Thanks you for your help and interest.
What I will do is connect the small wind turbine directly to the water
heating element in the immersion water heating tank- no batteries,
inverter, charge controller, etc. Cheaper and less power lost that way
which means faster payback time.
Not using any kind of protection system (dont know what G83/1 is). The
turbine furls nicely in high wind but keeps producing power
Pay Back time quick calcation: Mean Wind Energy where my mum lives
600w/sq.m. (see map ref below), Turbine efficiency 35%, Blade radius
1.045m = energy capture area 3.43sq.m, cost of electricity in Ireland
14.45 c/kWh (incl vat @13.5%), cost of small wind turbine incl shipping
and mounting pole 2100e (incl VAT @21%), DC heater element and wire,
100e (incl VAT).
Govt subsidy/grant for renewables in: Ireland - 0%, UK circa 1000stg,
Spain - 50% etc
Total costs:
2200e (about1475 sterling - VAT is lower in the UK)
Annual power saving:
0.6kw/sq.m*3.43sq.m*0.35%eff*24hrs*365day*0.1445eu=950e (655stg)
Payback time: about 2.3yrs without incl costs of capital and assuming
electricity costs do not change. If your govt gives a subsidy for
renewables then itīs a no brainer even in a medium/low wind area. I
also expect power costs to rise over the next few years.
Wind Maps:
http://www.awstruewind.com/inner/windmaps/Ireland.htm