I’m starting to think about diversifying my energy prodution. I have a solar panel array (5kWp) on the roof for a year now. I see that adding more panels does not make much sense as the production in summer as is is already hard to consume it all, and in winter the production is rather symbolic while consumption is through the roof.
So I thought of looking into wind turbines. There is plenty of wind the whole year where I live. But, rather then buying a big 5kW turbine which is quite expensive on its own (plus a pole and all the other stuff) I thought, how about using multiple small turbines (up to 1kW) connected together, similar to how solar panels are. Either into one inverter or using microinverters. Does anyone have any interesting links to follow or some experience in similar setups?
I would advise you to have a look at the “Piggott” wind turbine. These are turbine that you can build and assemble from standard components with a bit skill and few friend or neighbors to rise the pole.
They are also more performant than most commercial small scale wind turbine that you can buy.
Even if you end up buying a commercial turbine I would still advise you to get the book, it gives a lot of information about wind turbines, and it’s probably one of the best source of information for small scale turbine available.
One thing really important of course is to have regular strong wind. You can have a have a general idea of the wind in your area using Global wind atlas.
But wind can vary a lot in the same area so before you commit to installing few turbines, if you want to make sure tge investment is worth it, I would definitely advise you to put an anemometer on a pole at 1.5 time the high of the surrounding obstacle close to where you imagine installing the turbines. And wait a few months or ideally a year.
From this data you will know how much energy you can expect from wind turbines.
Thanks for the info and a link to the atlas. looks like in my area the result is: Data for 10% windiest areas 145 W/m² 4.81 m/s Height: 10m
Though not sure I understand the site so will need to read about it more. Thanks for the info about Piggott turbine. I will look into it. I rather DIY something the buy some cheap stuff that does not work.