Off-Grid · Power · Wind
Wind Turbines: The Tempting One to Get Right
On paper, wind is the perfect partner to solar: it blows hardest in winter and at night, exactly when the panels give up. In practice, a small turbine on a typical sheltered inland plot is the classic off-grid money-pit — noisy, needy, and barely turning. Here's the honest version, so you spend on wind only if your site genuinely earns it.
I'd love to tell you to stick a turbine up and forget the generator. For most French derelicts I can't — and it's better you hear why from someone with nothing to sell than from a firm that sells turbines.
The honest headline: on most inland, tree-sheltered plots, your money buys more power as extra solar panels plus a generator than as a small wind turbine.Wind only makes sense on a genuinely exposed, consistently windy site. If that's not your plot, don't fight it — spend elsewhere.
How wind would fit with the panels, battery and inverter — the whole system, and why solar usually wins the same budget.
Read the hub →🔋 BatteriesThe bank that actually rides out the dark spell — LFP, sizing and cold-weather rules.
Read the guide →🔌 Inverter/chargerThe box any turbine (or generator) would need to charge through.
Read the guide →Why it's so tempting the real appeal
Wind fills the exact gap solar leaves
The dream is sound: winter storms and long dark nights are when solar collapses and when wind, in the right place, is strongest. A turbine that actually works is the one thing that can shrink your winter generator hours. That's the prize — and it's why people keep trying.
Why it usually disappoints the reality
Small turbines need clean, strong, steady wind — and rarely get it
Power rises with the cube of wind speed, so a site that's "a bit breezy" produces almost nothing. Small turbines are badly hurt by gusty, turbulent wind — and low-down, tree-surrounded inland gardens serve up exactly that. The lovely sheltered hollow that's perfect for the house is the worst possible spot for a turbine.
They need height, and height means cost and hassle
To reach clean wind a turbine wants a proper mast, well above the trees and buildings — and a tall mast means engineering, a base, guy wires or planning, and a way to lower it for maintenance. That cost often buys a lot of panels instead.
Noise, wear and upkeep
Moving parts up a pole in the weather wear out; some turbines hum or throb in a way that grates when you live under them. Solar just sits there silently for decades. A turbine is a machine you'll maintain — factor that in.
When wind does earn its place the exceptions
A genuinely exposed, windy site
An open hilltop, a coastal fringe, a bare upland plot with a clear run at the prevailing wind and no trees crowding it — there, a well-sited turbine on a proper mast can be a real winter asset. Some of the higher, barer ground in France fits. If your plot is like that, wind moves from gimmick to worth-costing.
Prove the wind before you buy the turbine
Don't trust the feeling of a breezy afternoon. If you're serious, log the wind at mast height over time, or check local wind data honestly. A turbine only pays where the average wind is genuinely good — measure, don't hope.
The planning bit
Height decides the paperwork
In France a small mast may only need a déclaration préalable at the mairie, while a taller installation can need a permis de construire — and protected areas or near-neighbour sites add constraints. Check with the mairie before you commit, same as any structure. It's rarely a dealbreaker on open rural land, but don't skip it.
What it costs — and the honest verdict
Small-turbine ranges, installed DIY. Compare every pound against "more solar + generator."
- £500–2kA small turbine plus a mast, controller and dump load. Cheap ones on short poles rarely deliver; the cost climbs fast once you build a mast tall enough to work.
- the testIf the same money as extra panels would give you more real winter power on your plot — and on most inland sites it will — buy the panels.
The bottom line
For the average tree-sheltered French derelict: skip wind, add solar, keep the generator. Reconsider only if you're buying somewhere genuinely exposed and windy — then it's worth doing properly. Honesty here saves you the most money of any page in this section.
Wind is a top-up, not the main event
On most plots the money goes on panels and battery first. See where power sits in the whole off-grid build.
The whole off-grid build →