Is It Worth Adding a Wind Turbine to Your Home Solar Installation?

[@bogdankushlyk]

thank you. after seeing over this last winter how my 1 kW wind turbine (given I've had only single 1 kW 2.5m dia unit) easily outperforms 1 kW of solar (given I have 43 kW of solar panels mounted) in about 70% of days from the 1-st of November till 28-th of February I am adding way more this year. I'll have total of 6 of them, 3 of which are toys (1x1.3 m dia, 2x1.65 m dia) and 3 are medium size (2.3, 2.5 and 3.2 m in diameter)... And unfortunately I can't stop thinking of adding something of about 5.3-6.0 meters in diameter size ))) But that would be not this year's project already. btw, we talked about solar optimizers earlier. they arrived, are installed, and work absolutely amazing in a one sting having panels split amount absolutely various azimuths and slopes. that allowed me to achieve smoother curve during a day, having much more production during mornings and evenings, without losing anything (and actually even gaining a bit) in the midday. and hi from Bucha, from Ukraine.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Ah yes, I remember talking with you about optimisers - great to hear it’s all working out! 😀 Thanks for sharing your experiences with trying out various wind turbines 👍🏻

[@bogdankushlyk]

@@ruslanwel I'd say about 3.7-3.8 m/s

[@1920WasAMistake]

@@bogdankushlykThe real question is how much have you paid Zelensky to not be dragged into the military?

[@bogdankushlyk]

@@1920WasAMistake are you an idiot? It seems so.

[@rogerphelps9939]

So what is the average wind speed at your location? You are either located in a very cloudy , very windy place or you are telling porky pies. Please provide a reference to a wind speed histogram at the height above the ground at which your wind turbine is installed so that we can determine which is the case.

[@bertramdieterich6261]

Always good to see someone, who takes a proper and knowledgable look at "domestic wind power". There are far too many channels out there, that are trying to grab attention by hyping this as the "next big thing" after solar, despite all the glaring disadvantages.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks Bert 😀🙏

[@theslicefactor4590]

@bertramdieterich6261 Right? I'm tired of all those stupid thumbnails with a big random number in them, like "740% wind power?!?!?!" Useless clickbait.

[@JMaxwell1000]

It will never work, not even in ideal conditions. You're better off burning sea water.

[@royking7298]

Thank you. I have been charmed and fascinated by wind turbines for decades. Really! I had a 3Kw solar array on my home in So, California for 20 years. Best thing I ever did! Saved me tons in electricity cost. I kept my hot tub on 24/7/365 and paid about $35/mo for electricity for a 1,100 sq ft home, and my AC/heat was ON and I was COMFY. I'm disappointed, but you may have just convinced to give up on my long term DREAM to have a wind turbine. I didn't even care if it didn't perform spectacularly. Here in N. Portugal the sun is more like in Portland or Seattle; winters are GREY!!!! BUT I have few (aka NO ) surrouding buildings near me, and my neighbors are low profile. Result of your video: I'll put solar (AGAIN) but will take my time and later add a small wind turbine as a hobbyist. My bet is that it performs better than expected. Because just a couple miles from the Atlantic with little to now trees and buildings AND with howling winds in cold grey winter; it's gotta be almost as good as solar. Probably better on a significant number of grey, stormy, rainy, WINDY days.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

This is great - thank you for sharing 😀

[@tarkadahl1985]

As a general rule for a turbine you will be looking at £4-5k per kW for something usable, each kW will generate 4x as much MWh. So a 5kW turbine will cost you £20-25k and will produce 20MWh per year. Maintenance I've seen is closer to 5% per year all in as well. Suitable for such limited situations it really isn't worth considering for 99% of people. Small scale hydro on the other hand.... now there's a topic

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for sharing this extra insight! I’ll mention in the post production notes (it’ll be a pinned comment) 👍🏻

[@n111aow]

@@GaryDoesSolardepends where you are. We have had an 11kW Gaia since mid-2011 and annual output has ranged from 18,000 kWh to 28,000 kWh. You need to be in a very windy place to get 20,000 kWh from a 5kW turbine. And turbulence kills generation so sticking it on your house just won’t work. You need a lot of land with no trees or buildings

[@adzy166]

@@n111aow your figures are more accurate. We were recently quoted for a 5kw:p Ryse energy turbine on an 18m lattice in our field. Average wind speed at the location is 5.5m/s. Company said it would generate 6mw of electricity a year. Annual maintenance - inspection greasing bearings etc was €180 if you had a lattice tower rather than a pole. We were originally looking at this as an island hybrid system with a 6kw solar array. Have decided to just go with the solar for now - 11kw and monitor our consumption needs over a couple of years. Big grants for solar and home insulation here- no support for turbine installs

[@n111aow]

@@adzy166 thanks. I didn’t mention maintenance which is around £700 pa average. But that doesn’t include the new blade we just had fitted (about £17k) or the under warranty blade after first year or under warranty new nacelle after 4 years (we had to pay about £2k labour for that. Total generation after 13 years has been 292,000 kWh

[@sc-lj9cp]

Thanks for this Gary. I was thinking, if you did actually get 131 watts average all year round, that’s roughly equivalent to what a household freezer uses. So, assuming 1100 kWh per year, and 30c per kWh that costs 330 euro per year. My freezer is usually full of stuff for months. I think there’s an argument for a smaller more efficient freezer. Same goes for all devices in the house.

[@spikemonster95]

Good video Gary. I've worked in offshore wind in the UK for over 5 years. I don't anybody within the industry who has a residential wind turbine.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

That says a lot, Spike Monster!! 👍🏻

[@davidunwin7868]

French Island off the Victorian coast is entirely off grid. Plenty of homes and businesses use a combination of wind and solar there, and some have backup diesel generators too.

[@GeraldSmallbear]

@@davidunwin7868 I know French Island and was also just browsing the Wind Atlas - it's all in red down there. Having visited the area for 46 years off and on, can confirm it's windy as hell.

