A Hybrid Alternative Power System Can Help to Reduce the Fluctuations That Normally Occur in Solar and Wind Power Generating Systems
There are two basic choices for those of you that are thinking about switching to an alternative energy system in order to lower your electric bills or even to provide all of your power and allow you to go off the grid. These are a wind power based system such as a wind generator, windmill or wind turbine or a solar power based system such as solar panels or solar cells.
Although there are benefits to using each of these systems, neither is the perfect solution. And of course the problem with each is that on days where there is either no wind or no sun, you can’t generate power. How to deal with this? One solution is to combine these two systems into a hybrid system.
A hybrid system is a combination of 2 or more alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power. You can even out the characteristic peaks and valleys in power production with such a hybrid system. For instance, solar panels can only generate power of course when they are exposed to sunlight making them useless at night or on a particularly cloudy day. However, a wind generator can often produce power during these times. Thus, in order to extend your power production, there are obvious benefits to a hybrid system.
For those of you that want to go completely off the grid and will rely on a constant power supply, you will also need to add an engine driven electrical generator to your hybrid system. Such a generator can charge your storage batteries for those days when there is both no wind and no sun to generate power for an extended period of time. However, a negative aspect of the engine driven generator is that it requires a supply of costly fuels such as diesel gasoline or propane. The good news though is that depending on the size of your storage system, ie the size and number of batteries, you can minimize how much you’ll need to run that generator.
Thus, it is a good idea to identify exactly what your power requirements are before you start building. You’ll need to determine whether you will still remain connected to the grid and how much reserve power you will need. This knowledge ahead of time will allow you to decide what particular hybrid system is best for your particular situation.
Having been involved in the alternative energy field for over 20 years, D. R. Smith has done a large amount of research and testing of various designs and found what he believes are the best energy generator plans currently available. He's also put together some alternative energy reviews to help you make the best choice when building your wind and solar power system.