BREAZE

a call to those knowledgeable bods out there who are up to scratch on domestic turbines.
i am considering whether or not it is worth installing one, not sure if they are a worthwhile investment, process involved [ie planning permits?], brands and models, etc?

would truly appreciate some advice, feedback that will put the wind up me.

mucho gracias
graeme

Compared with PVs, wind turbines are generally more expensive and not as productive, so be careful before deciding.
I have installed a few over the years and they really are not as useful as many think.
A spinning turbine will not be generating power until it gets fast enough to pass 'cut in speed'. So it often happens that the turbine is spinning impressively but not actually delivering. In many domestic situations, the local topography may cause so much turbulence that 'cut in speed' cannot be reached.
As a general rule, a turbine needs to be very high and on a clear site (rather like the commercial turbines at Waubra).

john
thanks for your response - as you said, one sees them spinning away and automatically presumes that they are generating power.

Hi Graeme,
there are plenty of opportunities to make small amounts of cheap power with 'small wind' in the area. Private message me if you are a tinkerer and want to get started with building, I can help out - I have a few machines at various stages. I am interested in starting a local small wind builders group.

Australia is blessed with an edge in small wind for home use - the availability and recycling of Fisher and Paykel washing machines allows the best possible alternator parts and for less than a hundred dollars they are readily capable of 0.5 to 1kW. Add some handmade blades and rectifiers and off you go. Americans are paying good money for the export of these alternators and companies have commenced buiding their own. It would make a great project for a local Men's shed to wreck them and sell the necessary components to hook up a good network locally of small wind.

Small Wind can be a nice complement to solar - often it is windy when cold (late September) and the power can be dumped unrectified into things like a column heater or electric blanket for supplemental heating in a well insulated house, vegie hothouse or shed. I am entertaining in the long run running a small aircon by wind power for those summer days when the hot Northerlies blow. It's feasible on numbers and others are prototyping too.

If you are not necessarily a tinkerer but want to see more check out:
www.thebackshed.com/Windmill/home.asp
www.gotwind.org/diy/index.htm
www.vawts.net/ -> vertical axis units run slower and some people favour this.

Start small, and scale up. Small wind is great as it keeps the ability to generate your own power in the hands of the consumer. And if you are a tinkerer and recycler you can easily compete with the dollar-per-watt price of solar. And they complement nicely.
There are a lot of nay sayers locally when it comes to wind. Avoid them and have some fun and you can learn a lot.
Sdk.

Another place to have a look is www.otherpower.com.
It has a great variety of ideas and suggestions.

resau.com.au/

New Eco WHisper - currently building 20kw systems for small factories or 7 homes but if we all enquire maybe the 5kw and 10kw models will become available.

Jill