[@stevegame3000]

Gary does “Don’t touch with a barge pole”. Seriously, interesting and informative

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Haha - love it! ❤️ And that’s great feedback to get - thank you! 🙏

[@ekolekol4389]

Gary doesn't have wind

[@cwt5654]

The answer, my friend, ain't blowin' in the wind...🎵

[@Steve_W27]

@@cwt5654😂

[@paulaspinall919]

15 minutes of my time well invested. I’ve often thought of a wind turbine as the locals where I live call it “windy hill”. Shelving that thought is Gary’s considered conclusion. Thank you.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Paul. Yeah, it's very hard to make a financial business case for small wind turbines :-/

[@GARDENER42]

I concur. Even where I am in coastal West Cumbria, once I'd crunched the numbers they didn't add up to small scale wind being a wise investment. As a supplement to solar plus battery, a small diesel generator appears to be less costly.

[@SmartHomeIntegrations]

Well presented! I did the math and concluded there is just no way to argue with physics. I've always had a tough time to explain this so I'll be linking this video in the future. Wind power makes a lot of sense when you install them on a utility scale

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for doing this - very much appreciated! 😀🙏

[@nhikoid]

Great video. Especially the explanation of the cubing effect. Some info that may help others:I installed two small turbines 3 years ago. Both 2.2m diameter on 8.5m guyed poles. When solar dies off from Nov through Feb , wind takes over. Never a day then when my batteries aren't charged up. (10kwh lead acid). Great resilience for power cuts. Turbines were £600 each but poles, concrete, guys, batteries and control circuits were another £2000. So payoff period is long/never. But the resilience is very reassuring living out in the sticks. The turbines are ista i1500 3 blade 24v. Probably the only good but cheap turbines out there. Worth mentioning that horizontal 3 blade is the only sensible design. The rest are daft gimmicks. Rosie's Engineering channel describes why.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for sharing this insight. Great points 👍🏻

[@rogerphelps9939]

Clearly you live on the top of a hill or on the coast where there are high mean wind speeds If not you are probably trying to drum up business for one of these domestic wind turbine companies

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Roger, how can you possibly conclude that?? No company/product names were even mentioned…

[@nhikoid]

@@rogerphelps9939 I am in open countryside. Quite windy from Mid Oct through Feb/March. Nope, not trying to drum up business for any particular vendor. Just trying to give a realistic impression from what to expect. I did say that the payback is very long or even never at this scale, but gives great resilience for power cuts. No good typically, for urban areas though. I also said that the other costs for dumploads, masts, controllers were several times higher than the cost of the turbine itself. Very interesting "hobby" too, if you're interested in this kind of thing. Gary's very clear explanation of the cubing effect really plays out. When wind is at 5-10mph gusting to 15-20mph, my power outputs from both turbines zooms up and down between 40-50watts and 800-1500watts in just a few seconds. Does this all day in winter. So you need to have good cabling and dumploads that can absorb peaks. I have no allegiance to any vendor. In fact I'm looking to upgrade on of my 2.2m diameter turbines for a 3.8m turbine which is around £1200. ( and demonstrating my impartiality i'm not mentioning any vendor names either )

[@Piccyman1]

How is it connected to the mains, are you off grid?

[@leewellstead2305]

Great video Gary. I am already a Octopus energy customer and am very happy with them.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks Lee 😀👍🏻

[@EngineeringwithRosie]

Great video Gary, thanks for the shout out!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks Rosie! 😀😀😀

[@MC-bm3cy]

Rosie FTW! ❤

[@ajarivas72]

@@MC-bm3cy What does FTW mean?

[@HaiDHaiYena]

​For The Win, but back in the day, it used to mean F*** The World

[@timlanglois3899]

@@ajarivas72

[@David-bl1bt]

A fantastic overview of wind turbines. Factual, informative and intriguing!

[@O3177O]

Interesting, was think of a wind turbine that n a farm in westmeath

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers David 😀 great to hear you found it informative

[@lukaszglowacz8578]

Woow! Gary, thanks for cooling my head on this. Much appreciated. Best regards.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

You’re most welcome 🙏

[@ishure8849]

G'day Gary, we set up an off grid system to supply a cottage on our farm in central Victoria. solar panels lithium batteries and a 400W wind turbine on a steel pole like a flagpole so you simply remove one bolt to lower it, it's only five metres high. We also added a diesel generator linked through and ATS, it's sunny and windy at times and at night as you said. The solar alone was not quite enough the wind has complimented the system perfectly, its all housed in a separate steel shed 👍.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

That's brilliant - thanks for taking the time to share! :-)

[@ceejay9453]

Hi Gary, I'm told the best type of wind generator for Residential use are vertical turbines (VAWT), these were not mentioned in your video, are you going to look at them? The main advantages of of them are that they work in "dirty Air" & are extremely quiet or silent. Worth a look?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, I'm planning a follow up video before long, including VAWT... :-)

[@dapperdynamicdavid]

Loved your video. Very informative. In a nutshell, with current technology and financials, you are saying that wind is not worth it for a home installation. Wind on an industrial scale, well that is something else. Loved the way you explained the formulas. I also liked other video you put up in the past as well. Thanks. Cheers.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks - that's great feedback :-)

[@peterjones6640]

Nice video. I remember during David Cameron’s “green phase” when he was pictured riding his bike to work, sledging in the Artic with huskies etc, he had a wind turbine fixed to his family home in Wandsworth. I believe it was a “Windsave” model which at the time was being sold in B&Q. Needless to say the Windsave was not stocked by B&Q for long and Cameron is rumoured to have found that the inverter for the wind turbine used more electricity than the turbine generated, suffice to say it was taken down. A turbine is only likely to be suitable if you live in the country in a windy area where you can erect one of sufficient size and height. If you want to invest in wind power then something like an investment in Ripple wind farm or a financial investment in something like Greencoat Wind Investment Trust is likely to be a better bet.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Haha - no wonder Cameron later turned against renewables (“the green crap”) !! Agreed, there will hopefully be great opportunities to invest in large-scale wind farms going forward, building on what Ripple has done 👍🏻

