Tag Archives: wind energy

What Size Wind Turbine Do I Need?

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According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the size of the wind turbine you need depends on your application. Small turbines range in size from 20 watts to 100 kilowatts (kW). The smaller or “micro” (20- to 500-watt) turbines are used in a variety of applications, such as charging batteries for recreational vehicles and sailboats.

Wind Turbine Minnesota Renewable Energy SDOne- to 10-kW turbines can be used in applications, such as pumping water. Wind energy has been used for centuries to pump water and grind grain. Although mechanical windmills still provide a sensible, low-cost option for pumping water in low-wind areas, farmers and ranchers are finding that wind-electric pumping is a little more versatile, and they can pump twice the volume for the same initial investment. In addition, mechanical windmills must be placed directly above the well, which may not take the best advantage of available wind resources. Wind-electric pumping systems can be placed where the wind resource is the best and connected to the pump motor with an electric cable.

Turbines used in residential applications can range in size from 400 watts to 100 kW (100 kW for very large loads), depending on the amount of electricity you want to generate. For residential applications, you should establish an energy budget to help define the turbine size you will need. For example, Minnesota landowners can seek out wind turbine providers who can help you size your system based on your electricity needs and the specifics of local wind patterns.

A typical home uses approximately 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year (about 830 kWh per month). Depending on the average wind speed in the area, a wind turbine rated in the range of 5 to 15 kW would be required to make a significant contribution to this demand. A 1.5- kW wind turbine will meet the needs of a home requiring 300 kWh per month in a location with a 14-mile-per-hour (6.26-meters-per-second) annual average wind speed. The wind turbine provider can help you determine the expected annual energy output of the turbine as a function of annual average wind speed.

For example, in Wisconsin, the wind turbine provider will also share information on the maximum wind speed at which the turbine is designed to operate safely. Most turbines have automatic overspeed-governing systems to keep the rotor from spinning out of control in very high winds. This information, along with your local wind speed and your energy budget, will help you decide which size turbine will best meet your electricity needs.

Source: Small Wind Electric Systems: A Minnesota Consumer’s Guide by U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Small Wind Market Report: 144,000 Turbines Deployed

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A Community and Small Wind Webinar Series
by Department of Energy: Wind Powering America Initiative

Windustry recently held a webinar examining the market for clean, affordable, homegrown wind energy and recent growth in sales, capacity, and incentives for small wind turbines (up to 100 kW) powering homes, farms, and businesses.

Audio and text versions of the webinar are available (WMV 19.0 MB) Download Windows Media Player. Time: 01:23:41. Text Version.

The first in a series of free webinars, the webinar was designed for attendance by the general public, local officials, state and federal regulators, permitting officials, facility siting officials, state and federal policy makers, and others interested in small and community wind development.

America’s small wind turbine industry saw substantial growth in 2010, highlighted by a 26 percent expansion in the market for small wind systems with 25.6 megawatts (MW) of capacity added, as well as a robust increase in sales revenue. Nearly 8,000 small wind units were sold last year, totaling $139 million in sales. The U.S. small wind industry represents an estimated 1,500 full-time equivalent jobs. Small wind turbines manufactured in North America typically incorporated 80-percent domestic content.

With small wind scaling up during the last few years, its benefits are becoming more noticeable. Growth in 2010 pushed cumulative sales in the United States to an estimated 179 MW of capacity-a total that reaches well into the range of many utility-scale wind farms. As a result, small wind is having a positive impact on the environment, as installations now annually displace 161,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. That is the equivalent of taking 28,000 cars off the road.

The webinar speakers discussed:

  • Market Highlights
  • Federal and State Incentives
  • Small Wind Market Drivers
  • Distinguishing Product Features
  • Economic Value of Small Wind
  • 2010 Developments and Challenges
  • Industry Perspectives

Speakers

Larry Flowers, AWEA deputy director of Distributed and Community Wind

Moderator

Lisa Daniels, Windustry executive director

More Information

2010 U.S. Small Wind Market Report

3 Common Wind Energy Questions for Home Use

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#1: Can I use wind energy to power my home?

It’s a common question being asked across the country as more people look for affordable and reliable sources of electricity.

Small wind electric systems can make a significant contribution to our nation’s energy needs. Although wind turbines large enough to provide a significant portion of the electricity needed by the average U.S. home generally require one acre of property or more, approximately 21 million U.S. homes are built on one-acre and larger sites, and 24% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (USDE).

The USDE states that a small wind electric system will work for you if:

  • There is enough wind where you live
  • Tall towers are allowed in your neighborhood or rural area
  • You have enough space
  • You can determine how much electricity you need or want to produce
  • It works for you economically

#2: Why Should I Choose Wind?

