Miniature wind system that actually works?

[BioHazard]

As I posted in another thread I'm working on building a hybrid powered boat with a custom electric outboard and 48v battery system charged with a small diesel.

Much of the use for the diesel engine will be charging the batteries when I'm not actually in the boat to hear it. I would also love to take advantage of windpower, if I can, while I'm "parked" somewhere on a beach.

The question is, are there any commercially available wind turbines that actually work that could be small enough to be stowed on a 16' boat while underway, but large enough to provide a few hundred watts of charging when raised? Sort of like the opposite of a sailboat I guess.  I know there is a lot of worthless crap with outrageous claims out there in regard to small wind turbines, I just wonder how small a turbine could be and still generate ~500 watts or more in a windy area? Is there anything "off the shelf" that I can look at?

[mobile_bob]

500 watts of microwind is probably an oxymoron

very few time a micro turbine will ever see that kind of power outside of a hurricane force wind.

what  you are looking for is probably around 36 inches in diameter, and you will be lucky to see
even 50watts out of it in anything under a 20-25 mph wind

your money is probably better spent on solar panels, which will produce 50 watts or better for the same area used
and do it much more reliably than a wind gen on a small boat.

bob g

[mobile_bob]

here is a new article that lays out the realities quite well

http://www.solacity.com/SmallWindTruth.htm

bob g

[Carlb]

I have to agree, with bob, micro turbines don't produce much usable power.  I have both Wind and solar on my property and the solar is heads and tails above the wind in performance and reliability to produce power.  All you need are the solar panels and a charge controller to keep you batteries topped off.

Carl

[LowGear]

Hi BioHazard,

I'm working on electrification of a Polaris ATV.  I'm also interested in converting a Jet Ski.  So how about sharing your electric boat plans? 

10 HP electric out board?  What does that look like?

48 Volt battery bank makes far more sense in a boat than any other transportation vehicle I can think of.  What is the engine - charging system your going to locate on board

Casey

[BioHazard]

10 HP electric out board?  What does that look like?

48 Volt battery bank makes far more sense in a boat than any other transportation vehicle I can think of.  What is the engine - charging system your going to locate on board

Casey

Hopefully it will look just like any other when I'm done. Just replace the gas powerhead on an outboard and keep the original cowling to cover the electric motor. I don't know what I'm going to use exactly for a lower unit yet (depends on what I find) but I understand the type they use on the Briggs and Stratton "lawnmower" outboard simply accepts a 7/8" lawnmower type shaft in the top.

Depending on what I come up with I might just build my own lower unit, it's just a shaft with a right angle gearset. With an electric motor I don't need any forward/neutral/reverse capability, or even a water pump. I'll probably add a couple of standard electric trolling motors as well, just for a little extra kick and in case my homemade outboard falls apart....

The diesel generator will just be a simple charger so that I can get away with using relatively small batteries. They might have enough power to get me where I'm going, then I can park on the beach for a while and let the thing charge and make all the noise it wants while I'm not in it.  

Someday it would be really nice to incorporate something like a 3 cylinder Kubota, that could also drive a prop but still get way better mileage than my 2 stroke inline 6...

Also since the boating season is short here it will just be a backup battery bank/charger on wheels for ~ 8 months of the year.

[Geno]

Hopefully it will look just like any other when I'm done. Just replace the gas powerhead on an outboard and keep the original cowling to cover the electric motor. I don't know what I'm going to use exactly for a lower unit yet (depends on what I find) but I understand the type they use on the Briggs and Stratton "lawnmower" outboard simply accepts a 7/8" lawnmower type shaft in the top.

Depending on what I come up with I might just build my own lower unit, it's just a shaft with a right angle gearset. With an electric motor I don't need any forward/neutral/reverse capability, or even a water pump. I'll probably add a couple of standard electric trolling motors as well, just for a little extra kick and in case my homemade outboard falls apart....

The diesel generator will just be a simple charger so that I can get away with using relatively small batteries. They might have enough power to get me where I'm going, then I can park on the beach for a while and let the thing charge and make all the noise it wants while I'm not in it. 

Someday it would be really nice to incorporate something like a 3 cylinder Kubota, that could also drive a prop but still get way better mileage than my 2 stroke inline 6...

Also since the boating season is short here it will just be a backup battery bank/charger on wheels for ~ 8 months of the year.

If your boat has an inline 6 it's gotta be a bit larger than a canoe. If you have a 2 hp electric motor running it will draw about 1500 watts. 10 hp, 7450 watts. Don't forget about power transmission losses. 8, Trojan T-105 batteries will give you about 3 kwh at 48 volts. That's the 20 hr. rating as well. They weigh 62 lbs. each. They cost about $150.00 each if you pick them up yourself. They take hours to recharge at the recommended rate. In another post you mentioned using an st head. They're pretty big and weigh about 200 lbs. You then need rectification, smoothing, a charge controller and really fat cables. I hope you go boating on a very small, shallow lake with people who like the sound of an air cooled, 3600 rpm diesel.

Your electric motor may overheat with the engine cowling around it.

Fabbing an out drive will be a piece of cake.

Thanks, Geno

[BioHazard]

If your boat has an inline 6 it's gotta be a bit larger than a canoe. If you have a 2 hp electric motor running it will draw about 1500 watts. 10 hp, 7450 watts. Don't forget about power transmission losses. 8, Trojan T-105 batteries will give you about 3 kwh at 48 volts. That's the 20 hr. rating as well. They weigh 62 lbs. each. They cost about $150.00 each if you pick them up yourself. They take hours to recharge at the recommended rate. In another post you mentioned using an st head. They're pretty big and weigh about 200 lbs. You then need rectification, smoothing, a charge controller and really fat cables. I hope you go boating on a very small, shallow lake with people who like the sound of an air cooled, 3600 rpm diesel.

Take a look at this for an example:
http://www.duffyboats.com/boats/16-back-bay/
They don't list the HP but looks like about a 36v ~200ah battery pack. It's rated for 9 adults so that's ~1600# payload right there.

My hull only weighs about 650lbs + my gear. A small 30# trolling motor will move my boat at a few mph, and uses less than 25 amps at 12v. Basically I'm building an ~800# trolling motor, which is really hard to compare against gas HP. The same hull has been known to be powered with a 460 Ford and jet pump, which has got to weigh close to 1000lbs.

This project is not designed for water skiing.   And if you think that diesel is loud you haven't seen all the boats with big block V8s and over the hull exhaust headers with several hundred watt sound systems that populate this area...(actually diesel irrigation pumps are common around the river banks anyway)

[Henry W]

I saw stuff about Duffy Boats a few years age. I think they are very nice. it does not take much Hp to reach hull speed.

Henry

[LowGear]

Duffy boats.  Bring a check book.

Casey

[Henry W]

Yes they are very expensive. They do have a nice product though.

Henry

[BioHazard]

I rented one of those duffys with some friends in Newport Beach, CA a few years ago. It certainly is different than "power boating", but it was an interesting ride. Certainly got me across the bay and back. Cost something like $100/hour to rent though...