Domestic Wind Turbines Blog

Archive for the ‘DOMESTIC WIND TURBINE’ Category

EPA analysis:

"[The bill would] create strong demand for a domestic manufacturing market for these next generation technologies that will enable American workers to serve in a central role in our clean energy transformation;

"
[It would] play a critical role in the American economic recovery and job growth – from retooling shuttered manufacturing plants to make wind turbines, to using equipment and expertise in drilling for oil to develop clean energy from underground geothermal sources, to tapping into American ingenuity to engineer coal-fired power plants that do not contribute to climate change. "

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/economics/economicanalyses.html

http://climateprogress.org/2009/04/21/waxman-markey-epa-analysis/

Consider Denmark, which Forbes just named "the best country in the world for business" for 2 straight years. Denmark has one of the strongest cap-and-trade commitments in the world — 20% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. And it has a requirement that 20 percent of its overall energy mix be renewable by the end of 2011. And its efficiency measures are such that Energy Minister Connie Hedegaard said last year, “In 2025, (Denmark’s) total energy consumption will not have risen in 50 years.” And it’s the best country for business in the world.

One recent plan to address global warming would just cost less than 3% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 to meet its lowest targets — or 0.12% annually. The IPCC suggests similar annual mitigation costs of 0.2-3.5% of current world GDP. That compares favorably to global economic growth that every year has averaged almost 3% since 2000. The damage from unabated climate change, meanwhile, might eventually cost the global economy 5-20% of GDP each year, every year, according to a 2006 British government report.

Moreover, Florida and California have recently performed studies regarding the economic costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Florida concluded that a 50% cut in the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2025 would save the state $28 billion. California similarly concluded the economic savings from its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions would outweight the costs.

I mean, one decent article written by them, in tomorrow’s newspapers, could save us all.
Example:
What do environment-concious people need? And want to buy (especially if it is zero-VAT rated)?
The answer is a mini wind turbine!
(This must be silent-running, easy to install and maintenance free).
(And ideally made from resin, with paddles – not blades, made from metal).(Cos we need to move away from the cutting-edge).

Every domestic customer who doesn’t know how they are going to be able to afford energy bills, who is worried about future power cuts due to the impending lack of energy, realises that switching to a renewable, clean, free energy source is the obvious choice.

BUT the wind turbines currently available are too expensive to make investment in one worthwhile.

Potential customers have been holding back for years hoping the price of turbines drops substantially – which sadly hasn’t happened.

So, what is required to change this unhappy situation?

Well, here’s my suggestion: Gordon Brown could contact a car factory facing decline, and find a suitable designer (who is quite possibly facing redundancy!) and commission a new design – investing government (i.e. public) money, to ensure it works to achieve maximum efficiency, and when it is mass-produced, perhaps offer a subsidy to help those on a low income to acquire one.

There! In one clever move, our Prime Minister has helped to solve the UK’s energy black-hole, he has come up with another product for factories to make, he has helped to reduce our carbon footprint by making an alternative to fossil fuel viable, and he has reduced energy bills signifcantly. How absolutely brilliant!

(If Gordon Brown needs motivating to do this, please just mention in the newspaper article how we’re hanging on by a thread, needing him to see the light).

If only it could be as simple as that!

It would be as simple as that if the media cared about the public!

Which leads me back to my question – they don’t tend to report solutions (due to political bias?)
so does that mean the media want the public to suffer??

(In the absence of such an article / great event-
maybe we’d manage if we could just have a working drawing
we could just circulate? Keen / DIY enthusiasts could maybe get this very IMPORTANT (ESSENTIAL) NEW PRODUCT made?)

Thank you for sparing the time to read this.
Your thoughts – much appreciated – cheers!

I forgot to mention I am interested to know why the media are being neglectful?
Herelda: Thanks for the interesting link.

I have a design if anyone can get in contact and suggest funding / partnership.

- based on the KISS principle – it uses standard parts, mounts onto reclaimed street light posts (so is safely out of reach), and is self assembly to keep costs down.

As it is self assembly, the user gets knowledge of the system – so can fault-find and repair themselves.
It is also a modular system, that can be upgraded to a higher output very easily.
Will accept "user customisation" regarding blades – so anything could be used – even Venetian blinds – or plastic from barrels.
Will run background appliances like a fridge – so if powercuts happen – it will sustain essentials, and could also power laptops or LED downlights.

Just need help to get the design finalised and prototypes made.

"A study of domestic turbines was published by renewable energy consultants Encraft in December. According to the study, only one of the 15 household wind turbines generated enough to power a 75W light bulb. The average daily output was 393.3W: an average of 17W per hour. In all, only three of the turbines generated over 400W of electricity, with one generating 1,790W per day."
Andrew Orlowski also says "Domestic "microwind" turbines, recently championed as "power from the people" by opposition leader David Cameron, are about as useful as a chocolate teapot."
Do you agree with this?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/register/20080107/ttc-home-turbines-can-t-light-a-candle-d1d76f9_1.html

I agree
Siteing of turbines is key, and putting on urban buildings which produce loads of turbulence is a poor choice.
Better to buy from large turbines properly located and already available to everyone on the national grid.

better to insulate homes & reduce water usage as set out in Sustainable homes standard (level 3 is required for "affordable" homes receiving government grant >25% better than open market housing) http://www.sustainablehomes.co.uk/about2.htm

But of course your neighbours won’t know how green you are without a recognisable "flag" wind turbine. For really good advice & training for home generation options see Centre for Alterrnative Technology – well worth a visit http://www.cat.org.uk

PS my local nuclear powerstation is a huge blot, a white dome bigger than St Pauls, sited on a flat coast of outstanding natural beuty, can be seen from over 12 miles away. (but not from Westminster)

I have watched a promo at tv this morning about building my own wind generator and that guy seemed to be very convincing, everything was costing about $200 and he was making his own energy at home.Also when he was making something extra it was payed by the energy company so he made something ecologic and also economic.
I wanna know who made this , cause on tv looks very nice but in reality might be different , so did anybody made a domestic wind generator ?If yes how ? or where did you read all the details? Thank you!