[@mels8966]

Ah! you mean his Hug a Husky phase. Didn't know he'd put a turbine up, anything for a bit of good PR I guess. I remember going into a B&Q with my dad for something or other and them having a small wind turbine and solar panel on display in the glass entrance foyer with a salesman handing out brochures in what I took to be a concessionary arrangement. My dad was quite interested and had a chat with me once we got in the store proper out of earshot of the salesman, I think he'd of ordered one there and then if I'd said I thought it worthwhile, so I did a quick bit of mental arithmetic on how many years to pay for itself at its claimed rated output and doubling that in the hope of getting something vaguely approximate of the best possible pay back time and doubled that to what I would have hoped would be the worse, didn't seem great to me compared to interest from leaving the money in the bank and I was concerned about noise, but I know from a little subsequent research that even that would have been hopelessly optimistic. The house was at the end of a cul-de-sac and on windy day the wind would whip down the road channeled by the houses and through the gap between his and a neighbours, creating a great deal of turbulence with the direction constantly flipping against the prevailing wind when it gusts, so it wouldn't have made a good location either, probably broken it in fact. A small turbine might make some sense to charge a 12 volt battery in a remote off-grid location, for everything else very large scale seems vital.

[@boblatkey7160]

I installed a small 500 W wind turbine on a 60 foot pole in an area that gets decent wind. I had it up for many many years and if you add it up , all of its energy production versus how much money I spent installing it, it would fall into the category of Useless. You could buy some used solar panels and toss them in the dirt and get better production. Other than commercial scale they are rarely a worthy investment. Extreme latitudes could definitely make a better argument though.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for sharing this, Bob 😀👍🏻

[@WunHungLo99]

Thank you for some concise and clear information. I have a property in Spain which I'm trying to make self sufficient via solar/wind etc with battery storage. The property ticks most boxes. It's 300m elevation up a 'mountain' with clear areas all round including to the Med about 2/3 miles away.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers for the great feedback. And yeah, it sounds like you’re in a very good location to capture useful wind energy! 👍🏻

[@jacquelinebrunder2384]

I fitted a wind turbine last year supposedly rated 2,000W but I knew that due to its swept area it could only ever generate 200W in a gale and it does do that but for the rest of the time it chunters along at less than 20W so is fine for keeping a charge on the batteries but not much good for energy production. Now if I lived in the outer Hebrides it would be a whole different ball game as the wind there is consistently available and powerful enough to make these units sensible.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, I think that's the key for home wind turbines - an almost constant steady, clean wind. And the outer islands of Scotland are a great place to get such...

[@Belgium_citizen]

Most turbines deliver on average about 500w per m2, not 800w like advertised. In belgium there are about 2000 h full speed wind per annum, on the see about double the amount. 2000h x 500w = 1000 kWh/y. This is equivalent to roughly 3 solar panels. Given the high cost of order 10k all in for a turbine, this is several times a lower ROI. Not an option currently. Moreover, any government keeps close control over this type of generation, it is too lucrative on large scale, that is why usa forbids foreign investorcompanies. Thanks gary, nice work to inform people.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers! And thanks for sharing this insight 😀👍🏻

[@cbmasson3572]

Gary Does Wind Too! Great video as always Gary

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers - yeah, maybe I should start a few more “Gary Does …” channels. I may need to clone myself 🤣

[@waynecartwright-js8tw]

I just went with Ripple for wind power in addition to my PV.

[@Umski]

Same, though the return on Kirk Hill is in the pennies so far...it would be nice to be 1-1 like with PV...

[@GaryDoesSolar]

A great opportunity for people to have a direct involvement with wind generation without having to have their own equipment 👍🏻 Financial return potentially limited though, depending on the deal…

[@crm114.]

Thanks for an informative review. I think I would put PV on our North facing roof before a wind turbine

[@David-bl1bt]

It certainly removes all the headaches!

[@coniow]

15 plus years ago B&Q decided to sell wind turbines. They cost around £1,000 including installation. We bought one, subject to the results of a survey. That was very informative. The surveyer told us he had to decline over 90% due to location. Basically, if you have no trees or buildings for a mile radius around the turbine, you are OK. (Think Farm). Practically anything else, you are wasting your money. And that did not even take into account the noise factor, as you mentioned. There are some new developments being worked on, specifically designed for the urban environment, where wind enters from the bottom of a pipe, from any direction, and drives a vertically mounted turbine. Not in production yet, and again, would probably only be useful in a pretty windy area. With the drop in the cost of solar PV, it would probably be an expensive toy if you bought one!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Ah, I remember hearing about the particular product!

[@MosaicHomestead]

It's only expensive if you have other people install it for you, my wind turbines work very well, again not better than solar, but together you notice the difference, I'm in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷, no power or water right now for 4 days...it's raining today, great day for that wind turbine to help out solar 😂.

[@rogerphelps9939]

Won't work. Generated power is proportional to the area intercepted by the turbine. A pipe would be hopeless

[@markiliff]

Beautifully and clearly reasoned. Thank you. I endorse your plug for Engineering with Rosie.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Mark - I’m humbled! And yeah, Rosie’s work is brilliant! 😀👍🏻

[@mtpaley1]

@@GaryDoesSolar Illinois EnergyProf is also well worth a view. It is a wider scope with more of a emphasis on big grid power but I found it very interesting and informative. www.youtube.com/@illinoisenergyprof6878/videos Example of one that might be of interest is "How Solar Cells Work" kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXzJlnyfqNl3aKM Squeaky pen is a feature!

[@eLandyAdventures]

Ha! :D, Gary, your intro was as if you'd read my mind. Great video though and I can happily file the idea of installing a micro-wind turbine to our house to the bin, and stick with our solar. Now to try and maximise the use of the battery and the Octopus Flux tariff.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Glad I could help!

