Choosing a small wind turbine for Inari
Starting point: the site is treeless and on the shore of a large lake. The aim is to power the wind generator during the dark period of the year, from November to February.
The energy is mainly needed to maintain the battery and electronics, as well as the remote connection. Estimated to be at least 2400Wh over a ten day period (this is an upper bound consumption at 10W power). Is this feasible in a reasonable way?
The infographic summarises the main points of choosing small wind power in the winter conditions of Inari.
Click on the image – opens larger
When does a small wind turbine work?
This is quite feasible, as long as you choose a decent mast and a small but good quality mill (in the 200-500 W range) and size the batteries to cope with periods of complete calm.
The infographic summarises when:
Defining place and need
- Battery is 13 V × 300 Ah × 90% discharge depth ≈ 3510 Wh usable energy
- Winter base load only 10 W continuous = 240 Wh/day
- internet, wifi, inverters in sleep mode, remote monitoring/control)
- On-site +500 Wh/day → total 740 Wh/day
- lights, TV, coffee machine, etc.
- Location 20 m from shore, +5 m from ridge and >1 km from open lake, mast 6m
Basic assumptions in the calculation
- According to Weatherspark, the average winter winds at 10 m in Inari reach about 7.3 → 8.9 mph (= 3.3 → 4.0 m/s) during the November-February season.
- The mast is 6 m, so a “small drop” in wind is used (typically ~7% lower than 10 m on an open beach): average winter wind at 6 m ≈ 3.1…3.7 m/s. (This is a model assumption, not measured.)
- An open, treeless lakeshore is an improvement over a place in the middle of a forest
- Specific challenges are taken into account, not so much the average, but:
- Periods of several days of calm/”semi-quiet”.
- Formation of ice and frost on shovels (common in Lapland, -20…-30 °C and humid winds).
Recommendation is a relatively small mill
In summer, when the sun is enough and the aggregate is there A small-medium sized mill + sufficient battery is often the best solution
- Windmill 200-500 W (or max ~1 kW if the place is clearly really windy and the mast is decent)
Examples of windmills used in the analysis
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