Wind Turbines

Wind generators convert energy of wind into kinetic (movement) energy; this then powers a generator which generates electricity which you can use in your home or business.

Nearly 40% of the wind in Europe travels across the UK, and providing you have the right location and space At Raine or Shine will be able to advise and supply your wind turbine and also guide you through the selection process.

Hydro Turbines

Hydro turbines use free energy provided by flowing water, this can be in the form of a water wheel or a turbine. These in turn power a generator which will allow you to use this renewable electricity to power your appliances at home or business.

• Water Turbines
• Wind Turbines

Hydro Turbines

If you have a potential water turbine site, then there is no question that it will be a worthwhile investment. We provide very competitive prices on small scale hydro generation - so payback times can range from 2-6months - much faster than any other form of renewable energy. You will need a good flow and/or a good head of water. You can easily calculate the potential power of a water resource using the formula given on our water power webpage. Our water turbines have a built in dump load, which will soak up any excess power to prevent the water turbine over-spinning (important for voltage/frequency regulation). Conclusion: Exceptionally fast payback time. Very cost-effective, dependable power source. If you have a suitable water course, make use of it!

Wind Turbines

Two things determine wind turbine choice

• 1. Amount of wind energy available at the site
• 2. Amount of energy required

Both are very difficult to measure. If you have no idea - then chances are that no-one else does either! You can check the average wind speed at your location at the BWEA website. This will give you the wind speed high-up, where there are no obstacles to cause turbulence. This will NOT tell you how well a wind turbine at low height will perform. Generally, if you consider the site to be windy, then you will get good results with our turbines. However, even a distance of a few metres on the ground can make a huge difference to turbine performance, and it can be quite amazing how significant the disruption can be, caused by trees and buildings.

What size turbine should I buy? If this question was accompanied by a cheque for £10, we would no longer need to sell turbines! It is not a question that can be answered. However here are a few pointers:

• A 200W turbine is capable of running all of the household lighting circuits, if in a suitably windy location
• Sometimes the decision can be based on battery voltage, if it is to be integrated into an existing battery system
• wind turbines can be used as direct-heating with suitable controllers. This is an excellent way to heat a house, as wind tends to accompany bad weather, and is especially prevalent in the winter.

Remember that wind turbines can potentially operate 24hours per day, so even a modest 1kW wind turbine, can provide a significant amount of heat required for a house. A larger turbine - 2kW -5kW may produce most of the heat, if in the right location. Please note that the wind turbine will provide no heat on a cold frosty night - so there is always the need for back-up heat. *wind turbines make excellent grid-connect power systems. However the cost of the grid-connect equipment is high, making it a longer term investment. No wind turbine can be connected directly to electrical loads (except for direct heating systems). This is because the wind power varies constantly, and if connected directly, the voltage/frequency would be constantly changing.

You must either use a grid-connect system - which basically uses the national grid as a battery - feeding excess power into it, through an export meter. To work out what size wind turbine you require, you firstly have to identify your demands.

If you average out household demand over 24hours, most houses use around 500-750watts. However, peak demand can exceed 10kW. If you want to be dependant on wind power, you will need to reduce your peak demand to a level that can be sustained by your inverter. Wind turbines are generally assumed to produce around 30% of their rated power, if you average things out - so to provide for a constant load of 500W, you would need a 1.5kW wind turbine. Of course, this assumes 100% efficiency and that storage issues are not a problem.

Grid-connection systems are the best way to run your entire house on wind power, but the grid-connect equipment cost exceeds the cost of the wind turbine by some margin. Conclusion: Great energy return on the investment.

Very effective for off-grid applications. Simplest solution is to use a battery bank/inverter, but this cannot be connected directly to household wiring. Alternative is grid-connect system, which can be directly interfaced with domestic wiring (ie no batteries). This is an excellent option, but grid-connection equipment is costly (will exceed the cost of the wind turbine kit by some margin).

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Finding the right location.

Obviously you will need to be in a windy area and you can check the average wind speed at your location at the BWEA website. This will give you the wind speed high-up, where there are no obstacles to cause turbulence – so you will need to double check this.

This will NOT tell you how well a wind turbine at low height will perform. Generally, if you consider the site to be windy, then you will get good results with our turbines. However, even a distance of a few metres on the ground can make a huge difference to turbine performance, and it can be quite amazing how significant the disruption can be, caused by trees and buildings.

Which wind turbine would be best?

A 200W turbine is capable of running all of the household lighting circuits, if in a suitably windy location.

Sometimes the decision can be based on battery voltage, if it is to be integrated into an existing battery system.

Wind turbines can be used as direct-heating with suitable controllers. This is an excellent way to heat a house, as wind tends to accompany bad weather, and is especially prevalent in the winter. Remember that wind turbines can potentially operate 24hours per day, so even a modest 1kW wind turbine, can provide a significant amount of heat required for a house. A larger turbine - 2kW -5kW may produce most of the heat, if in the right location.

To install a water turbine in your property you will obviously need some source of flowing water, this can be in the form of a stream, river or an old water mill.

To ensure your stream or river is strong enough to power your home or business you can calculate the possible power using this simple calculation:

Power (watts) = Head (m) x Flow (litres/sec) x 9.81 (gravitational constant 'g')

When installing a water turbine you can expect an efficiency rating of 70% (depending on the model) to gain a more accurate power expectancy you should multiply your result by 0.7.

To get an accurate power expectancy call our highly trained team on 01978 664114 and they can arrange your free survey!!