[@Magic-Smoke]

I did! I did! I liked it! :) So glad you mentioned noise! Some of these turbines are like a Disney swordfight on steroids!! However, there is a UK made turbine that I used for over 12 years on my boat. Its designed and certified for urban use. Not an advert since I have no connection with the company but the D400 from Eclectic Energy is robust and generates pretty efficiently. However, I considered it a 'background benefit' on the boat and would not consider it unless I lived in a particularly windy place (thinking Bahamas in the trade winds - dream on). In a 20kt trade wind t would run the fridge and freezer for 24hours as well as other modest draws (battery buffered) like boiling a kettle and running computers.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I love this comment ❤️

[@herfavouritex8555]

just subscribed, not really good in school but ur videos make me like learning

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Your comment has made my day-thank you! ❤️

[@thetourk]

Great video lots of information well presented and covers the subject well. amazon is noted for ignoring false claims. Even when reported as long as they get their money. Not as bad as the scam adverts on KZbin but as always beware of false claims Also be aware of fake reviews. Similar or poorly worded reviews are most likely fake. If you are considering wind power, firstly look at where you live . To many buildings courses turbulence unless it's a vertical generator it'll spin round looking for wind rather generating anything. The main thing to consider is how you are going to mount it. A chimney is not suitable, a lot of people have damaged their property.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Great points - thank you 🙏

[@noronhawarren]

Thankyou Gary. Im watching from Australia (Sydney) where ofcourse solar is the best source of energy. But I was curious about supplementing it with wind and the algorithm brought me to your very informative video. I live coastal and get a very reliable sea breeze, but also that means very intense during storms and sudden wind changes are common. I nerdily and actually enjoyed the mathematics section. With so much lithium in the Outback, and improvements to battery technology. Im looking forward to the 'supplementary' backup being storage, not just more generation. Will make sure to watch the rest of your videos :)

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for taking the time to share this! I’ll keep making videos for you 😀👍🏻

[@EricZuber-z6l]

It is important, if you live on the coast with a wind turbine, it needs to have a robust system to turn it out of the wind when they exceed ~35MPH.

[@nigelledeux6869]

Thanks Gary, another extremely informative video. Neighbours and 'higher management' would make a turbine difficult for me so I will continue to work on the 'additional solar' option. Only one issue remains to be solved and its not my Neighbours!!!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Nigel, yeah, solar definitely the safer option. Good luck resolving that issue! 👍🏻 Thanks for the great feedback!

[@stevenjohns7017]

I have a solar setup and was considering a wind turbine, but the cost of set up for a decent turbine unit and the poor output i just decided to doubled my solar. Glad i did.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for sharing, Steven--yeah, in most locations, home wind generation just cannot compete with solar.

[@lksf9820]

Interesting video. As someone who lives where it does meet the requirements it was useful to me too. I'll watch your other vids on solar as i'm good for that aswell.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thank you 🙏

[@lksf9820]

@@GaryDoesSolar We've been offered free solar equipment from solarpanelfunding and an installer is visiting on Monday, is this something you know much about at all? In the meantime i'll continue to plow through your back catalogue!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@lksf9820 Sorry, not heard about this. Worth signing up to this Facebook group and asking if others have: facebook.com/groups/2197329430289466

[@EricZuber-z6l]

I started out around 1983 with a couple Arco Solar 33 watt panels and a Winco 200 watt wind turbine. I first put the turbine on a short 25' tower. It would rev up in high winds to produce maybe 15A then back down right away and pan back and forth looking for wind direction in all the turbulence. Later, I put it on a 45' tower. Now it would rev up and pin the 20A meter and stay there. It was so stable it appeared to be in a fixed direction. Very little searching for wind direction. It probably generated 10X more power at this height. The trees were only 12~15' tall back then. Years later I put up a 2KW Whirlwind turbine with 10' blades on an 85' Rohn tower. This machine has worked very well and has been up for about 38 years. There were no tilt over towers back then (1987) and that is the one big change I would make if I put one up today. A dedicated worm gear 120V winch makes raising and lowering a wind turbine a breeze. A wind turbine is well worth the effort if it can be installed to be above the turbulence created by trees, hills and buildings. Typically, that is 40' above anything within 400'. There was a company installing 1.8KW and 6KW turbines on short 40~50 foot poles and none of them ever paid for themselves.

[@csjrogerson2377]

Very useful information. So basically, useless for 99% of the UK population, unless you are Wee Jock Poo Pong McPlop who lives at the sewage farm, 5 miles from anyone or the nearest tree.

[@dansshop]

Telling it like it is! Nice to see, it's rare these days, there is a LOT of fraud in small wind. Small wind can work *really well* when it's done well, in the right place, with the right owner, with good equipment. It's rare to see though.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks Dan!

[@jeanh9641]

Well, I will not be getting a wind turbine! Thanks Gary. Very interesting.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers. And yeah, I wanted to make this video so that people didn’t fall into the marketing trap, unnecessarily.

[@ajarivas72]

@@GaryDoesSolar I fell in the marketing of wind turbines. My 400 watts solar panel generates on average 150 watts per day. My 400 watts wind turbine generates on average 20 watts per day.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@ajarivas72 Sorry to hear that your turbine is not performing as well as the marketing material suggested!

[@CorwinPatrick]

30 years ago, when I was first investigating Wind, Solar, and Micro Hydro, there was a much more compelling argument to a combined system. Solar was massively more expensive than it is now, and the relative cost of Inverters and Storage was much higher. In order to get good use out of all that expensive equipment, the incremental cost of Wind was minor. Now with the low price of Solar, High Frequency Inverters and Lithium Batteries... Adding extra capacity with extra Solar Panels is way cheaper than a combined system. If you have flowing water on your property though, nothing beats Micro Hydro still.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I love it that technology just gets better and cheaper all the time, enabling business cases that were perhaps not viable before…

[@MrSensible2]

Back in the '80s I used to work at Exxon Chemical Research, just down the A34 from you in Milton Hill. Nice vid but I concluded a long time ago that domestic scale wind power would never fly.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, I should probably have consulted with you first 😀 👍🏻

[@markusveracity2865]

Agree commercially available HAWTs and VAWTs are inadequate except in remote niche applications, but hope remains; airloom style devices will (hopefully) greatly increase the swept area while reducing the cost, noise and ugliness.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Mark - I'm planning a follow-up video soon and will include other wind solutions that people believe could help...

