisy...  

Now if someone could make a practical “lunar” panel... ha ha