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Anyone had actual experience with the Air X sized wind turbines? I'm building a small Granny unit which will be operated offgrid except for water. Since the water is municipal and already available, sinking a well isn't practical. Permits aren't an issue and neither is late afternoon winds that come around like clockwork.
I ran the figures on a home that was off-grid, had two small wind generators. Home was located up on the plains above Dallas where the winds blow pretty much continuously.
Actual return as approximately 50% of costs over the life of the unit.
I'm on over at ASW but thought I'd check here to see if anyone had been there, done that for discussion. Just mixing up sources for variety. I don't need technical help.
I ran the figures on a home that was off-grid, had two small wind generators. Home was located up on the plains above Dallas where the winds blow pretty much continuously.
Actual return as approximately 50% of costs over the life of the unit.
The key to reasonable return is wind speed, because the power in wind rises as the cube of the wind speed. That is to say, if the wind speed is increased by 2X the power will increase 8X
Wind turbines are designed to operate at different speed ranges, and matching your equipment to your wind speed is critical, because spinning at low speed 24/7 won't produce as much power as spinning at high speed only part of the time.
In other words, ignore generalities. There is no substitute for actual measurements and careful calculations.
I ran the figures on a home that was off-grid, had two small wind generators. Home was located up on the plains above Dallas where the winds blow pretty much continuously.
Actual return as approximately 50% of costs over the life of the unit.
Can you recall the size of the house and some other information like how the owners liked having them?
North of Dallas, I would have utilized solar in addition to wind. (I used to live in Irving)
That will be the case here, solar, wind and passive solar radiators that are inside east, west and southern facing rooms. I'm making the solar radiators myself so they are more of an experiment than anything else. The plans are already done so heres hoping.
2525, the home was about 1600 SF, well insulated, insulated windows, etc. single story 3/2 rancher. Where that house was, southern facing, but cooling is much more important, not heat (105 degree heat in the summer). Cost figures were based on the actual savings (he was not completely off-grid, coop electric, but was most of the time) compared to electric charges, calculated over the probable life of the unit, and factoring in probable electric cost increases.
Owner liked the turbines, but they did make noise. Smaller units make a high-pitched whine as the equipment works faster as opposed to the OMG wind generators you see dotting the hills. Think about hearing that at 11 pm when trying to sleep. Also, reliability can be iffy. Wind stops, no electric. There was a brown-out in West Texas a few years ago because of too high a reliability in an area on wind turbines...and the wind stopped blowing. I have also seen many in North Texas down due to equipment failure, and repairs can be very pricy. Finally, too much wind is just as bad as no wind. The units will shut down if the wind exceeds design standards, and this is lower than one would expect. It varies by design, manufacturer.
So, just really run the figures before investing. Same with solar. Equipment changes are coming in the next 5 years which should really increase efficiency and cut purchase costs.
I have left over but new panels so the cost is already absorbed. I know what you mean about the noise from larger turbines, couldn't imagine living close to them.
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