[@rickytns]

I found this information very useful. Kindly advice how to find appropriate complete solutions of 1kW, 2kW and 3kW hybrid system for irrigation purposes in Tanzania.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks Ricky. Now, for solutions where you live, you're best to speak a local installer there as there are a lot of factors to consider...

[@nickking1294]

I have a small one and what you say is 100% right, I should have spent the money on a bigger battery, more PVs

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Nick. And I hope that in time you were able to buy that bigger battery and additional solar panels 😀

[@vincentrobinette1507]

Another consideration is to make sure the install doesn't cast a shadow on your, or your neighbors, solar panels. It doesn't take much shadow area, to significantly reduce the output of a solar array. If you have a farm or a ranch, turbines are an ideal complement to a photovoltaic (solar) system, but, they're a bit of a "no go" in residential areas. It's more than possible, that the overall reduction of output from the shadow cast on adjacent solar panels can be greater than what the turbine itself can produce, causing an overall reduction, rather than increase in renewable energy in that immediate area.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Great points 👍🏻

[@MrWobling]

I've been curious about wind for a while, so thanks for doing the research and mental legwork for this well researched and science-based video. However, for a while, I have been wondering about a radically different approach... Have you ever experienced slamming doors on windy days when doors and windows are open on both sides of the house? The house is effectively acting as a wind break and channeling a flow of air through the house, which is what slams the doors. So could a suitably constructed house harness this effect to generate electricity? 🤔

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Andrew - great feedback to receive! Now, on your radical approach, I’ve not heard too much about that but I’ll see if there’s anyone looking into it. The problem is guess is that such events are sporadic so little power yield?

[@davidkoontz9265]

This was really good - very clear for HAWTs. How do you adjust the formula for VAWTs and Squirrel Cages?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Haha - now there’s a thought!!! ❤️

[@petecoventry6858]

We got a Tesup V7 which does 10KW. It's very windy as we are on the top of a hill and we live off just that.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

That's great to hear! :-)

[@CrystalNetZero]

May I know how is the performance of Tesup V7? Does it work well?

[@okcantbelieveit294]

Cousin installed a windmill, with all the required documentation, only to have to remove it later in the piece because of complaints from neighbours, re noise pollution and when it rained locals complained of shadowing on their tvs. Semi rural area as well!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Crikey!

[@erfquake1]

The Global Wind Atlas site sounds interesting. But as you say later, turbulence is a huge factor as well as wind speed. I wonder if people could set up wifi-connected anemometers to get metrics for a couple years first before deciding to invest.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Carrying out detailed continuous wind measurements for several months (ideally a whole year) is a great idea 👍🏻 And not too expensive to do either….

[@briankirk2995]

Hi Gary, like the program….I live in the south west of the u.k. after 3 years poking around have found there’s no one in this area that installs wind generators so have now pulled the plug … am interested in knowing has any one found installers, let me know………🤪Brian

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I’ll certainly let you know if I hear of anything, Brian 👍🏻

[@rbdogwood]

Thanks Gary, that is what I suspected. Some more PV panels and batteries for me.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

My pleasure and good luck with your continued journey! 😀😀😀

[@johnbooth727]

I think it’s more interesting to look for generation that can be applied in built-up areas so winter turbines that are horizontal unlikely to be any use because the windows of the variety it’s not a clean straight wind but there are several designs which capture the win from all directions through Luvvers and so on and direct them through through vertical-axis turbines that scavenge run lower speeds but can overtime do very well in terms of charging batteries for our use domestically

[@GaryDoesSolar]

The problem with low speeds is that there’s no energy there (cube law works against you).

[@micksoden7064]

Excellent.. thoroughly researched as ever.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Mick - that’s great feedback 😀👍🏻

[@AdrienVercaempst]

Maybe a stupid question. Is it possible to use a solar mppt 800w such as a Hoymiles (plug&play) after the orange mppt in this video (12 volt output) ?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hmmm, sorry-I don’t know the answer to that. Maybe others will…

[@MosaicHomestead]

I have 2 wind turbines, I'm not happy with my purchase...I'm SUPER HAPPY with my purchase 😂, I'm in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷, we just got hit by tropical storm Ernesto, my area has no power and water right now as I comment, it's day 4 , no power, no water, on rainy days solar is weak, but complemented by wind to compensate. I left up my small wind turbine up during the storm, it generated enough power at night to keep my fridge running for a couple of hours, agreed that it's not better than solar, but it's that extra hand picking you up when in need...my bigger turbine is a tilt down design I put together for storms and hurricanes.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

That’s great! Thanks for sharing your experience 😀👍🏻

[@CptFugu]

Wepa!

[@MosaicHomestead]

@CptFugu I got a video up bringing down the wind turbine before Ernesto hit....Wepa! 😆

[@CptFugu]

@@MosaicHomestead Lo vi. Muy interesante. Saludos desde Ponce!

[@MosaicHomestead]

@CptFugu MI turbine trabaja muy bien, El esta probando turbinas baratas, Y no la esta probando a la altura correctas, y Los cotroladoras de cargas que esta usando no son Las mejores, cuando mis molinos estan corriendo, y produciendo demas, la cargo exsesiva es transferida a resistores que se ponen Caliente ...mis resistores son fuertes, tiene que ver carga fuerte para calentar, Los molinos son para asistir Las placas en dias de lluvia, y trabaja muy bien.

[@bausHuck]

I'm in Australia. We have had a few weeks of hectic winds. I have always been curious about wind turbines. Honestly, that global wind map thing settled the whole discussion in my head. I'd be looking at 3k/h winds at 10m high. I don't even want to go that high. For the same cost I could add more solar and be better off. But honestly, I think the best solution for my set up is more battery capacity. Displacing the energy I already produce seems like the best way to reduce my costs. I'll probably wait 5-10 years before upgrading my Powerwall 2 to a 3 phase compatible battery and will get aim for over 30kWh capacity. The wait is partly for technology to advance and partly for my pockets to get some time to fill :p

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks for sharing this insight - I think it will help others who might be in a similar position...

