Small wind generation systems for private homes/farms

Comment

Comment by Bill Metheny on August 14, 2008 at 1:07pm

I have a small (7-acre) place in Montana that has decent wind. I would like a turbine to provide my household electricity. However, I have not found a potential supplier willing to give me a quotation. If there are some in this group, I would like to hear from them.

Comment by Norris Ogard on August 13, 2008 at 3:32pm

From what I could glean from the Small Wind conference I attended, clear wind is preferable to turbulent wind.. Any obstructions: buildings, trees, shrubbery, fences, etc. disturb the flow of air and provide little convertable energy. Problem: How do you capture the wind at low, turbulent velocity, and generate electric energy efficiently?
I like the design of the VAWT, can't wait to check it out!

Comment by Judi Grimsley on August 10, 2008 at 7:44pm

so..... how much wind does it require to get a wind generation system up and going? Anybody know right offhand?

I've been looking into solar too and this sounds interesting.

Comment by Chad Deal on August 10, 2008 at 4:29pm

I will be watching closely and learning about small wind power operations. Glad to have found this link.
Chad

Comment by Todd Nelson on August 9, 2008 at 10:52am

I am happy to find this group. I was thinking of starting a similar group. I am very interested in small renewable energy systems for residential use. I firmly believe that all consumers are going to have to conserve and go green in some form or fashion to solve this crisis.

I am working with an electrical contractor in North Texas to offer such systems. We just published our site to offer small residential wind turbines. Check it out and let me know what you think.

www.PowerTechDFW.com



Thanks,


Todd

Comment by Todd Nelson on August 9, 2008 at 10:46am

If i did the math correctly, the cheapest turbine @ www.magenn.com would be $50,000 for a 5KW system. That is extremely expensive.

Comment by Stephen Daus on August 8, 2008 at 3:21pm

Was @ 5th annual small wind conference in Stevens Point, WI. So many more manufactures of small wind turbines were at the conference that {the first day} Tuesday was taken up totally by them. What looks like an industry getting bigger fast. I hope I can help if your thinking of buying into small wind.

Plus the 19th annual Energy Fair {June 20-22nd} was great. So many companies going into green energy. This is getting big.

Comment by Daniel Herron on August 7, 2008 at 7:47pm

I encountered an interesting site, www.magenn.com, that provides airel windmills that are cheaper and more efficient than the ground-based ones. Thought I would share.

Comment by John Hope on July 26, 2008 at 3:09pm

Net metering is allowed, but one cannot go negative on an overall basis. Lifting that restriction would make wind power an income generator for many farms.

Comment by John T on July 23, 2008 at 4:24am

Net metering as it is called is allowed by many States, if not all States. I don't know exactly. In fact it is required by law.

As for the rate of return, 7% return would be a good investment, so a payout in 14 years in round numbers is fine. We don't need a payout in 3 years. Unfortunately house mounted small turbines are generally over $5000 and will require permitting. In most places I bet you will not get a permit approved for individual house applications if you live in a crowded neighborhood. People will not like the looks of them so they will reject them.

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