I have personally seen other guides that have been made available and I found them very confusing. I have a great passion for the environment and I want as many people as possible to start generating their own power.

That’s why I have written my manual in simple, easy-to-read English with clear illustrations that will guide you through the process. My manual was created with the complete novice in mind so I will basically hold your hand through the build and installation process.

After writing my manual I wanted to know if "the average person" could generate their own power simply by following my guide. I set out to find my test subjects who wanted to "go green" and I found 11 people who knew nothing about generating power. I was very happy to see that all of my test subjects were able to generate enough electricity to power their household appliances!

You can find it on my blog : http://windgeneratorguide.blogspot.com/

Hey Katae, Huge is correct on the location criteria. Any wind turbine will have difficulty making power below the tree top level, and higher is definitely better. We have had 3 different turbines here over the last 15 years. The first was a home brew I cooked up, ran for almost 4 minutes before it disintegrated. The second was an inexpensive unit made for a sailboat. We ran it for 2 years, but it burned up regulators every 6 months like clockwork. Our current one was built in Duluth, it’s a heavy model made for strong winds, and it’s had a few small issues, but continues to power our home part of the year.

When you mention, "All the Hype?" I’m not sure what you mean. In my experience, I’ve had a hard time getting anyone to even tell me about wind turbines. It took some research, but we found some publications and sources to learn about the different models and manufacturers. We didn’t experience a lot of hype about it. I would guess that most any small wind turbines you can buy off the shelf at a farm supply store or similar location are probably good enough units for home use, but most people that have problems with them are having issues with the tower they install to put it on. When we decided to convert our home over to wind and solar power years ago, we did almost all the work ourselves, except for the tower. We ended up hiring a guy near us that does towers for a living. He sold us a used one in sections, then helped us put it up. His expertise was well worth the extra money. Not that you can’t install one yourself, but you need to educate yourself a bit, beyond reading the instruction manual that might come with one.

There is an excellent periodical that really gets into the nuts and bolts of these things, it’s called, "Home Power Magazine." I’ll list the link below. It doesn’t cost much, and most issues, they take something related to renewable energy, like solar panels, inverters, wind turbines and so on, and list each one available to buy along with all its specs, warranties, power handling, and so on. They did one on home sized wind turbines a year or two ago. If you subscribe online, you’ll have access to all their archived articles and you can read about wind turbines yourself. There are also two people I would consider guru’s on the subject. Mick Sagrillo has been building and installing wind turbines for over 30 years, he writes articles and teaches courses on wind power in Wisconsin today. You can find some of his work online. Paul Gipe has written several books on the subject, including, "Wind Power for Home and Business." I suggest getting it at the library and reading it.

Don’t ask the salesperson at the DIY store for advice, unless he has one running at his place and he’s willing to show it to you. And I would shy away from getting answers from strangers online that don’t have a working wind turbine in their yard either. In my years growing my own electrons here, one thing I’ve discovered you can find in abundance in the renewable energy field is misinformation. Seems like everyone has heard something, read something, or seen something on TV, but nobody actually has a solar array or turbine at their house, yet they’re willing to give out advice to you and let you try it. If you take the time to subscribe to Home Power, read the books and articles you can find, and possibly try to make one of the renewable energy fairs in your area, you’ll have a great deal more than an answer to your question. In the end, you might decide not to get involved at all, and that’s fine, but at least you’ll be well informed. Good luck, and take care, Rudydoo

B&Q, Check the website!

How do they attach to the mains electric?

check out here:http://www.vestas.com/en/modern-energy/experience-the-wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work.aspx

We’re trialing the best performers at our test centre, but i’d be interested in your views, and to know if we’ve missed any?
www.the-green-company.com

I think you only have one wind turbine from WindTrap (they have a wide range including DIY kits) in your trial.

Tory leader, David Cameron has a wind turbine (manufactured by Eclectic Energy) but I think he may have to wait many years to recover his costs:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=395311&in_page_id=1770

If they turn out to be cost-effective that would make them very attractive.

B & Q did a wind turbine it cost about £1500 pound and only lit lights
not sockets a life span of 10 years could not be given if 10 years was achieved this was £150 per year most house holds dont do £150 per year lights so why waste money and space global warming is just nature we have had ice ages before got over it they did not have polution as we do and if ther goverment was so concerned planes wagons whould be reduced so carry on as you are

How often would a domestic wind turbine on the roof of a regular house require maintenance?

Probably yearly would be a good starting point, just for peace of mind.
If its on a roof top then it should have been installed under the CDM regs…. which should take into account the requirement for maintenance and have in place an appropriate mechanism to perhaps descend the equipment to the ground without involving working at height unecesarily