[@rogerphelps9939]

Powerwalls are a ripoff. I suggest you compare the roughly £40k cost of an EV with an 80kwh battery with that of the equivalent number of powerwalls. Vehicle to grid and vehicle to load are the future.

[@IMBlakeley]

I reckon after solar the only one that makes sense for homes is water turbines if you have the requites stream. Years ago 1980s I did some work for a customer who'd converted an old water mill into a residence. Even then I thought you know what you could concievebaly go off grid with a water turbine replacing the old mill stones. Otherwise PV is the only game in town for most.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

👍🏻

[@-whackd]

Usually better to just purchase more PV or batteries. Your PV will be under warranty for 20+ years, people have to go up and fix their turbines because of moving parts

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, I would agree 👍🏻

[@fauxlobster]

Hi Gary, I’ve just found your channel and over the past few days I’ve been watching all your historic videos. They’re great and really helpful, so thanks for all the advice. I’ve just switched over to Octopus Energy and used your code, so you should get a credit into your account mid September. Although not related to wind power - although this video has actually helped me at work as I am working on a project to develop the next generation of power generation for the Army in the battlefield - I do have a couple of questions about solar which it would be great if you could help me with. The first is about calculating power draw. In your experience, what is the best way to calculate individual appliance (kettle, cooker, hob, washing machine etc) draw, thereby allowing you to understand your cumulative draw and knowing which appliances to use when and to separate usage so that you don’t exceed the solar inverter max output? The second is about tariffs. As I mentioned, I’ve just switched to Octupus and I plan to get a solar array in the near future. How do I set up my system to automatically follow a smart tariff so that it takes cheap energy from the grid and pay back at high export value times. Will all systems do this, or do you a specific piece of equipment etc? When combined with a diverter for water heating, can you set up the same system to prioritise export over water heating at specific times etc. in other words, how smart and configurable are these systems?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks very much for your very kind words on my videos, and also for using my Octopus Energy referral code - that means a lot to me, and helps the channel grow! :-) This video I made might be useful to you for understanding power draw of various electrical appliances: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6uleaZqbZxreLssi=PZD419Jyd8-WgIaD For the questions you've raised, if your project budget allows, you might like to set up a chat session with myself, where we can look through things in detail: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6uleaZqbZxreLssi=PZD419Jyd8-WgIaD

[@ianbeck5897]

I'd looked at them in our previous house and considered it uninvestable. Two years ago we moved to the West country and we have a wind farm (with nine large units) about 1.5 miles from us. The owner of the wind farm credits our Octopus Energy account with about £140 a year for the inconvenience. It's a good deal for us as the turbines are hidden behind a bank of trees and we get no wind noise whatsoever from them. As a retired engineer, the majesty of them, their grace and the design appeals (how sad am I?) , as does the green credentials. It's about the only wind turbine investment worth having for us, as it simply pays out! We have a field adjacent to our garden and, in theory, we could put a turbine there on a mast. I considered it for about one and a half minutes and decided against the idea. I didn't bother with the complicated equations (although your explanation and worked examples are very useful to illustrate the viability): Although, in theory, we could capitalise on the same wind as the wind farm, trees adjacent to the field would kill the production and.... I'd rather see the trees and keep £20K+ in our bank account!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Ian, this is great! Thanks for sharing! Similar to Octopus Energy sharing benefits of their wind turbines with local residents! ❤️

[@guillermohermosa1717]

Its so very nice boss, but we hàve the issue of climate not to disregards, aldo there iaremew designs of wind turbines that can stand strong flow of winds like in during typhon season but it cost too much, but typhon just in a while compare to power to generate in summer.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers, and yeah - it’s hard for any wind turbine design to usefully generate efficiently in low wind conditions yet survive in very high wind conditions, such is the variability of the climate today…

[@joshuaknight1748]

I've done some measurements in the garden, and in one spot, averaged for a month, at only 2m height, I get a windspeed of 3.99M/s. Using the Britwind r9000 blade radius of 2.75 metres, even at the ground I'd get 2.8 MWh a year. Using Wind Atlas at the same location, at 10m I'd get 7MWh. So agreed, it would be nuts to add one to your house in a housing estate in slough, but for us hillside country dwellers, it might be worth it. Other thing was, I was quoted £35k to supply and fit the Britwind, so assuming these numbers, and a 20-year life, this would be 25 pence per kWh (versus my about 11 pence for solar). I'd like to see Wind Atlas data at 16 and 20 metres, as those are the mast heights of small commercial turbines.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, it's just really hard to make the business case, eh? Even for a great wind location! That said, I've heard from a few people who live on the Orkney Islands north of Scotland who achieve a great ROI on home wind power.

[@carlwilliams3488]

I'd looked at adding a turbine to my solar install but concluded a while ago anything on my suburban property was likely to be a folly, the solar while not wonderful does save me some £. So the money of a turbine would be better invested in another 6 400w panels for East and West facing parts on my roof to pick up the early morning and evening sun (currently have 8 panels on south facing roof) and another couple of 3KWh batteries to store the additional power in the summer (even with the additional panels the batteries wont ever get charged in the winter).

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Agreed Carl - home solar beats home wind in almost every scenario...

[@aaronsmith593]

The Sun and Wind are always a compliment. 😊

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Agreed, and confirmed in the video, but many home locations are just not suitable to capture wind.

[@RedbarFan66]

I'm getting a solar system, all eg4 products except the solar panels which I'm getting used from Santan Solar. I'm also gonna be using wind turbines though and I'm thinkin I'll use a hydrid charge controller hooked to the same battery bank as the solar charge controller, that way I can connect extra panels to that one if I need them later

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I'd love to hear how you get on with your wind installation! Feel free to email [e-mail] - thanks!

