03-09 Small Wind

There was a “back to the earth movement” in the 1970s, and a highlight in Canada was a “home of the future” on Prince Edward Island that produced its own electricity and grew its own food. It was a huge tourist destination.
Of special interest was a small wind-powered generator and an array of solar panels all providing direct current stored in car batteries in the rooms on the first floor.
Then there was a large glass tank in the kitchen, three feet in diameter and about seven feet tall used for raising tilapia. And, of course, the fish poo was fertilizer for the vegetables growing in the green house.
Hard to believe this was forty years ago. And lessons learned then apply today. The wind turbine was noisy and on a tower about thirty feet above the roof of the house.
I asked about the viability of placing a wind turbine on the roof of the house, but was told it would not take the weight or the vibrations.
The photo shows a modern residential wind installation. And like small scale solar it is possible for small wind to feed surplus energy into the power grid.
The “feed in tariff” or what the utility will pay you for surplus energy will determine just how attractive these installations can be.
In Japan, for example, after the disaster at its Fukushima nuclear power plant, the government is providing generous “feed in tariffs” for citizens installing small wind or rooftop solar.
And, speaking of rooftop applications, the photo shows an application with the blades shrouded. Just one of many technological innovations that are improving the efficiency of small wind.
What is so interesting about small wind is that it is becoming competitive with utility wind farms. And here I’m talking about gargantuan wind turbines with blades 200 meters long.
My experience from travelling around the world is discovering thousands of remote communities powered by diesel generators. Then there is something like a billion people in underdeveloped regions of the world without electricity. So small wind like solar is a solution for off grid electrical power.
The photo showing a combined solar and wind application should reduce the need for powerful battery capacity in off grid applications. At least when the sun is not shining, it can still be windy.