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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.