Remember too, that you need to have your wind turbine 30 feet higher than anything within 500 feet, as a general rule of thumb. And never mount it on a roof or other structure, and it should be 60 to 80 feet up, at a minimum, higher if there is vegetation, trees, hilly ground, buildings, or other obstructions within a quarter mile or so. When you take the height requirements into account, you can see that a small turbine isn't cost effective, because the tower is going to be a large percentage of the installed cost. You need to have a wind turbine up in the WIND, where it is steadier and higher speed, and you just can't do that with a 30 foot tall tower.
PVs are so much cheaper than wind turbines in small system sizes that it really isn't worth considering a wind turbine. I speak from experience, having installed our first wind turbine in 1977 or so, used the wind to power our home for almost 12 years, then moved, taking the turbine along and reinstalling it, and we are still using it, but it wouldn't be cost effective to do that again, with the price of solar electric panels as inexpensive and maintenance free as they are.
|