Domestic Wind Turbines – What You Need To Know Before You Start
August 12th, 2009 | 
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photo: flickr.com/photos/neilsharp
For people thinking of installing domestic wind turbines, I have to tell you something important you must consider before you go any further.
A recent UK report has just changed the rules of the game by releasing some surprising findings about their effectiveness.
First the bad news: it has been found that urban areas are generally a bad place for a domestic turbine. This is because home wind generators are very sensitive to turbulence and therefore work at their optimum in open spaces i.e. away from built up areas.
Up until now, the potential of residential wind turbines in urban areas has been over estimated according to the study published by the Energy Saving Trust (EST). This explains why many city folk who’ve installed their own turbine have been disappointed by the feeble amount of electricity produced.
Now for the good news: the EST also found that home wind generators on the whole have more potential than previously thought. In the UK, a massive 800,000 homes could be powered in this way if fully exploited. This doesn’t include large scale wind farms; just small residential turbines.
As an avid enthusiast of domestic wind turbines, I was very exited by these findings. In recent years, wind power has been down played as not making economic sense. While this may be true in cities, in locations where the wind is right this simply isn’t true.
The Guardian newspaper covered the story well:-
”Generally, pole-mounted in areas of good, clean air with unobstructed air flow gave better than expected performance,” said Green. Those in the most exposed rural parts of Scotland gave the best results, generating in excess of 18,000 KWh (or £2,300 of electricity) and save 7,500kg of carbon dioxide a year.”
The full article can be found at: – http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/08/domestic-wind-turbines
The lesson learnt here is crucial if you want to know just how much electricity you could potentially save. Before you make up your mind whether to get a turbine or not, you first need to seek expert advice.
For UK locations, the EST have launched a wind speed prediction tool on their website: http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Can-I-generate-electricity-from-the-wind-at-my-home
US residents can contact the American Wind Energy Association site: – http://www.awea.org/faq/wwt_potential.html#How%20much%20energy
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Why The Future Of Domestic Wind Generators Could Be Up In The Air…. Literally!
Domestic wind generators one day could be kite-like devices flying 15,000 ft high and sending much of the planets energy down to the ground through cables.
That’s the picture given by this page:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_wind_turbine
Although no airborne turbines are yet in production, researchers appear to be optimistic about their potential. The high winds of the jet stream are so powerful that harnessing just 1% of their power would meet the needs for the whole planet.
Unlike gusts at ground level, at high altitudes the winds are constantly very strong – ideal for generating lots of energy.
The disadvantages of such a system would be that it would create no-fly zones to prevent aircraft collisions. But that seems a small inconvenience to me.
This invention could in theory be scaled down for use at very small altitudes. Since the wind at just 100-200 feet is so powerful, domestic wind generators such as these could be powerful enough for a single unit to power an entire home.
Small Wind Generators Blow Strong Despite Recession
Small wind generators are booming despite of the credit crunch says Reuters:-
http://smallbusiness.uk.reuters.com/2009/11/19/small-wind-blows-strong-despite-recession/
The above article describes many factors that have caused the home wind generator market to rise sharply. The driving factor seems to be rising energy prices and the introduction of feed-in tarrifs that allow electricity to be sold back to the grid.
Another powerful factor is the reduction of installation cost which has been falling steadily, and is estimated to fall another 80% over the next few years as volumes increase.
Simple Funnel Innovation Can Boost Residential Wind Turbines Power 8 Fold
Although this company does not make residential wind turbines, it does have a feature that could potentially work a treat if you fancy a DIY project. http://www.getsmartenergy.com/windcube/how-it-works.aspx
By fitting a funnel over the front of the turbine, the wind is accelerated through the blades and this increases the power by a massive 8 times. Very exiting news!
Small Wind Generators Planning Permission – Jonathon Dimbleby’s Story
“It’s one of those things that, once it is up, people relax. I think there should be one in every community.”
Home Wind Generator Planning Permission in Wisconsin
“The wind turbine that he then installed about a year later, however, really caught the eye of village officials and neighbors.
While Wisconsin prohibits municipalities and homeowners associations from prohibiting structures that generate renewable energy, the turbine in question needed a structural permit, something the homeowner did not have at the time.”
New UK Energy Tarrifs Could See Boom In Domestic Wind Turbines
“Next year will see the introduction of feed-in tariffs – where householders will receive a set payment for the electricity generated and exported.”
This means that from next April, householders who generate their own energy will be able to sell excess supplies back to the National Grid.
Domestic Wind Turbines Related Articles
This week I have found some interesting posts about domestic wind turbines that are worth reading…
- What You Never Knew About Home Wind Turbine Design | Living Life … – Back in the day if you thought about a home wind turbine, what would have come to mind is a large tower with enormous white blades spinning rather slowly. But, with the development in technology and the need for more and more people to …
- Stereo view of derelict windmill – Every now and then I look through my aerial images for what I call serendipitous stereo pairs. These are pairs of images taken in quick succession with essentially the same view. During the time between exposured the camera’s position …
- Why Not Put a Wind Turbine on Your Roof? – Unsought Input – Wind turbines are cool. The might not be able to replace all the coal power plants in the world, but …
A Domestic Wind Turbine Combined with a Heat Pump Could be the Greenest Addition to Homes
A 5 kw domestic wind turbine combined with a heat pump saved one UK school 25% of it’s energy bill: -
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/article
Interestingly, the headmaster of the school said that of all the green measures they had installed, this saved the most money and made the biggest difference.
Notice that their 5kw turbine and heatpump is saving a quarter of a whole school’s £16,000 per year energy bill. This technology can make a big impact even for large buildings like schools.
This is great news for larger than average households.
Astronomer Builds Domestic Wind Generator
Build your own domestic wind generator.
http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_Turbine/index.html
photo credit: Diego_3336