Clean, efficient, unlimited
- Thread starter Gonz
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Professur
Well-Known Member
Um, bullshit???
The area used can be used for farming. The sun moves quite a bit these days, y'know. They don't have to be close to the ground at all. They just build them like that to get the most power for the tower height. The best wind farms are built just back from the oceanfront, making clearcutting no issue.
And smaller, home sized units are another thing entirely.
The area used can be used for farming. The sun moves quite a bit these days, y'know. They don't have to be close to the ground at all. They just build them like that to get the most power for the tower height. The best wind farms are built just back from the oceanfront, making clearcutting no issue.
And smaller, home sized units are another thing entirely.
MrBishop
Well-Known Member
You need to place the tower with the center of the blade 30 feet above any construction...and over 300 feet away from any structure...including your own house. You'd better have one hell of a backyard if you're going to pull that one off. Good for people living in the country...not so good for you and I.Professur said:
source
A wee bit expensive too!
General rules of thumb for a viable wind site 1. The site should have an average wind speed above 10 mph. This can be estimated through local weather data, lay of the land and vegetation growth, and/or recording the wind speed with an anemometer. 2. The wind generator height (tower height) should be a minimum of 30 ft above any ground obstruction within a radius of 300 ft, in order to insure that turbulence caused by the wind deflecting off buildings, trees, etc. will not reduce generator output. The machine must be in smooth airflow to function efficiently. Although viable wind sites are much less common than solar, a good wind site will produce much more power per installed dollar. A wind installation is more involved than solar, but the benefits are worth the added initial cost. Wind & solar are also excellent compliments, because in most locations it is windier in the cloudy winter when the power is most needed and the solar array is of minimal output. The sunnier summer months are better suited to solar electric generation, when power requirements are lowest and the winds die down.
Gato_Solo
Out-freaking-standing OTC member
I guess Solar Power doesn't do anything for you, either...
MrBishop
Well-Known Member
Professur said:
I don't think that you'd get a whole lot of power from a small generator that only requires a 20' clearance around it. Got any numbers?
Solar panels though...a ncie alternative...though more expensive in the short-run. Hell...they're still about what...$50/square foot and only 100watts/square yard?
MrBishop
Well-Known Member
Professur said:
There are better way sto do that than restructuring a power-grid. How about convincing companies to NOT leave their lights on all night, turn off computers when not in use, increasing fuel-efficiency for manufacturers, etc etc...
If people reduce their useage by as little as 2%, the load would be hugely different...ditto for companies.
Professur
Well-Known Member
Many large building in Mtl have integrated systems that turn off the lights after a designated time. Ususally 10PM. You have to talk to security to make sure you don't get left in the dark.
And those home sized mills might add as little as 2% to the grid, but you just said yourself, 2% is still a whack.
And those home sized mills might add as little as 2% to the grid, but you just said yourself, 2% is still a whack.
chcr
Too cute for words
The guy I knew in AZ cobbled his together from various parts. His windmills were originally well pumps for watering cattle. 8 foot diameter, forty feet or so high. His place was on a high saddle west of Tucson, windy all the time. He ran four 120 watt GM alternators off each tower through a bank of deep cycle batteries (24 I think) then an inverter he built from plans from the Whole Earth catalog. I can't remember anymore what he said he got from the system, but I remember he said he had less than $1000 in it. I knew several folks who used a smaller setup with a single alternator and battery for twelve volt lighting in cabins in the mountains (where there were no utilities).
unclehobart
New Member
I've seen a few small home hydro setups on properties with springs and streams. A little bit of sweat and setting up a long diameter shrinking pipe or two over a long gentle sloping distance with a dynamo on the end takes quite a chunk off of your traditional power reliance and works 24/7 instead of whenever the wind blows. You don't have to interrupt the stream at all... just make a sidebar to a small % of the normal waterflow. A little bit of screening on the upper end keeps gods little critters from comitting suicide and gumming up the works.
Beneifts: 24/7 power, no big visible eyesores, minimal enviorment disruption.
drawbacks: upkeep is higher than normal, initial expense in setup, prone to disruptions from drought and freezing.
Beneifts: 24/7 power, no big visible eyesores, minimal enviorment disruption.
drawbacks: upkeep is higher than normal, initial expense in setup, prone to disruptions from drought and freezing.