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Wind Turbine Costs

15 August, 17:36, by homemadejoe Tags: , ,

The thought of becoming independent from utility companies and producing your own electricity is a worthy yet daunting task. Although we want to be free from costly electric bills, the issue of the cost-effectiveness and the total installation cost of wind turbines seem intimidating.

Cost of commercial wind turbines are affected by the following factors:

•    construction contracts

•    project location

•    type of machine

•    cost of wind project components including expenses for site analysis and resource assessment

•    freight and price of tower and turbine

•    upgrades of utility system

•    metering and protection equipment

•    construction expenses

•    transformers

•    operations

•    warranty

•    repair and maintenance

•    insurance

•    consultation and legal fees

•    taxes

All of these factors affect the overall installation and operational cost of commercial wind turbine. However, if you are building homemade wind turbines, you don’t need to meet all these requirements and spend such great amount of money.

Cost of residential wind turbines

While commercial wind turbines can range from more than $2 million in total expenses, a residential wind turbine with a size needed to generate power for an average home can roughly cost $35,000 to $50,000, and can still drop if you are planning to build homemade wind turbines.

Wind energy cost higher than solar energy, with insignificant fuel cost but a higher capital cost. Professional installation of wind turbine systems ranges from $4,000 to $6,000 per kilowatt capacity, not including rebates and credits. If you are new to building residential wind turbines, it is recommended to build a single unit and then check the reliability of the system before installing another tower. This way you can eliminate errors and verify the consistency and wattage output of the wind turbine system.

Through the years, there is significant drop of turbine prices, allowing project developers and individuals to venture into wind energy and create their own wind turbines.

Facts about wind energy cost:

•    the higher the capacity of wind energy system, the lower the cost per kilowatt hour

•    a gradual increase in turbine cost is expected in 2012 to 2013

•    onshore turbine costs is lower compared to the steel price surge and other commodity prices

•    the decrease cost of turbines is due to the higher yields per MW

An average home needs to be powered by at least 10kW of wind energy. That means you need to spend at least $40,000 to power your home. Building homemade wind turbines is relatively cheaper compared to having the turbines installed by a private company or a professional wind system installer. It also allows you to get off the grid and avoid monthly utility bills from your electric company. However, there are several setbacks like not getting warranty for the whole wind energy system and less rebates from the local government.

One way of reducing wind turbine costs is to connect your turbine to the national grid. This allows you to get up to 40% of subsidies and dividends a year. To get more information on wind energy, turbine costs, subsidies, credits, and rebates, visit your local government agencies.

Wind Turbine Questions and Answers

07 July, 17:17, by homemadejoe Tags: , , ,

Wind Turbine Questions and Answers:

Homemade wind turbines are becoming a widespread solution to cut off the cost of consumption of traditional energy generators. Wind turbines are considered to be environmental friendly and sustainable method of producing electricity. If trying to install or even build a wind turbine, it is important to know some basic knowledge about these devices.
How does wind turbines work?
There are two most important parts of wind energy systems that allow them to produce electricity. These are the rotor or collector and the generator. The rotor is made up of blades that utilize wind energy to rotate and thereby power a generator. The generator electronic system converts this energy into the form of electricity compatible for household use.
What are the advantages of using residential wind turbines?
Wind turbines are considered to be a renewable source of energy.  The electric current produced by these systems is environmental friendly. They provide pollution free and environmentally sustainable electricity. Also, wind energy is available for free day and night, all year round unlike solar panels that can only operate during day time.
Wind turbines can reduce a household energy cost by about 50 to 90 percent depending on the type, size, design and location of the system. But it will definitely lower energy bills.
How much energy does a wind turbine can provide?
This depends on the size of the turbine itself. Horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs), which are the most common type of wind turbines, are about 25 feet long and have an average weight of about 30 pounds. These systems can produce around 300 to 10,000 watts of electricity. Another type is the vertical axis wind turbines or VAWTs. They are considered to be less efficient in energy production compared to horizontal axis systems. They are about 30 to 40 percent less efficient than HAWTs.
Those Homemade wind turbines usually placed on rooftops can generate only about 1,000 kilowatts or less. Thus, if more amount of electricity is needed more wind turbines have to be installed. Those set up in clusters like in wind farms, can produce above 100 kilowatts enough to power hundreds of household.
Are these wind systems noisy?
No matter what the size of a turbine might be, it has the potential of producing noise, though smaller ones produce lesser amount of noise. These can either be aerodynamic noises or mechanical noises. Aerodynamic noise refers to the sound caused by the air flow over and past the blades of the turbine that seem to increase with the rotor speed. Mechanical noise on the other hand is produced by components of the system such as due to wear and tear factors.
What happens when a lightning strikes?
Anything put on top are prone to damages caused by lightning. However, most of the wind turbines have full protection installed by manufacturers. Considering these when purchasing a system is thus necessary.
Can I make my own Residential wind turbines?
Homemade wind turbines are not hard to build. It just take some amount of money and a little of your time to create one and enjoy the benefits it can offer. Proper selection of location, correct choice of size and materials are important for DIY systems. Also, a good blue print to follow as guide is necessary to have an efficient wind turbine.