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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