[@RedbarFan66]

​@GaryDoesSolar thanks buddy, this is in my top 2 or 3 favorite turbine videos thank you I'll do that! Ur the man!!

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@RedbarFan66 That's very kind of you to day - thank you! 😃

[@chriswatts923]

I am quite interested in the comparison for a vertical axis turbine. The equation and sites are useful but the vawt are better in turbulent air so potentially better for domestic installations. They also have less moving parts. There is a tesup atlas X or other their models for example. I would have been interested in the technical challenges too, the controllers required to have both? That's the info I'm struggling on

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Worth looking at more of Rosie’s engineering videos - she has one or two on VAWT 👍🏻

[@pankajnaik2708]

Great video . I remember you also have video where you provided link of website from where one can check how much is solar power generation at one particular address , could you please share the link for solar generation?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Sure thing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5XTgpafaduHgrcsi=hzgSJkcqa1T3pw57

[@funwitholdconcretethings8721]

I know this is probably VERY much pie in the sky, but is hydro-elec in any way feasible without a stream nearby, using roof downpipe and bath/shower waste water falling down waste pipe from 1st or 2nd floor as an energy source? Or perhaps a water battery - pump water UP to tank on low energy at night and release it to generate hydro elec at peak? I know it's probably not realistic, but...

[@garysmith5025]

Correct, it isn't realistic! Various KZbinrs have built downpipe turbines but I've yet to see one actually start with a calculation of its potential generation. If I use my bungalow as an example, 180m2, 1.1m of annual rainfall and a 3metre drop, that means the water at the top of the downpipes has a potential energy of about 6MJ, 1 kWhr = 3.6 MJ, so even at 100% efficiency that's only about 40p of electricity per year.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah,,simply not enough useful potential/kinetic energy in that, I’m afraid…

[@funwitholdconcretethings8721]

@@GaryDoesSolar does that apply to the "water battery" idea I mentioned too?

[@MikeSTGL]

Things i never thought about ! Say already had a good solar system . What about the cheapest quality ( I know oxymoron) wind to just to give a little charging at night / cloudy days ?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Mike, yeah, unless you're in an area with a clean, persistent wind stream, it's likely not worth it.

[@stephenrussell6074]

Maybe you should rename the channel Gary Loves Solar you were quite evangelistic at the end. Very useful video to show if you don’t have a couple of acres, wind is a no go. Did see a hillside property with a stream that had a water turbine micro generator did as much a a 6kW solar system.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, you’re not wrong about the name of the channel - I’ll be talking about heat pumps before long too!

[@samuxan]

First step if you think about this check the average wind speed in your area(less than 2m/s in my case) Looking at that map it turns out that most urban areas are located in the less windy zones.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, and that is certainly a huge nail in the coffin for small wind turbines in those locations!

[@Just_An_Idea_For_Consideration]

I need to know, where to purchase a reliable vawt, how to wire it into an existing 48V solar battery system, what safety considerations i should have in the design such as fuses disconnects etc

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Best to speak to a local renewables installer…

[@edwardsierpowski3839]

What happened to the promising RidgeBlade system?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I wrote to them weeks ago but no reply… maybe they’ve gone bust?

[@davidw717]

😢 ​@@GaryDoesSolar

[@Merchantdice360]

Have you done any research on the ridge blade system and how that might compare to traditional turbines

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I haven’t, but perhaps others here have. Is this solution available today?

[@pcmgtl]

Can you do a similar analysis on the new "ridgetop" wind systems please?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I’ll take a look at these. I can just imagine the internal vibration/noise issues now though…!

[@pcmgtl]

@@GaryDoesSolar Apparently they're not noisey...

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@pcmgtl Ok, I'll see what I can find out about that solution... 👍

[@shaazy]

Thanks for the vid, watched the whole thing. Who makes quality wind turbines? I'm considering putting it on top of a 4 story building I inhabit.

[@stuartburns8657]

Save your money..

[@shaazy]

@@stuartburns8657 nothing you'd recommend?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

One of the links in the description is a German chap who’s looked at quite a few brands and says which are the best on this channel…

[@wobby1516]

No turbine for me then. What about the turbines that fit along the apex of a roof, I wonder are they any better or just a waste of money too.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I’m going to look into them as part of a potential follow-up video… 👍🏻

[@magnushansson7155]

Can you make a video of static silent wind turbines?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I am considering a follow-up video. Do you have an example of such a turbine? Don’t put links though as KZbin will automatically delete them- just give me a name.

[@SeanWork]

What about the vertical turbines? Seen some interesting stuff about placing those on the corner of buildings.

[@paulrippon2454]

Indeed. I’m very excited about these but they seem to be very much in the prototype phase?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

They might be a little more efficient, but they’ll suffer from the same issues as small turbines in residential areas anyway…

[@andersholmstrom3571]

Interesting. I am just about to invest in solar panels for my house. I think I will stop at just that for now 😀

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Good luck in your solar journey!

[@robrs210]

Looked into wind turbines. Not with an unrealistic view, I only wanted to cover the overnight house load of 50 to 100watts (possibly a little more but not including heating use). There are some units but the cost and potential noise has put me off. But I have a river running past the house and this has a better potential. The only issue is a suitable device which can cope with the rise and fall of the water height and the speed changes. A 200watt waterwheel would be magic if I could get one

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Definitely worth looking into! 👍🏻

[@markshaker8567]

Thanks Gary its now obvious that wind belongs to large scale. I follow Rosie but missed that video.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Mark. Yeah, shame, but physics is what it is, I guess…

[@darrinholroyd8203]

Great video, I have solar and I cannot find anyone to install a wind turbine, I'm located in the north east of England, can anyone recommend an installer?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thanks Darrin 🙏 Now, I’m not able to help myself, but perhaps other ls could advise…

[@mlgd7709]

Hi Gary. If I were to erect a 48v (2m dia) turbine with its own controller would it be possible to connect it directly to my existing 6kw givenergy system with 9.2 kwh battery so its output either charged the battery or exported to the grid? If I'm reading the GWA right the 10m high windspeed where I live is 9kms because in quite high up and its exposed .

