[SimonH]

As much as I like the idea of solar, with our current 7 days pa of sun and the seemingly poor storage capabilities right now with the technology I'm interested in a wind turbine and was after some basic advice for a noobie.

Our house has open fields behind it and is constantly buffeted by wind shooting across around 3 acres of open fields , wind is something we seem to have plenty of.

What sort of % of your total household electricity requirements can actually be provided by a turbine, how big does that turbine need to be, is it actually possible to eliminate a domestic supplier by adding a turbine?

Any advice appreciated.

[RobDickinson]

Whats your electicity usage? Your power bill should state it.

Your also going to need some storage too I guess for when the wind overmatches your use (which will be rare).

Your looking at 2kw- 10kw or so with ideal anual ower production of ~5000-15000kwh, IMO ideal wont be actual by a long way.

Heres a spec from http://www.provenenergy.co.nz/windtu...products.shtml

Quick Spec.
Rated Output: - 2500W (2.5kW)
Voltages available: - 24V / 48V / 120V / 240V / 300V
Annual Output - 2,500-5,000 kWh*
Rotor Diameter: - 3.5m
Hub Height: - 6.5m / 11m


Guess you'll need planning permission? If you have running water on your property IMO thats a better choice.

[SimonH]

Cheers, I'll take a look into it.

Running water, we do have a river around 300 feet away from the house but I can't see how I could really hook it up, you meaning some kind of water turbine, the river isn't on our property.

[RobDickinson]

Then you cant use the river... shame , small scale hydro is by far the best for home use.

IMO turbines are very expensive for the return and likely wont pay for themselves anyhow.

[SimonH]

Ok cheers, so next time move closer to a river and soak up all that free energy.

Frustrating thing is I am actually incredibly close to a river but there's no way I could lay a cable across the farmers field behind our house.