Is a Wind Turbine Economically Feasible for Me?
|
If you're attracted by the promise of 'free energy' once you've set up a wind power generator to generate wind electricity, you need to think again. Apart from the high initial start-up costs you need to buy and set up the system, wind energy is not right for all areas. In other words, wind electricity may not make economic sense for you. However, if the conditions are right in your locality , then a wind energy setup can not only produce energy savings in the long-run, but earn you money as you can sell the unused power back to the electricity utility.
A wind power generator may be practical for you if you live in a rural area with at least one acre of land available for the installation of the wind energy system, your locality has strong enough average winds and your average monthly electricity bill is $150 or more. Wind energy might also be a good solution for areas that are not serviced by the regular power utilities or are not reached by utility lines. Your local zoning ordinances should also permit the installation of towers high enough to generate wind power efficiently.
While the wind power generator consisting of the turbine blades and the tower may be the single most expensive item in a wind power system, there are many other components that have you have to take into account, including the batteries for storing electricity and the inverter for converting DC battery power to AC for residential use, as well as interconnection costs if you opt to continue using power from the electricity grid. Remember that although a wind turbine may run 65% to 90% of the time, it may only have a capacity factor (a measure of productivity) of 25% to 40% although this may increase during especially windy months. If your local utility has a net metering system, you can save money by using the power that you generate to offset consumption over the entire billing period.
The general rule of thumb, according to industry experts, is around $1,000 to $5,000 per kilowatt. Hence, a wind electricity installation that produces around 10 kW can cost around $32,000. While this may seem expensive, it is more affordable in comparison with other alternative energy systems; for example, a comparable photovoltaic solar power system can cost over $80,000. Also, consider that you can make up for the costs of this initial investment over the life of the system, which can last around 20 to 25 years. And state or government incentives for wind power systems may help reduce the costs of the installation.
For example, the Small Wind Systems Tax Credit is a national investment tax credit that gives owners of small wind systems with 100 kW of capacity or less a tax credit for 30% of the total installation cost of the system. The credit is available for systems installed from Oct. 3, 2008 to December 31, 2016. There may also be some state programs available that would provide tax or other incentives for homeowners who install renewable energy systems in their homes which could help with initial startup costs. |
|
Author Resource:-
Anthony Jones with Hurricane Wind Power. We have your energy needs covered at www.Hurricanewindpower.com
Low Rpm PMA's VAWT's Coming soon
|
By :
Jessie Stone
Submitted
2010-10-14 09:43:08 |
Article From Article Mayhem
 Ezine ready view |
|
|
|
Related Articles
|
|
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlemayhem.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlemayhem.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")