[@GaryDoesSolar]

You're likely to need a separate inverter, but speak to the manufacturer for guidance. Sounds like you could be in a good location for a wind turbine. Worth carrying out wind speed measurements over the winter before committing...

[@ActiveTravelWestUSA]

I need a system for off grid cabin. Wind and panels and batteries! Just to run coffee machine, tea cooker PC, LED lights etc! Very cold in winter and lots of wind year round. Any recommendations? Location is Northeast Nevada! USA thank you.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

For solutions where you live, you're best to speak a local installer there as there are a lot of factors to consider...

[@Just_An_Idea_For_Consideration]

Excellent info thx

[@GaryDoesSolar]

You’re most welcome! Thanks for letting me know 😀👍🏻

[@JohnR31415]

I’m still optimistic for ridgeblade style turbines… in the right place at any rate.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I’ll check them out 👍🏻

[@JohnR31415]

@@GaryDoesSolar unfortunately they seem to be not produced… keep getting effectively null responses. And it’s a real shame, my parents house faces across the sea directly at the prevailing wind, with a roof pitch that would be *ideal* for ridgeblade.

[@richcaseaxon]

Unfortunately every video I watch on those lower priced Amazon wind turbines all demonstrate none meet the advertised power generation when tested real world. But, if you know of a turbine that actually works as advertised I'm interested if you have a link to the youtube review.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Rich, I’m planning a follow up video shortly - should have one or two examples of small turbines that are doing the business 👍🏻

[@richcaseaxon]

@GaryDoesSolar thanks, I'll look forward to it!

[@steveadams7550]

Great video. Solar power in the UK with it's heavy cloud cover does not make sense.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Steve. Now, I should say that since my solar panels were installed in the UK, I've not had any electricity bills since (and they were nearly £3K/year before...)

[@scallywagII]

We do get some sunny days! My panels have paid for themselves and continue to deliver dividends.

[@frankh7303]

Ive heard that you cant add a turbine into your PV array interface with a Powerwall battery ? Is that right ?

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I don’t think that’s possible, sorry.

[@kevxsi16v]

I have a iskra AT5-1 at home here and the mast everything I need but trying to get planning is a nightmare. Even though I am remote

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Yeah, life’s never easy when a planning department is involved :-/

[@kevxsi16v]

@@GaryDoesSolar ​​⁠ have you heard of those turbines before? I was asked to remove it from a school a few years ago as I have a big solar and battery storage system already (45kw solar 108KWH BYD storage) I was thinking it would make a decent addition for winter generation.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

@@kevxsi16v No sorry, not heard of that one.

[@andytrewin]

Great Video Gary ~ Many thanks KR AndyT(Somerset)

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers for the great feedback, Andy! 🙏

[@anthonydyer3939]

I really would love wind turbines to be worth it for domestic property especially for winter generation. But as you’ve alluded to, the laws of physics point towards bigger = better! They simply don’t scale down the same way that Solar does. That said, if you could somehow magic up a wind turbine for £200 (all in) that was actually good….. it might be worth a punt! And I’m sure planning permission has exemptions for temporary structures,….. popup wind turbines spring to mind.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Anthony, worth checking out Everything Electric channel as I think they were trying out a popup turbine - it certainly seemed to be able to put some decent charge into a portable battery unit! I don't think they showed detailed numbers though...!

[@anthonydyer3939]

@@GaryDoesSolar yes I’ve saw the episode. It’s definitely a “bit rough around the edges”. But that said, I wish them the best of fortunes. I’m sure future iterations of the design will become better by every measure. I’d be happy to offer my access to windier locations to help test it out!

[@stephenbrickwood1602]

Love your work 😊

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Cheers Stephen! I really enjoyed researching this one! 😀

[@ABD5667]

What I thought about was getting an old wind borehole pump. Shouldn't be too pricey as most are not used any longer. Then connecting it to a generator. It could be a less expensive than buying a specifically built wind turbine and be bigger with a solid stand structure.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Let me know if you proceed… 👍🏻

[@mtbsteve]

I nearly bought one and still might as side of my house is like a wind tunnel work with the solar panels

[@GaryDoesSolar]

If you ever proceed, it would be great to hear how you get on 👍🏻 Worth taking continuous wind speed measurements over a few months to a get a feel for what your generation might be…

[@sjcsystems]

Interesting analysis, but pity you dont cover VAWTs

[@GaryDoesSolar]

I do reference one VAWT in the video (Amazon) but irrespective of that, the formula in the video still applies, but instead of a circular swept area. It’s generally a rectangle 👍🏻

[@sjcsystems]

@@GaryDoesSolar Indeed but those are Chinese lantern toys. A design like a Tesup or any VAWT is inherently more efficient because the dynamo etc and weight of it doesn't have to be at the top of the mast or tower. Similarly, there is far less vibration. The noise is less as well when using aerodynamic blades.

[@Leopold5100]

excellent

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Thank you 🙏

[@davepoul8483]

How do you feed this in to your solar inverter ??

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Exactly! You would likely need a separate inverter….

[@ajward137]

Can't use it on my house - I'm too near the local air base, and they have a veto for wind turbines because they can interfere with radar 😞

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hmmm, that’s certainly an issue! Crikey!

[@ericmaclaurin8525]

We're probably leaving something significant on the table if we aren't using any structures outside the circle to increase wind speeds.

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Hi Eric, sounds interesting - could you elaborate please?

[@justinterested5819]

The Problem of Solar is winter production, especially in offgrid situations. If you would size your solar system to produce enough in winter, you would need at least 4 times (sometimes 10 times) as much solar as you would need for a summer day. That increases the average cost of power by around 5 times. From cheap 8 Cents to 40 cents per kWh (up to 80 cents per kWh). If you compare it with that, you are that worse off with a wind turbine (given you are in a somewhat suitable location).

[@GaryDoesSolar]

Agreed