Wind energy systems are one of the most cost-effective home-based renewable energy systems. Depending on your wind resource, a small wind energy system can lower your electricity bill by 50% to 90%, according to USDE, help you avoid the high costs of extending utility power lines to remote locations, prevent power interruptions, and it is non-polluting.

#3: How Do Wind Turbines Work?

We addressed this question in previous posts, but what follows is a nice viewpoint from the U.S. Department of Energy: “The unequal heating of the Earth’s surface creates wind by the sun. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical power that runs a generator to produce clean electricity. Today’s turbines are versatile modular sources of electricity. Their blades are aerodynamically designed to capture the maximum energy from the wind. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft connected to a generator that makes electricity.”

To learn more about these issues, we encourage you to read “Small Wind Electric Systems: A U.S. Consumer’s Guide” by the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s a great resource about small wind electric systems, which can help you decide if wind energy is right for you.

Is A Wind Turbine A Smart Investment?

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Energy independence in the form of renewable wind energy is no longer a pipe dream.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, America’s small wind turbine industry saw substantial growth in 2010, highlighted by a 26 percent expansion in the market for small wind systems with 25.6 megawatts (MW) of capacity added, as well as a robust increase in sales revenue. Nearly 8,000 small wind units were sold last year, reported the AWEA, totaling $139 million in sales.

With electricity producing wind power from wind turbines fast being viewed as smart investments by landowners of home, farms and business, the benefits of wind energy are becoming more evident and rightly so. Wind energy is clean, renewable and predictable. It’s also efficient, lowers overhead costs and has major federal government incentives.

The simplicity of their designs is nothing short of a modern marvel. Modern wind turbines generate electricity through two basic designs: vertical-axis or “egg-beater” style or horizontal-axis (propeller-style) machines. Horizontal-axis wind turbines are most common today, constituting nearly all of the “utility-scale” (100 kilowatts (kW) and larger) turbines on the global market. Their wind turbine towers are also quite sturdy and generally made out of tubular steel. The blades and nacelle (generator housing) are made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester or wood-epoxy.

In terms of their size, utility-scale wind turbines for land-based wind farms have rotor diameters ranging from about 50 meters to about 90 meters, and with towers of roughly the same size. A 90-meter machine would have a total height from the tower base to the tip of the rotor of approximately 135 meters (442 feet). Offshore turbine designs generally have larger rotors—with some of the largest having a 110-meter rotor diameter—because it is easier to transport large rotor blades by ship than by land. Small wind turbines intended for residential or small business use are much smaller. Most have rotor diameters of eight meters or less, and they would be mounted on towers of 40 meters in height or less.

The science behind wind turbine functionality is equally impressive and easy to understand. A wind energy system transforms the kinetic energy of wind into what’s called “mechanical or electrical energy” that can be harnessed for practical use. Mechanical energy is most commonly used for pumping water in rural or remote locations – the “farm windmill” still seen in many rural areas of the U.S. is usually a mechanical wind-powered pump, but it can also be used for other purposes such as grinding grain, sawing or pushing a sailboat.

The first step to any successful wind turbine project is to understand all the options available. It should begin with a full feasibility study and analysis, detailing the wind speed potential at your specific site. Like with most large equipment purchases, financing plays an important role. What lenders like most about wind turbine financing is that the cash flow they produce can pay all or most of the turbine payment. Additionally, wind turbines have a long proven useful life of 20 years and they maintain a high residual value, even at the end of their initial useful life.

Through education and knowledge, you can learn how to best use wind energy to help control and predict your future costs while setting the green energy standard in your community. Go green!

U.S. Governors Ask Obama to Boost Wind Energy

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A coalition of 24 U.S. governors from the major parties and each region of the country has asked the administration to take steps to provide a more favorable business climate for the expansion of wind energy according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Demands are being made for a 7-year extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) to provide consistent, low tax rates for wind energy.

A letter from the governors, sent last month to the White House, has since been made public by the Governors Wind Energy Coalition. Signed by coalition chair Governor Lincoln Chafee, and vice chair Governor Terry Branstad, the letter states:

“Although tax credits for wind energy have long enjoyed bipartisan support, they are scheduled to expire next year. Wind-related manufacturing will slow if the credits are not extended, and some of the tax credits’ benefit will be lost if Congress pursues a last-minute extension. It is important to have consistency in policy to support the continued development of wind manufacturing in the United States. Extending the production tax credit and the investment tax credit, without a gap, is critical to the health of wind manufacturing in our nation. The wind manufacturing industry in the U.S. would benefit even greater if the extension of these credits would be for at least seven years.”

“Governors have always focused on jobs and economic development as their main responsibility. Now that Washington is following suit, it helps for these Governors to tell Washington what has been putting people to work in their states,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “It is also helpful for them to support the removal of roadblocks that can occur in administrative agencies, so that deployment objectives are not unintentionally thwarted.”