What
is a residential wind turbine? How does it
work?
Wind
is a form of solar energy. It is basically a kinetic
energy that is converted into electricity by the wind
energy turbines. Amongst the various applications of
wind energy turbines, residential wind energy production
is becoming the most popular one by the day. Installed
on top of tall towers, a residential wind turbine
collects the motion energy from the fast wind to convert
it into electrical power that is linkable to the
household electrical system.
Residential
wind energy systems: the mechanism
involved
Although
a residential wind energy production system is a
low-scale set-up, an IOU or investor-owned utility is
required along with a wind turbine in order to run the
system at a comparatively lower rate. A minimum of 7-10
miles per hour wind speed is required for the whole
set-up to run smoothly and capture all the power needed
from the win d energy alone. A lower wind speed however,
results in no power output from the wind energy turbine
and thus all the required power has to be purchased from
the utility. Gradually as the wind speed increases, the
wind turbine output also improves thereby decreasing the
amount of power purchased from the investor-owned
utility proportionately. In case the wind speed is
higher for a longer period of time, the extra power
generated by the wind energy turbine than required by
the household is traded to the investor-owned utility.
This whole mechanism is set-up to function automatically
since the modern residential wind energy production
systems do not involve the usage of batteries.
The
question as to whether at all the residential wind
energy turbines save money and are worth the effort is
quite a valid one. And the answer is it is 100%
worthwhile as the residential wind turbines save as much
as 50-90% of your electric bill. However these numbers
vary with the obvious factors like the average speed of
wind at that particular locality, the amount of
electricity consumed by the household and of course the
cost involved in the wind turbine set-up. Usually the
amount of electricity consumed in homes on a yearly
basis ranges from 9000-9,500 kilowatt- hours. This
requirement is easily fulfilled by a wind turbine rated
in a span of 5-15 kilowatts, the other factors like wind
speed and altitude of the place being
considered.
How
economic and environ-friendly is the wind
turbine?
Although
reducing the electricity bill by more than 80%, there
are several other agents affecting the economy of a
residential wind turbine. When the economics of
residential wind turbines are involved the average wind
speed of an area is the most sensitive factor involved
as the whole system banks upon this involuntary
phenomenon. The thumb rule of financing a residential
wind turbine is to ensure a minimum wind sped of 10
miles per hour and a payment of a maximum of 10 cents
per kilowatt-hour for the electricity produced. Speaking
about the environmental aspect, residential wind
turbines can be installed with a complete reassurance of
NOT polluting the environment with greenhouse gases and
other air pollutants like the conventional power plants.
Rather residential wind energy generators countervail
the air pollution that the investor-owned utility would
have caused. Studies indicate the off-set of decent
amounts of air pollutants (nearly 1.2 tons) and
greenhouse gases (about 200 tons) by the small
residential wind turbines.
How
rewarding setting up a residential wind turbine could
be?
Apart
from the financial and environmental advantages,
residential wind energy production has various other
potential profits. A very assuring fact about this
so-called huge set-up is that one does not have to
change any appliances or electrical wiring of his house
and a residential wind turbine is usually fitted
virtually to the house with an additional utility meter
to assess the additional amount of electricity derived
from the turbine owner. Also a residential wind turbine
makes much less noise than any home appliances like the
washing machine or the music systems. Amazingly enough
residential wind turbines do not interfere with the
television transmission efficiency as wrongly believed
by most people. Coming to the cost and maintenance of
residential wind energy generators, an average of $6,000
to $20,000 is enough to install one and run
automatically which really do not need any servicing for
at least 20 years. Yes, that’s a fantabulous concept
indeed to save your environs that’s easy on your pocket
as well.
