Solar and wind power for summerhouse

I have a summerhouse at the end of my garden and would like to power it with a combination of solar panels and wind turbine, hopefully through the same controller. I might want to use computer, stereo CD/radio,two lamps, perhaps 75w soldering iron - probably not all at once but possibly several at one time. Could you give me some idea what wattage solar panel, size of wind generator, and number of batteries I would need? Many thanks - Jenny

Hi Jenny,

A lot depends on just how often you want to use the equipment there! There is a world of difference between a big desktop computer and all the peripherals being used for a few hours a day, and a small laptop used occasionally for an hour or two.

You may find our solar panel calculator useful for working out how much power you would need.

However, a suitable system might include:

• Rutland 503 wind turbine
• Kyocera KC65 solar panel
• HRSi regulator
• 100Ah leisure battery (available from any motoring store, eg Halfords)
• 2 x Labcraft Trilite 16W lights
• 500W inverter (if you would like 240V power as well as 12V)

That would be sufficient for a few hours of lighting and radio use a day; and perhaps say an hour or so a day of laptop / soldering iron use (more in summer, less in winter).

One word of warning about wind turbines - the output does depend very much on the location. If you have many trees around that cause turbulence and restrict the free flow of wind to the turbine, you might be better off going for two solar panels instead!

If the summerhouse isn't used regularly - and mainly in summer - even a single solar panel may be enough for your needs. It is easy to add further panels, batteries, or a turbine to increase the system size when you want to expand the system in the future - so you can always start small and increase as necessary.

Do hope that helps.

Andy
Midsummer Energy