Residential · Wind + Solar Hybrid
Kabale Ridgeline Homestead
Two generators that fail at different times.
- Location
- Kabale
- Scale
- 3 kW wind + 4 kWp PV
- Commissioned
- 2023
- Wind turbine
- 3 kWWind turbine
- Solar array
- 4 kWpSolar array
- Smaller battery than solar-only
- ~1/3Smaller battery than solar-only
- Generator run hours
- ZeroGenerator run hours
Figures are representative of work delivered in this sector and are rounded. Full project documentation available on request.
01 — The brief
What we walked into
A wind-and-solar hybrid on an exposed ridgeline site, where the wind resource was strong enough to genuinely justify a turbine. Wind carries the nights and the wet season; solar carries the bright middle of the day. The generator has not run since.
An off-grid homestead on a ridge, running a generator nightly and through the long overcast stretches of the wet season — exactly when a solar-only system struggles most. Solar alone would have needed a very large and expensive battery to survive those weeks. The question was whether the site’s wind was real or merely felt strong on the day of the visit.
02 — The approach
What we engineered
We assessed the wind resource properly, because that assessment is a gate, not a formality — a turbine on a sheltered plot is an expensive ornament. The mean speed and the prevailing flow justified a machine. We specified a 3 kW turbine on a tower tall enough to reach clean air above the terrain-induced turbulence, alongside 4 kWp of solar, both feeding one battery bank through their own controllers. The tower has a hinged base so the turbine lowers to ground level for service instead of being climbed.
Engineering detail
- Wind assessment treated as a gate — we advise against where the resource is weak
- Tower height set to reach clean air above terrain turbulence
- Hinged tower base: turbine lowers for service rather than being climbed
- One battery bank, two controllers, complementary generation profiles
- Battery ~1/3 smaller than solar-only would have needed
03 — The result
What it delivers now
The two sources cover each other almost exactly: wind is strongest overnight and through the wet season, solar through the dry, bright hours. The combined profile is flat enough that the battery bank came in about a third smaller than a solar-only design would have required to survive the same overcast stretch — which paid for a meaningful share of the turbine. The generator has not run since commissioning. On a sheltered site we would have advised against the turbine; on this one it earns its keep.
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