hello Morgan ,
you seem to have hit the point I am at , my stumbling block is money !!! I assume you want to connect either the wind or the water power (or both ?) to the old petrol genny instead of the engine? This may be a problem !! most petrol gennies run at about 3000rpm , some faster some slower , but about that speed. The alternator part of the setup is made to run at that speed or there may be a built in gearbox to get it up to that . A windmill will need loads of complicated gearing and will need to be huge , if it is going to run a full genny . It would be better to run a car alternator off the windmill instead. A water wheel hits similar problems ...speed being the worst. A water wheel runs quite slow really , so would need huge amounts of gearing to get you up to speed ,and turbines need vast quantities of fast flowing water with a good head . It is one of those things ..swings and roundabouts....I will be just using a water wheel to produce mechanical power for tools etc and to make a nominal amount of leccy , say up to a max of about 1000 watts ish. I can put up a small windmill but I hit the problem of huge amounts of batteries £££££, so I'll forget that . The thing to think about is how much money you have to throw at it ?? If you want modern amounts of leccy to run a house , then get ready for huge amounts of money to go walkabout. Or change the way of thinking and go back to the old ways of doing it , much cheaper but less leccy. You could also get an old lister CS genny . They will run on just about any oil you can get ie diesel, red or white, heating oil, cooking oil (old or new) , engine oil even hydraulic oil !! and knock out about 2.5-3 kwt. , plus they only run at about 650 rpm . You can even buy a brand new one made in India , exact copies of the old listers. About £800-£900 for the engine and about £300 for the alternator bit . As a guide the genny part needs about a minimum of 6hp ,constant, to work . The more leccy the bigger the engine the more it costs to run . I think a 6hp lister uses about 1 litre an hour to kick out 2.5 kwt. You do get a load of heat that can be used to heat water , with these . So you end up with a combined power and heat system (CPH) Which way to go depends on £££££ My system will therefore be a hotchpotch knocked up for as little as possible.
cheers
Russ