Yesterday I wrote about
our most recent power outage and some of the backup resources we use to
overcome these hiccups. Today, we’re
bringing another option for you to consider.
Home Wind Power: Yes, in My Backyard!
by Megan E. Phelps
Is home wind power a good choice for you? The answer may
surprise you, because living in a windy area is not necessarily the most
important factor. In fact, many properties are not a good fit for installing a
wind turbine even if they have a lot of wind. On the other hand, if you want to
go off-grid and produce your own electricity, you almost certainly want to
consider installing a home wind turbine, even if your location is not notably
windy.
Here’s the deal: For a home wind turbine to be worth your
investment, you really need to live on an acre or more. Living in a rural area
helps, because if you’re in a residential neighborhood, you’re likely to run
into conflicts with zoning and local homeowners associations. You’re more
likely to find a high average wind speed in wide open spaces far from
windbreaks such as buildings and trees.
That’s the case for Cam and Michelle Mather, who live on
150 forested acres in rural Ontario. The Mathers live in an off-grid home
powered by solar panels and their micro wind turbine, a 1-kilowatt (kw) Bergey
Excel 1. On such a large property, they’re nowhere near their closest
neighbors, so there’s no one who might be upset.
The Mathers’ local wind speeds are not ideal, yet home
wind power works beautifully for them. The biggest issue with the Mathers’
property is that they have too many trees, and even though their small wind
turbine is easily 40 feet above the tree line, the landscape slows down the
wind. Wind still makes sense for them, though, because they’re off the grid, so
their only electricity is what they produce and then store in batteries. They
started with solar panels, but adding a wind turbine to the mix made the whole
system much more stable and efficient — a major benefit when you’re solely
responsible for generating your own electricity.
If your main goal is energy self-sufficiency, you may
want to be off the grid. But if you’re simply interested in producing your own
residential wind power, a grid-connected system can make a lot of sense. With
this setup, anytime your wind turbine produces more power than your home needs,
that power goes onto the local utility grid. When you need more power than
you’re generating, you draw power from the grid. Grid-connected systems are
often cheaper, because without the responsibility of producing all of your own
electricity, you can install a smaller, less expensive system.
That’s how it works for John Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist on
their rural property in Browntown, Wis. About 10 years ago, Ivanko and Kivirist
installed their 10-kilowatt Bergey Excel turbine on a 120-foot tower. They’re
now generating about 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh) per year, an amount just slightly
below the average annual household electricity use in the United States.
The couple invested in home energy efficiency before they
started installing renewable energy, however, and with an efficient home, they
now generate more electricity than they need.
Exactly how this relationship with the utility works
depends on state regulations. Wisconsin, like most states, has net metering
regulations that help make grid connection a good deal for homeowners. When you
use electricity from the utility, your meter runs forward, and when you put
excess electricity onto the grid, it runs backward.
Ivanko and Kivirist estimate that the total installed
cost of their 10-kw wind turbine was about $39,500, but their out-of-pocket
costs were less than half of that, thanks to a state grant and other creative
financing.
The Mathers chose off-grid living for environmental
reasons, but the decision to go off-grid can sometimes make sense purely in
financial terms. To begin with, if you live in a truly remote area and want to
go off-grid, installing renewable energy systems will often be less expensive
than paying the utility company to extend a power line to your property. In
fact, some states require that the utility provide information on renewable
energy alternatives whenever a customer requests a power line extension.
One of the easiest factors to calculate is individual
renewable energy incentives. In the United States, small wind turbines
currently qualify for a federal tax credit of 30 percent, which is scheduled to
continue through 2016. The Department of Energy’s wind guide recommends 10 mph
as a minimum average wind speed if you want to consider installing a
grid-connected turbine.
What else do you really need to know if you’re
considering wind energy? Paul Gipe, author of Wind Power: Renewable Energy for
Home, Farm and Business, has been researching and writing about wind turbines
since the mid-1970s. While he’s a big supporter of renewable energy, he’s also
an outspoken consumer advocate.
Here’s his short list of things consumers need to know
about small wind turbines.
Tower Height. First, yes, you really do need that tall
tower, because average wind speeds increase substantially with height. “For a
small, residential-sized turbine, it should be at least 80 to 100 feet tall,”
Gipe says. You’ll see wind turbines mounted on shorter towers, and they may be
producing some electricity — just likely not as much electricity as you’d want,
and making the financial side of wind work out is difficult if you’re not
producing enough power.
Roof Mounting. “Never put a wind turbine on the roof,” Gipe
advises. This comes up all the time, because a big part of the expense of the
turbine is the tower, and people are looking for ways to save a little money.
This isn’t the way to do it, however.
Certification. Avoid being seduced by a new wind turbine design
that sounds wonderful but doesn’t have the test data to back it up. Look for
established manufacturers with a proven track record and certified test results
that show how much electricity you will be able to produce.
Safety. “Make sure that the turbine can be safely
serviced and operated,” Gipe says. “Based on available technology, that means
making sure that the tower can be safely lowered to the ground.” In other
words, consider a tilt-down tower rather than one that requires you to work on
the wind turbine 100 feet in the air.
Ivanko and Kivirist have a few additional words of
wisdom: Get insurance. They didn’t have to do anything special to get liability
insurance — it was just one more item listed on their homeowners insurance
policy, Ivanko explains. However, they also insured their wind turbine against
damages, and were grateful they had done so when the blades cracked during a
severe storm last year.
And some final words from Cam and Michelle Mather: Don’t
be intimidated — you can do it! When the Mathers went off the grid 15 years
ago, they couldn’t find anyone in their area who knew about solar panels or
wind turbines, so they had to learn everything themselves.
Excerpted from MOTHER EARTH NEWS, the Original Guide to
Living Wisely. To read more articles from MOTHER EARTH NEWS, please visit
www.MotherEarthNews.com or call (800) 234-3368 to subscribe. Copyright 2014 by
Ogden Publications Inc.
Find how-to and
DIY wind plans and pre-built [plus estimation] at these sites:
I found a 400W system for $285 [didn’t include batteries
or stand] but will operate at wind speeds as low as 7mph at:
HeartlandAmerica.com
Additional useful gems for making life better
Grab These
Useful, Free e-books
·
The Have More Plan – a classic from the 40s
·
Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning
·
Pro-Canners Quick Start Guide
Reduce your
grocery bill with printable
coupons from SmartSource - click here - and MySavings - click here.
Find DIY and Homemade ideas here:
Yours in freedom,
Bruce ‘the Poor Man’
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