Wind turbine? Does it make sense?

[dmccarty]

... It's a very big wind farm. They went bankrupt because they couldn't afford to keep the windmills working. Rumor has it that newer turbines take less maintenance, and since he no longer has anything to do with those wind farms, I don't know for sure if it's true or not. I was there last year and was shocked to see how many of them had fallen over and had lost their blades. It's a mess....

The WSJ has had a couple articles over the last year or so a about problems in turbine blades. There is a large Indian company that bought out a German company. They have been having problems with the blades failing.

This surprises the heck out of me. We have been making complicated aircraft props for quite a few years, , surely wind turbines are not more complicated?

These were on large turbines. I don't think this problem was on the size of the turbines being discussed in this thread. But I suppose it would be good to ask the turbine company about warranty and known problems.

Later,
Dan

 

[jinman]

I remember in the 1980's when PCs were about $4000 to $5000, a good 13" monitor was $700 and a laser printer was close to $2000. After you got all of that, you could even get a Hayes 1200 baud modem for $500 and log into bulletin boards; no internet.

My, my, my. . . how times have changed. You can now spend $1000 or less and be on the internet and hooked up to multiple cheap devices via USB or Ethernet, even wireless.

I think alternative energy sources are in their infancy and those brave people who spend the big $$$ to be the pioneers are to be commended. However, I think the technology and the price is far too high. My grandkids and their children may be the benefactors of that technology. Today, I think conservation and reducing energy consumption are the best bets for saving money and resources.

 

[BobRip]

I remember in the 1980's when PCs were about $4000 to $5000, a good 13" monitor was $700 and a laser printer was close to $2000. After you got all of that, you could even get a Hayes 1200 baud modem for $500 and log into bulletin boards; no internet.

My, my, my. . . how times have changed. You can now spend $1000 or less and be on the internet and hooked up to multiple cheap devices via USB or Ethernet, even wireless.

I think alternative energy sources are in their infancy and those brave people who spend the big $$$ to be the pioneers are to be commended. However, I think the technology and the price is far too high. My grandkids and their children may be the benefactors of that technology. Today, I think conservation and reducing energy consumption are the best bets for saving money and resources.

Good points. As a start insulate, use efficient appliances, CFL bulbs, etc. Also unplug what is not in use. There is a good payback on this.

 

[mgamber]

Ultimately all the energy we use is Solar (with the exception of geothermal and nuclear), it is just a matter of how effeciently we capture, store and then transmit for use. There has recently been a breakthru in the fields of biology and quantum mechanics that has the potential to make all current energy conversion technology instantly obsolete. It seems that photosynthesis partially works by the strange laws of quantum physics. If this pans out that 50 year return on investment in current technology is gonna be a bitter pill. 10 years from now we will either have super cheap versions of todays tech or something entirely different.

 

[riptides]

I am only 60 miles as the crow flies to Washington DC. What I need is something to harness all the hot air coming out to the farm.

Wind is one thing, hot and cold something else to be thought of.

 

[schmism]

From what I understand, you only generate electricity at certain wind speeds. It's very rare to find a place with consistent wind at the right speed.
Good luck,
Eddie

The large Megawatt generators have variable pitch blades (new versions) or transmissions in them that allow them to work most efficiently at various wind speeds.

True any wind turbine needs a min "break in" speed but the only places they put them are locations with an avg (meaning all the time) min wind speed = to the break in speed.

For small scale turbines they start outputting at ~7 mph and usually output max output at roughtly 30mph after which they will start furling (turning away from the wind) or braking.

As for storing the power its like any other power plant that is "always on" , they dont, its either "use it or loose it" (there is a small test grid in TX that is useing ~4Mw of sodium sulfur batteries to store extra power for peek demand, but thats a rare test case)

 

[WVBill]

A very good friend of mine owns a crane business. Before that, he was in the crane repair business and had the contract for two companies that owned the wind farms on the Altamont Pass in California. It's a very big wind farm. They went bankrupt because they couldn't afford to keep the windmills working.
Eddie

Eddie - That would explain something I've often wondered about. I've been through the Banning Pass on I10 East of LA bunches of times. There's hundreds if not thousands of wind turbines on either side of the freeway all through the pass. The wind is always blowing - - but it always seems like only 20% max of these turbines are actually turning. Now I wonder if it's not because they're down for maintenance.

Zoom in on the Banning Pass in Google Earth and you can see all of the wind turbines!!

 

[dejswa]

Wind turbine longevity is something I am not too familiar with. Being a mechanical device, they certainly would have more problems than solar.I would think that one would not have problems with blades, since the stress on them is far less than aircraft blades, but then again, they are probably made to the minimal specifications by a low bidder (or maybe they are Chinese).

Regarding the prices for solar, etc, it seems that the prices never really change, at least in the last 15 years that I have been looking. It always seems to be $5 per watt for good solar panels. And at current electric prices without rebates or credits, that makes your return on investment equivalent to putting your money in something like 4% savings bond.

I agree, I would not trust getting any additional credits in the future. But if everything else looks good and there is good evidence for an immediate tax credit, then that might help.

And re. the issues of home electric efficiency, yes, that is the key and possibly gives a better ROI than anything else. That is, applying renewable energy to a hopelessly inefficient home doesn't do much. My home unfortunately may be in that category.

 

[debushau]

I've never been able to make sense from wind power on a purely economic analysis. Added to that, there's the headache of the mast, permits, zoning, maintenance. Solar makes so much more sense except for us in the northeast with the worst solar yield in the U.S.!

I figure since 75% of more of my energy bill derives from heating and cooling that it makes more sense to insulate and switch from gas/fuel oil to biomass heating (i.e., wood). Wood is something I have plenty of.

 

[Dunham Farm]

If you want to save money and build your own this is the sight to go to, I'm building a 10' turbine. If you can work on your tractor you can do it.
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Brian