Wind Turbines

Green Home Publishing

As you can imagine wind power, like solar power, has its own set of unique challenges. One of those being cost (no surprise there). We will discuss that later. There are two approaches that are being used with wind power, for now. One is to use wind power exclusively and the other is to use wind power in conjunction with solar power. When the sun starts to set the winds will pickup in some areas and these are obvious candidate areas for producing energy around the clock. Different regions of the country are better suited to each approach. And then there are some regions of the country that are not suited to wind energy at all. Below is a map of the USA that shows average wind ranges by region.

In the past some wind turbines have received a bad rap because of the noise they make and even more of a concern is that in high winds the blades could fly off. These problems have been worked on and there does not seem to be as much press on these problems as in the past. Some companies have taken an approach of orienting the blades horizontally instead of vertically. Benefits include operating at a lower wind speed, less noise and the ability to control the speed of the blades in high winds. Additionally, these changes have given consumers more options for going green.

In the area of cost most states have incentives that can, in some cases, drastically reduce your cost. One site to check out is http://dsire.org , you will be able to see if your state has incentives. If they do you will need to check further to see if funds are available. Each state will open a program with a specific amount of funding. When the funding is gone it is gone, until a next round of funding is made available. Check your states rules. If funding is not available there is still some good news. The cost of purchasing and installation are starting to come down. You can have a system installed for about $6,000. That certainly is not inexpensive however it is far more reasonable than in the past. Wind power just might be the place for you to start on trying to spin your electric meter backwords.