To
be honest about it, people did not give much thought on
utilizing home wind power or of harnessing the same for
generating electricity at home. They just felt the chill
more when wind blew like hurricane or in blizzard form
in the winter, or enjoyed it before the fall when it
made the fallen leaves dance to its tune. The role of
wind in the daily life was quite limited
frankly.
But
things took a graver turn during the last oil crisis
when prices began to rise. Attention was slowly diverted
to harness home wind power, at least where it was
plentiful. The realization had started to arise that
sooner rather than later we would need an alternative
source of energy that would be cheaper too. Some
experimented with automobile alternators coupled to
radiator cooling fans that produced small amount of 12
volt DC power which was promptly stored in 12 volt
automotive storage batteries. Using transformers to hike
the meager power to 120 volt AC current eventually
proved unrealistic and the trials were ultimately
abandoned.
Meanwhile,
business houses that dealt in electrical devices did not
remain idle. End of the year 2007 saw the market flooded
with numerous mini generators or turbines that could be
run with the aid of home wind power, which tied with the
utility grid, could reduce the power bill substantially.
That is, provided sufficient wind power was available at
the site. However, Men, as a rule, irrespective of their
age and mental make up, are fond of toys. And these
turbines brought enough attraction to men to toy with
the idea of harnessing home wind power to generate
electricity right within the four walls of one’s home. A
novelty that was much too tempting to turn
down.
But
eventually many disappointing souls came away defeated
at the game. A large section of these so called
entrepreneurs were aghast to find out that their
friendly neighbors did not at all like the idea of a
wind turbine roaring next door all through the day and
night and complained vehemently to the local authorities
about this mechanical nuisance thrust upon them. And the
authorities had no other alternative but to order
dismantling of the turbines; lock, stock and barrel as
early as possible!. To add injury to the insult, the
wind power was not as trustworthy as believed, sometimes
failing miserably to turn the blades of the turbine. The
result, as may be imagined, was catastrophic. With the
heavy credit load on their head, these people had first
tried to resell the equipments that included the
turbine, an inverter to transform the DC output of the
turbines to usable 12 volt AC along with sundry
electrical items to whosoever might be interested in
these. But alas, there were no takers for such used
electrical goods.
There
are several lessons that could be learnt from this
futile venture which includes the
following:
1. Home
wind power seldom becomes effective in congested city
areas where wind is blocked by large skyscrapers and
many high rises.
2. Home
wind power in urban areas can not be harnessed with the
help of turbines since it disturbs the ecology of the
place.
3. Home
wind power turbines work best when coupled with solar
power electricity generators since the solar units work
effectively all through the day, producing enough
electricity, while the turbines spin in the night
without any interruption.
4. Home
wind power driven turbines also work successfully in
remote areas where wind blows undisturbed all the time,
especially when erected on towers that are sufficiently
high to catch the gale.
5. Home
wind powered turbines are recommended where utility
power is not available.
6.
Home
wind power generating units resemble much larger wind
energy power farms in all respects with the only
difference being their size. Otherwise, home wind power
generators have the same turbine, torque controller,
inverter to convert the electricity obtained from the
system to usable 120 volt AC, batteries for
uninterrupted power supply and elevated tower for
erection. So, they have all the complex problems that
are faced by the big power farms, may be in smaller
doses.
