It
was a tussle between the small wind and the big wind
that raged till August, 2007 in which small wind had
lost the war. In a story titled “It’s no breeze making
switch to wind power” published in the British paper The Telegraph in
the same year that a columnist claimed, ‘small wind
wasn’t ready for prime time’. Factors that led to the
decision included lack of force to turn the turbine,
vibrations and annoying noise created by the contraption
that did not justify the marginal production of electric
current through a residential wind
energy machine, also called a turbine.
Curiously enough, this happened when global wind power
generation had already increased fivefold as compared to
the figures available in the summer of 2000. It included
wind powered electricity produced in
The
scenario however started changing fast by the end of the
same year when The New York Times
ran an article entitled “Homespun Electricity, From
the Wind” in which the writer profiled several success
stories in praise of residential wind energy
for the generation of electricity. It contained, among
others, accounts of how Rena Wilson and her husband had
taken advantage of the gusts of wind blowing through
their estate near
Coming
back to the brass tacks, here are a few guidelines for
people preferring to use residential wind energy to
augment their electricity production. As a first step
towards reaching the goal, one should ascertain the
quantum of electricity that is needed for the home. A
typical home, according to the AWEA, needs around 780
kWh each month while a residential wind energy turbine
can lower a household electricity bill by around 50% to
90%. Also necessary is the monthly utility costs that
may help compute figures later.
The
next significant step involves an assessment of the
average wind speed in the area where a turbine is likely
to be installed. Though different manufacturers specify
different minimum wind speed required for their
products, wind speed lower than the minimum
specification rules out installation of the equipment in
that location. In the event of an installation within
the
The
step # three entails the necessity of matching a product
with the electricity needs of the homestead. In the US
it is relatively easy. AWEA compiled Small
Wind Turbine Equipment Providers list
provides all the necessary information in
detail.
The
next step for a beginner thinking in terms of installing
a product concerns reviewing the production estimates at
different wind speeds from the manufacturers about their
products and matching it with the desired output at the
given location. In case it fails to meet the target, the
residential wind energy turbine may not be one’s cup of
tea. This is rather significant as the success of the
project depend a lot on this.
The
next and final step towards going for residential wind
energy turbine involves determining the cost of
installing a product vis-?-vis the time it is likely to
take for recouping the initial investment. Computing the
cost of implementation of the project against the
projected monthly saving of utility charges will be the
best way of getting the right answer. This computation
should include any government incentive, if available,
to implement the project. A typical project analysis may
follow the pattern as shown here:
(A)
Cost
of implementation of the Residential Wind Energy Turbine
…… $10,000.00
(B)
Monthly
saving in Utility billing
…..
…..
….
…
…. ... $ 75.00
(C)
Yearly saving in
Utility billing
…..
…..
…..
…
…. ....
900.00
Number
of years for recouping the initial cost … …… 11 (Eleven
years)
