This entry was posted on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 11:11 am and is filed under Home Energy, Home Solar Panels, Wind power Generators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
What are the requirements for a viable wind powered system?
1. Zoning laws that enable the installation of wind powered systems. The first place to start is your town’s building department. Here’s a link to a short but instructive zoning
overview for small wind turbines. (PDF)
2. Sufficient land and open space. The land requirement will depend on zoning laws but the suggested minimum is one acre. As far as open space goes, the tower and generator should be sited in an area free of obstructions for 500 feet around the tower.
3. Wind – the minimum requirement is 10 mph average annual wind speed. As the monthly energy chart above shows, a seemingly insignificant increase in wind speed
pays big dividends. The most cost effective method to increase wind speed is to increase tower height.
Find your local wind speed in 2 easy steps
1. Click on your state (click again to enlarge) on this wind resource map. Look at the color coded Wind Power Classifications and determine if you live in a Class 2 or better area. If your area is designated Class 1 you should consider solar power instead.
The one drawback to the maps you just viewed is the wind speed measurements were taken at 50 meters, or 164 feet, and don’t accurately reflect the wind speeds at the top of shorter towers used for home wind generation.
2. A more accurate, though still imperfect solution to this problem can be found at this table of average wind speeds. This resource lists the wind speeds at elevations closer to standard tower heights. Choose a city or town closest to your own and look at the far right column labeled ANN for the annual average wind speed. Your best chance for meaningful power generation lies in areas where the wind speed exceeds 10 mph.
Wind power production calculator
Once you estimate wind speed it’s easy to predict the power output from any size turbine by using our exclusive Monthly kWh Calculator. The only other piece of information you’ll need is the length (also referred to as diameter) of the generator’s propeller.
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Energy Efficient Mortgages
OK, folks, this is the end of this article, I hope the information was useful. Residential wind power is a powerful tool, if you use it in the right application. A wind power generator can be fun to build over a weekend and quite easy to build your self as well. The DIY home solar power systems kits avaialble at the above link, show you how to build your own residential wind wind power system , it also shows you how to build your own home solar power systems as well. The kits are easy to understand with lots of video footage of each step, and easy to follow diagrams in the manual. The kits show you where to find the cheapest materials locally and how to assemble, install and hook the system up to your power grid.
Now is the time, These kits make solar and wind power affordable, fun and cost affective!
April 21st, 2010 at 2:19 am
I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you