wind power???

   / wind power??? #21  
remember salesmen are professional at telling only the positive and forgetting the negative. Now about the map, the colors is purple the best or the worst?

Best. Basically west Texas to North Dakota has the most wind to harvest.
 
   / wind power??? #22  
State of CO, the energy coops and companies are killing alt power by home owners by paying a ridiculously low rate for net metering compared to commercial that you pay for the power. It makes it **** near impossible to ever get a payback.

If you are connected to the grid, you pay the power company for the power supplied and for the infrastructure required to get that power to you. If you feed the power back they pay you only for the power you supply, since you didn't provide any power lines to transmit it. The cost of power generation is generally less than half the cost of power supply, so the arrangement is fair.
 
   / wind power??? #23  
Robert, Do not be pushed into it by the windmill supplier. You have all the time in the world. They have to sign you up before another supplier does. Shop around for purchases from other (reputable) suppliers. Your present electricity supplier will be a good source for advice - the more people who supply them, the more reliable their supply, and the less infrastructure they need to build. They win, the power generator (you) wins, provided the windmill supplier continues to maintain your power generation!!

Windpower does work - as does other forms of renewable energy. Here in Portugal those of us connected to the grid receive regular info on the source of energy along with our bill. The latest information I have is for the whole calendar year 2013. Approximately two-thirds of the total energy for the year was derived from renewables. Half (49.6% to be exact) of total energy was from wind power. This is a country that has a lot of sunshine. It normally does not rain from May/early June until late Sept/early Oct, yet wind is preferred to solar power.

Can you confirm the financial system that will apply if you go ahead? Do you use your own generated power and sell the surplus to your supplier - buying when your own is insufficient, or do you continue to buy from them and sell all your production to them? What is the price per kWh you pay and will receive? What is the rated power of the turbine you are being asked to buy? Do you have any other ongoing costs such as payments to a government dept or maintenance fee to the supplier? Are you liable to income tax (presumably at your highest rate) on the income you receive from the electric company? It is not strictly necessary that you post these figures, although it would be interesting, and you do need the info for your own calculations.

Next, be aware that the windmill will not be producing power on a permanent basis, or at the rated capacity. I was an infinitesimal part of a huge study by the Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales for their strategical report "Zero Carbon Britain 2030" - I was one of the reviewers of the Land Use chapter since I have some agricultural knowledge and experience. I tell you this only as background. Included in the report was a statement to the effect that wind turbines cannot be expected to produce more than 30% of their rated potential. That is an extremely important thing for you to know. An often quoted figure is between 25 and 40%, so I think the expectation of 30% is realistic. The ZCB report finds this acceptable on a countrywide basis because the cost of the wind is nothing, whereas using fossil fuels, biomass, nuclear etc. for power generation has a cost that is only likely to increase in the future. It might not be sufficient for the individual who owns one windmill.

The only thing stopping me from having my own windmill is lack of spare cash. The feed-in receipts are exceptionally good here (I do not have the info to hand) but it is also necessary to install a solar hot water system in place of the current electric one at my own expense. I am too old to think about borrowing the capital costs. A neighbour and I have some ideas for producing our own power without the expense of a windmill, but at this stage they are only ideas and a long way from even the experimental stage.
 
   / wind power??? #24  
Agree with OldMcDonald. Don't rush. Consider the true amount of energy to be generated over time, not the max capability of the generator. I've lately been impressed with the drop in cost of solar and the improvement in its efficiency and lack of maintenance. I'd look into that as well.
 
   / wind power??? #25  
We were contacted by United wind about putting in a residential wind turbine. A lot of people have started installing turbines around here but I have not talked with anyone who has one yet. We went over the electric bills and if we pay the $18k up front instead of financing it is a 6 to 7 year payback. United Wind guarantees production and does all maintenance and warranty work for 20 years. Tower is suppose to be at 140 feet and will be behind the house.

So I have tried to research as much as I can but would love to hear from anyone with real world experience with residential wind turbines.

The specs are as follows
Turbine type, Bergey Excel single phase
Tower type, 140ft self supporting lattice
Annual production, 18,542kwh/year

If I am not making any sense I apologize as I do not understand it all myself but am trying to educate myself as much as possible.

If I could get all that for $18000 I would run not walk away. I think just erecting the self supporting 140 foot tower will cost more than that. Putting a prop with 11 foot long blades on top makes a lot of torque.
 
   / wind power??? #26  
In the town I live in there are 5 wind turbine installations. I had a salesman come by and evaluate my property, I live on one of the higher points in town, and wind conditions. He said no issues and recommended an 80 ft tower. He was bragging about the performance of 4 of the turbines in town, he didn't install 1 of them. He calculated a 7-9 year payback, but the turbine was only warranted for 5 years and I found out yearly maintenance was not included in the payback calculations. I then put up a personal weather station, 35ft above the ground. After a year of collecting data, it showed there was not enough wind to make the system cost justifiable. Maintenance and repairs would have eaten up any "profits" and there would never be a payback. I also talked with 3 of the 5 owners of the wind turbines in town, none of them were making the output they were promised and were disappointed in the systems.
I went solar instead.
 
