Anyone haveResidential WInd turbine?

   / Anyone haveResidential WInd turbine? #32  
Hi Scesnick. In popular mechanics Jay Leno has vertical wind power in his "green garage". I looked into windmills and Bid D electric in Cumberland installs them. I did my homework and I just don't have enough wind to justify one. You need around 7mph before the turbine kicks in for many of these units. A frind of mine who also lives in Garett County says some of the wind farm people are looking for land to put turbines on and pay the landowner rent/royalties etc. My buddy is trying to get in touch with the people doing the job in nearby West Virginia to see about getting his 150+ acres evaluated.

Rent money may be as good as generating your own power.:)
 
   / Anyone haveResidential WInd turbine?
  • Thread Starter
#33  
elalexander,

US Windforce is putting 26 of them up right outside my gate. Starting construction this spring I believe. They appoched me and my neighbor about possibly expanding onto our property. After looking into it, it's not worth it. They wanted about 20 acres per turbine at only about $6,000 a year for a 30 year lease. My property is only 76 acres to begin with. I passed and so did my neighbor.

Can't wait till they get the turbines done though. I will have a spanking new road all the way to my gate. check it out here. ( click under "Projects"and then click Savage Mt. )

US Wind Force, LLC - Home
 
   / Anyone haveResidential WInd turbine? #34  
Thanks Scott. I think they look good. But I don't live near one here in the Tri-Towns area.
 
   / Anyone haveResidential WInd turbine? #35  
If you can do micro-hydro, that's the most cost-effective source of alternative power. I have a 1kW system running at my place, and the cost for the unit was about $2,000 total. I've also got a 6.4 kW solar system installed on my hillside and between the two I've got more power than I know what to do with.

The prices you mentioned for a wind system seem really high - you should be able to get a decent wind generator for around $2K. Keep in mind, though, that the maintenance and upkeep of the wind turbines is a pain in the butt. When they do have to be serviced, you need to take down the whole supporting mast, and that's no small affair. And, because of the nature of the wind turbine, it's not a simple effort to manage the power. Because you have wildly varying wind speeds, you need a good controller that won't fry your battery bank. Finally, if you're in a lightning prone area, you need to employ some serious measures to protect the electronics that power your home.

In my humble opinion, I'd recommend taking a look at some of the deals you can get on eBay for full pallets of solar panels. If you can get pallets of panels for under $4 a watt, the payoff will be really quick. Best of all, the solar system is pretty much maintenance free. From personal experience, even though solar was much more expensive than the hydro power, it's a better deal because I don't need to worry about it. The hydro, while very cool and cheap, spins at a high speed and the bearings need to be replaced every few years - and the screens to keep the muck out of the system need to be cleaned every few days. Once those screens get clogged, your power goes to nothing real fast.
 
   / Anyone haveResidential WInd turbine? #37  
I have a wind generator similar to that shown in the Costco ad, with similar power ratings. I've had it for several years, and it now rests packed away in my shop. It isn't my first wind generator, either.

Wind generators have a number of drawbacks, most of which new buyers don't seem to realize.

1. They are noisy. Some are worse than others, but they all make noise.

2. They have to be maintained, which means some sort of tilt over tower or other arrangement that allows it to be serviced.

3. Their power output is a lot less than you think, because the wind is flukey. You can't detect it very well with your own senses, but once you watch a small wind generator at work you will understand. They hunt, following each and every twitch of the breeze, and when they do, they momentarily lose alignment with the wind and their output drops. It is typical to see a wind generator output meter varying all over the place.

4. They must be furled or shutdown in high wind conditions or they will self destruct, sometimes throwing blades with lethal force. Not all automatic furling systems work in all conditions. Sometimes, human intervention is required. There is nothing scarier than manually turning a howling wind generator out of the wind to get it under control.

There are other issues, but those points should be enough.
 

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