WIND ELECTRIC POWER FARMS

We harvested close to the windmills shown here: http://www.rnp.org/htmls/construct.htm and http://www.rnp.org/htmls/vansycle.htm

• Wheatfarm.com

Dusty

Given that I power my house by a small 3 Kw wind turbine and solar panels I am biased. Some wind turbines can make noise. My little turbine starts to make noise in wind speeds greater than 27 mph. With that said, it is still much quieter than any of the neighbor's machines that make noise. Below 27 mph, the turbine is quieter than the neighbor's air conditioner. The turbine is 200 ft from our bedroom. The neighbor's air conditioner is 500 ft from our bedroom and we hear the air conditioner over the turbine. Before the turbine was installed, the neighbors fought against the turbine for 4 months until the town agreed with me. The turbine has been up and operational for over 2 years. The only thing the neighbors have said about it is why I did not tell them it was so quiet (I did for 4 months).

In terms of modern industrial sized turbines, they are generally very quiet. I visited a small wind farm near Utica, NY. It has 7 @ 1.6 Mw Vesta wind turbines. Their top rpm is around 20. Even right next to the turbine there is almost no sound. They are big with the tower about 220 ft tall and each of the 3 blades about 108 ft long. I got to climb to the top and go both inside and on top of the nacelle. It was great fun.

So in summary, the amount of noise generated will depend on the size and design of the turbine.

Doug Stockman
Penfield, NY

Sorry to take so long to reply. I am too busy to get on the boards as often as I like. Paul did a great job answering. If you want to get a wind turbine to save or make money, forget about it unless you are a long distance from the end of the grid or there are special incentive programs from your utility company.

My system produces electricity that costs more than grid power. I have a battery-based system with the grid for backup. The batteries are 48 volt Dc and an inverter converts the dc to 110 volts AC. Start reading www.homepower.com to learn more about renewable energy. I do wind/sun power for the environmental reasons, not to save money. Grid power is heavily subsidized and costs far less that it costs to produce and clean up the mess it creates.

Although I am connected to the grid, I do not sell electricity to the grid. I would lose money. In NY state (every state is diffierent), I have to pay to have two electric meters installed. Then I have to pay $17.50/meter each month to have the buy and sell meters read. Then the utility pays me less than 3 cents/kWhr while I buy it from them at 9 cents/kWhr. It is almost impossible to make money under this system.

I hope this helps.

Doug Stockman
Penfield, NY

If you are miles from any electric service right now, then a wind generator probably is cheaper than running in a service. You will need to manage your power consumption to match the gwenerator/wind output you have purchased. You would run with a battery bank & power inverter.

If you are in one of the high-wind ridge areas (Parts of California & Minnesota have some great locations, as well as other regions) then you can put up a $2 million system & get your money back in a decade or less. Good investment, but _only_ if you have the right location.

If you currently have power line service, and you are in an average wind location, it probably won't make you money, but you might wish to do it anyhow. It is possible your utility company, state govt, or fedral govt will assist you in getting a 'green' energy plant going, with grants or low-interest loans, which can make it worthwhile. Again, if you have the right wind location.

You need to find out if you can sell power back to your utility company. You CANNOT just hook up & make your meter spin backwards... ;) Power companies will buy the power from you at wholesale rates, not retail. As well, you need safety interlocks so you don't fry a line repairman. (In Minnesota the utility is required to buy from you, don't know about other locations.) Here you buy power from the utility company at retail rates when the wind is slow, and sell extra energy to them when the wind is strong - use the utility company as your 'battery storage' place.

The details & options of all this are many, many, and you will need to study up on it & research your own location & options & needs.

---Paul

• windgennys

the other is just on the next ridge on weathersfield road Wyoming county New York. yes you can see them a long way away. lound, no. you cant hear them with a car running right under them. My wife is on the our towm board and is starting to get info from people who are nimby's and most of their info is goofy. I think they are cool and pleasent to look at and good for the planet. much less noise than the trains of coal going by the house or the whine of the fish hugers who hate hydro or the screems of the anti nuke folks and then photo voltaic uses nasty chemicals don't you know--so we cant have that, now can we!

Besides I get at least 2 people a year show up from the clear blue and offer to buy the remains of my old areomoter. Some offer signficant money.