   / wind power??? #27  
Good info from IXLR8. Some sites simply are not suitable for windmills - even within a general area that is.

Similarly some sites are not suitable for solar. The best of them "follow the sun", but solar too has maintenance that needs to be paid for. Solar too is not 100% efficient. I do not have the technical details to hand, and you need to do a lot of online reading to get to the truth, but they become less and less efficient as the temperature rises. They become too hot in many places on a sunny afternoon. Remember my previous post that Portugal (a very sunny country) provides half its power from wind, not solar. Again the inefficiency does not matter as much to a country looking to provide maximum power, because, as with wind, sunshine is free. Inefficiency to a single owner does matter. Oddly enough it seems that places with clear winter days can have a higher overall efficiency than clear sky hot summers and clouded winters.

Across the border in Spain there is use of conentrated solar power and that should interest some TBNers. As a starter think of a concentrated heat source to run a Stirling engine, and take it from there.
 
   / wind power??? #28  
Good info from IXLR8. Some sites simply are not suitable for windmills - even within a general area that is.

Similarly some sites are not suitable for solar. The best of them "follow the sun", but solar too has maintenance that needs to be paid for. Solar too is not 100% efficient. I do not have the technical details to hand, and you need to do a lot of online reading to get to the truth, but they become less and less efficient as the temperature rises. They become too hot in many places on a sunny afternoon. Remember my previous post that Portugal (a very sunny country) provides half its power from wind, not solar. Again the inefficiency does not matter as much to a country looking to provide maximum power, because, as with wind, sunshine is free. Inefficiency to a single owner does matter. Oddly enough it seems that places with clear winter days can have a higher overall efficiency than clear sky hot summers and clouded winters.

Across the border in Spain there is use of conentrated solar power and that should interest some TBNers. As a starter think of a concentrated heat source to run a Stirling engine, and take it from there.


Solar PV does lose some output as temperatures rise. Tracking the sun adds cost and maintenance in addition to increasing output. In general though, here in the US and likely other countries have similar resources, if the NREL (National Renewable Energy Lab.) output estimates are used, it doesn't matter from a planning perspective that the panels are more or less efficient seasonally. You have a reasonable certainty that spending $X will get you Y kilowatt hours for a given month on average.

What else does one really need to know about how much does the resulting energy cost? Getting down in the engineering weeds is helpful in selecting types of hardware and increasing one's understanding but solar pv has reached the point that it is like pumping gas/petrol; the price of a gallon/liter will take you so many miles/km for a given vehicle model.

My solar system to-date exceeds the NREL prediction on an annual basis. There have been months that it did not meet the prediction, but not by a large margin.
 
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   / wind power??? #29  
From what I have heard about residential wind turbines:
The tower height is critical. 120' is considered a minimum in this area to get the turbine up into non-turbulent air above the trees.
People tend to over-estimate their site's wind resources or fail to use a tall enough tower. The wind speed needed for maximum output is quite a windy day in most areas.

I know from traveling I-90 in Robert's area that it can often be windy, even in summer. This 100-meter wind resource map shows a narrow band of good wind along Lake Erie in Robert's area. NREL: Wind Research - New 100-Meter Map Keeps Pace with Growing Wind Technology

The 140' tower, the available wind resource, those are good beginnings for potential. If the company, nearby reference sites, and financials check out it may be a good thing.
 
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   / wind power??? #30  
I'm about 15 miles up I 90 from you and watching your situation closely. Here's some random thoughts.
You have plenty of wind. It blows down 400 miles of Lake Erie, up an escarpment, and compresses a bit to give you 12 hours of decent wind on a pretty much daily basis. The nationwide charts don't account for your micro climate, just like all your neighbors growing grapes.
None of the windmills the Thruway Authority installed have turned a blade just yet. Maybe it's just government in typical action. A little farther up Lake Erie from you is Steelwinds at the old Bethlehem site. I drive by there frequently and will rear end somebody someday because I'm always counting how many windmills are turning, how many seem to be down at any time.
I've seen trucks from C.I.R. Electric working on the Thruways' windmills. They're a good company and will probably be around when warranty work becomes necessary , but I don't know who did the work, made the equipment, or is responsible for the warranty. I'm thinking that the Thruway and it's legal department probably vetted the heck out of whatever company did all that. The problem is that if there's a systemic problem that surfaces causing a lot of warranty claims it's too easy for small companies to go under rather than stagger through a mountain of claims. Try finding repair parts then.
How can you tell when a salesman is lying ? His lips are moving. Well maybe not intentionally lying , but emphasizing the positives and downplaying the negatives.
Couple of years back I was on the school board when we installed a co-generation project. Gas to electricity. The technology wasn't there yet, it was a nightmare for us, and a nightmare for Siemens who also took a bath trying to get the project to work properly. It's no fun being on the leading edge of technology, but Siemens is a worldwide giant which probably isn't going belly up on a problem like this..
Lastly, C.I.R. was out pitching solar panels to me last spring. While it sounded great, their salesman led me to geothermal (which they don't sell). I'm too old to continue cutting 20-30 cords of wood, I don't have natural gas on my farm like you probably do, and oil or propane would cost way too much. This was my kind of salesman. He put my interests above his commission when he gave me a geothermal recommendation. When I recover from the staggering cost of geothermal, and after I see how much additional electricity the geo. eats, I must look this guy up for some panels.
Good luck with your decision, please keep us posted.
 
