Wind Power for Remote Sites
As the technology improves the uptake of solar, wind and renewable energy products are at last being taken seriously. It is now becoming more common to use wind and solar (usually a hybrid of the two for remote sites) to generate electricity not served by a grid connection. These systems are tried and tested and are very reliable. Naturally, the more remote the site the greater the need to obtain power from wind and solar sources. It is very common to combine a solar and wind system (hybrid) as the combination work together to provide energy year round. Other than the odd bit of maintenance the system will work well under pretty much all conditions. Wind Power and solar energy cannot be guaranteed at all times so a back-up system is necessary, usually a Back-up battery or generator of some kind. For very small consumption ( approx 50W) solar panels rated up to 50-80 watts are a good solution for continuous power. For continuous loads from 50 – 300 watts, a hybrid system with wind, solar, and a 3 – 10 day battery bank can power a site without need for a back-up generator. Using both wind and solar will reduce the battery bank size and the total cost compared to solar-only or wind-only systems. For larger loads, a hybrid system with a back-up generator will generally be more cost-effective. As the load size increases the relative size of the solar array shrinks due to the higher cost of solar, compared to wind. Remote sites usually have good wind resources because they have high local elevation and good exposure. Wind turbines can be pole mounted and should not be installed in difficult locations.
