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Thinking of a windpower setup

R

Rockin Ronnie

Jan 1, 1970
0
I live in the country and have a 1 1/2 acre lot half of which is treed.
I am on top of a hill. I have not checked average wind speeds but I
would suspect that it is enough to justify windpower.

I am thinking of a low power 400+ watts system to give me what I would
need in the event of a winter power outage (Nova Scotia). I was browsing
through the Air-X site and found what I was looking for.

Assuming that I would spend $1000CDN for the wind generator, how much
more would I need to spend if I wanted to tie the wind generator into my
existing electrical system? For example, tower, inverter, batteries,
electrical connections etc.

Or, direct me to a site where I can make a list of all of the things
that I need.


Ron
 
Newsgroups: alt.energy.homepower
I live in the country and have a 1 1/2 acre lot half of which is
treed. I am on top of a hill. I have not checked average wind
speeds but I would suspect that it is enough to justify windpower.
Hi Ron.

Wind speed is not the most important factor. Consistency is. I live
where it is thought to be fiercely windy. When it blows, it is
memorable. But it seldom blows enough to be useful.

I have an Air 403 turbine, and mostly it is my $500 weather vane.
Some howling nights it earns its keep, but they aren't often. Take
lots of data before buying.

The turbine does some howling of its own, by the way. Mount it
downwind from your house. It will need to clear obstructions by a
fair bit, like 25 feet. Tower. I wouldn't mount it on the roof -
vibration and mechanical racket.

Here, sun is my powerful source, though maybe not in N.S.

Charles Foot recommended a voltmeter mounted where it will grab your
attention. That as a minimum. I use Tri-Metric integrating charge/
discharge meters on both my systems. They cost, but tell so much
more than a voltmeter.


Tom Willmon
near Mountainair, (mid) New Mexico, USA

Net-Tamer V 1.12.0 - Registered
 
G

Gymy Bob

Jan 1, 1970
0
Since nobody else answered your question.

What you need is a grid-tie unit. A unit that will syncronize with the
incoming frequency and lock to it.

Here comes the bad news. Somewhere between $6K-$12K Canuck buck.

What they don't tell you is that this stuff will never pay off at Canadian
power rates usually unless you live to be 140 years old and have no
maintenance costs. Not gonna' happen. It's an interesting hobby.
 
V

Vlad

Jan 1, 1970
0
I live in the country and have a 1 1/2 acre lot half of which is treed.
I am on top of a hill. I have not checked average wind speeds but I
would suspect that it is enough to justify windpower.

I am thinking of a low power 400+ watts system to give me what I would
need in the event of a winter power outage (Nova Scotia). I was browsing
through the Air-X site and found what I was looking for.

Assuming that I would spend $1000CDN for the wind generator, how much
more would I need to spend if I wanted to tie the wind generator into my
existing electrical system? For example, tower, inverter, batteries,
electrical connections etc.

Or, direct me to a site where I can make a list of all of the things
that I need.


Ron
My suggestion doesn't satisfy your needs but if I could install a
windpower setup I would stay way from batteries.

I use electricity to heath my water. As we know that accounts for a
substantial share of domestic needs.

I would design a system that would preheat the water going into my hot
water tank. With 2 or more elements that can be switched to a number
of series/parallel combinations ,dynamically tuning to the most
efficient load to my generator.
The system could be expanded to feed a hot water heating system and
one light on the living room that would only be ON when all other
requirements are satisfied.
One should remember that all the power that goes into a lamp of any
kind it's converted into heat. Lamps are very good heaters. As
heathers they give us light at zero cost.

Vlad
 
V

Vlad

Jan 1, 1970
0
He is asking about a back up system, not a water heater. Batteries may well be
needed.

He needs to study what is needed and not accept any random advice until he
knows exactly what he is doing.

I know, that is why I said "
My suggestion doesn't satisfy your needs but if I could install a
windpower setup I would stay way from batteries.
I was just fishing for opinions on the subject.

Vlad
 
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