   / wind power??? #31  
I didn't read all the post so I apologize if a I repeat what was already said.
I think small wind is out due to cheap solar panels. There is one good and several bad aspects of owning small wind generator.
The good:
Generates power when sun doesn't shine.
The bad:
It is generally more expensive per kWh produced than solar.
Requires preventive maintenance=expense.
The maintenance is 140 ft high=expense.
Are prone to damage by high wind, ice build up etc=expense.
last time I looked at installed cost of Bergey 10kW it was about 40,000 DIY before incentives.

If you have the space go solar. Typical warranty for 1st and 2nd tier manufacturers is 25 years, it requires minimal maintenance, the maintenance is on ground or roof of your building. Excess energy is relatively easy to store in a water tank in example for heating at night.

In either case ROI depends on contract with the utility.
Solar with similar production will cost you about 30,000 DIY before incentives.
 
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   / wind power??? #32  
State of CO, the energy coops and companies are killing alt power by home owners by paying a ridiculously low rate for net metering compared to commercial that you pay for the power. It makes it **** near impossible to ever get a payback.

That explains it then...just got back from a little sight-seeing cruise through the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, up through New Mexico to Gunnison Colorado. Windmill farms everywhere, but nothing on the Colorado side. Our best guess was that the greenies had somehow lobbied them into oblivion...which may actually be the case.
 
   / wind power??? #33  
That explains it then...just got back from a little sight-seeing cruise through the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, up through New Mexico to Gunnison Colorado. Windmill farms everywhere, but nothing on the Colorado side. Our best guess was that the greenies had somehow lobbied them into oblivion...which may actually be the case.

Colorado has 2.3 GW of wind power installed. The biggest enemy of large scale wind turbine is turbulence therefore you will not see large wind turbines in hilly or obstructed areas.
 
   / wind power??? #34  
As another poster already mentioned, don't be taken in by rated capacity on a wind turbine. In Germany and England they have been going crazy installing wind turbines over the last decade and are now finding out that turbines are producing at 17% of capacity in Germany and 20% of capacity in England.
Turbines not only don't produce in low or no wind situations but shut down if it's too windy and if there is freezing rain or ice on the props.
Here in New Brunswick the wind turbines are always shutting down after freezing rain storms. When it happened the first time, the company that sold and installed them for the government was called and asked to correct the problem....their solution?.......wait for the ice to melt.
In Ontario they are finding that wind turbines ( over 200' high ) are possibly causing health problems from people being situated too close and agricultural problems from the vibration of the towers causing the earth worm population to vacate the area affected. ( not making this up ). Also turbines are a known enemy for the bird and bat population.
 
   / wind power??? #35  
My biggest concern with wind is too many moving parts.On my solar system nothing moves but the meter and that's the power co's problem.
 
   / wind power??? #36  
As another poster already mentioned, don't be taken in by rated capacity on a wind turbine. In Germany and England they have been going crazy installing wind turbines over the last decade and are now finding out that turbines are producing at 17% of capacity in Germany and 20% of capacity in England.
Turbines not only don't produce in low or no wind situations but shut down if it's too windy and if there is freezing rain or ice on the props.
Here in New Brunswick the wind turbines are always shutting down after freezing rain storms. When it happened the first time, the company that sold and installed them for the government was called and asked to correct the problem....their solution?.......wait for the ice to melt.
In Ontario they are finding that wind turbines ( over 200' high ) are possibly causing health problems from people being situated too close and agricultural problems from the vibration of the towers causing the earth worm population to vacate the area affected. ( not making this up ). Also turbines are a known enemy for the bird and bat population.

Any resources to support these claims?
Wind myths: Turbines can damage your health | Environment | theguardian.com
Top 10 Wind Energy Myths
http://www.beam.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Wind-Farm-Facts.pdf

This website lists 222 things caused by wind generators including prayer problems for monks, weight loss, weight gain, yawning, earthworm disturbance, vomiting blood, PTSD, nose bleeds.....basically everything! :confused2:
Is there anything that is not caused by wind farms?

Loren
 
   / wind power??? #37  
Since solar has been mentioned several times, thought you would be interested in an article in our paper today - from the AP - so may be in other papers as well..."Solar plant incinerating birds by the thousands"...when you read the article, you'll see that by no means is this a typical solar installation. It is a large mirror installation in California that may be cooking as many as one bird every two minutes.

Solar plant incinerating birds by the thousands - Richmond Times-Dispatch: Richmond, Virginia News, Sports, Politics, Classifieds And Commentary
 
   / wind power??? #38  
Since solar has been mentioned several times, thought you would be interested in an article in our paper today - from the AP - so may be in other papers as well..."Solar plant incinerating birds by the thousands"...when you read the article, you'll see that by no means is this a typical solar installation. It is a large mirror installation in California that may be cooking as many as one bird every two minutes.

Solar plant incinerating birds by the thousands - Richmond Times-Dispatch: Richmond, Virginia News, Sports, Politics, Classifieds And Commentary

Thus solving two domestic needs-energy and feeding the poor. Win/Win.
 
   / wind power??? #39  
Ya gotta love it when someone quotes their climate gods from everyones favourite left wing rag.....The Guardian.
Drs. from Northern Ontario where most of the Industrial Wind Turbines are being installed are reporting their patients that live in close proximity to IWTs complaining of stress, sleep depravation, head aches, anxiety depression and cognitive dysfunction. In 2006 an Acadamie Nationale de Medicine reports the same findings. A 2009 a Minnesota Dept of Health sites a study by Phillips et al where a controlled study of families near 2 Maine wind projects had the same findings.
In 2012 the Board of Health in Brown County Wisconsin requested financial relocation assistance for families suffering adverse health effects by the irresponsible placement of IWTs around their homes.
In 2011 An Ontario environmental review tribunal decision acknowleged that IWTs can harm human health.
These are only a few of the studies and findings available on line
IWTs aren't responsible for all of the worlds ills, unlike climate change for the alarmists.
 
   / wind power??? #40  
When in doubt attack one of the 4 references as a way to discredit what you don't like to read. People who dislike wind generators enough can be effected by them. Hate is a powerful thing.

No controlled studies find a higher incidence of medical problems:

Environmental impact of wind power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The environmental impact of wind power for land-based wind turbines, compared to the environmental impacts of traditional energy sources, is relatively minor. It is slightly higher than the environmental impact of hydro power on a life-cycle basis. Unlike electricity derived from fossil fuel and nuclear power plants, wind power does not use fuel when running or employ a fueling cycle. The total life-cycle emissions are 9 gCO2/kWh. Compared with non-renewable and renewable sources wind turbines are among the cleanest power plants.[2

There are anecdotal reports of negative health effects from noise on people who live very close to wind turbines.[8] Peer-reviewed research has generally not supported these claims.[9][10]

Wind gets clean bill of health | Toronto Star

Among their findings:
Symptoms from what some call "wind turbine syndrome" are no different than symptoms observed in the general population from the day-to-day stresses of life. These symptoms include headaches, insomnia, anxiety, dizziness, and ringing in the ears.
All survey-based studies designed to support the existence of wind turbine syndrome are not scientifically valid because they have no control group – those who participate are self-selected and at risk of bias.

http://canwea.ca/pdf/talkwind/Wind_Turbine_Sound_and_Health_Effects.pdf

Following review, analysis, and discussion, the panel reached agreement on three key
points:
There is nothing unique about the sounds and vibrations emitted by wind turbines.
• The body of accumulated knowledge about sound and health is substantial.
• The body of accumulated knowledge provides no evidence that the audible or
subaudible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological
effects.


In conclusion:
1. Sound from wind turbines does not pose a risk of hearing loss or any other adverse
health effect in humans.
2. Subaudible, low frequency sound and infrasound from wind turbines do not present a
risk to human health.
3. Some people may be annoyed at the presence of sound from wind turbines. Annoyance
is not a pathological entity.
4. A major cause of concern about wind turbine sound is its fluctuating nature. Some may
find this sound annoying, a reaction that depends primarily on personal characteristics
as opposed to the intensity of the sound level.

Axe Man used this :Adverse health effects of industrial wind turbines

It was published the College of Family Physicians of Canada but states "The opinions expressed in commentaries are those of the authors." Publication does not imply endorsement by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
And appears more anecdotal than factual results of a study comparing similar people who do not live near wind generators.

I live near wind generators (<1200ft closest) and know a peraon who claims all sorts of things due to these machines. Truth is he was not a happy person before construction but now has something to blame it on...his wife didn't leave because of the towers as he claims.:thumbsup:

Loren
 

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