Wind Power

Small wind turbines are electric generators that utilize wind energy to produce clean, emissions-free power for homes, farms, and small businesses. Although it is common for people in sunny areas to look into getting solar panels, home wind turbines are a good idea for certain applications. There are now a variety of residential wind turbine options on the market, and depending on how much energy you want to get from wind power, they can range anywhere from $500 to over $20,000 for installation. The most common use for a home wind turbine is just to reduce the amount of energy you use. Everybody can do this, but whether or not it is cost effective will depend on where you live. Home wind turbines are not recommended for heavily populated areas. Large buildings and lots of urban development has a tendency to break up the wind patterns, which makes your wind energy even more erratic than it would be ordinarily. If you live in a more remote area, you have the choice of a less expensive rooftop home wind turbine, or one of the more expensive elevated options. If you intend to use wind energy for all of your electricity needs, you might need to install several wind turbines, or combine one with solar power. You will also need a battery backup system to store the unused wind energy. Did you know that wind is actually a form of solar energy? Solar radiation heats the Earth’s surface, but not evenly or at the same speed. Different surfaces—sand, water, and stone—absorb, retain, reflect and release heat at different rates. As a result, the air above the Earth’s surface also warms and cools at different rates. Hot air rises, reducing the atmospheric pressure near the Earth’s surface, which draws in cooler air to replace it. That movement of air is what we call wind. As the cost of wind power continues to decline, due to technology improvements, wind power will become increasingly feasible as a major source of electricity.

As the wind turbine spins, it produces DC power much like your car alternator. The charge controller protects the batteries from receiving too much current. The inverter changes the DC to AC for use in your home or possibly sold back to the local power grid.

Green Energy Options
79 Emerald Street
Keene, NH 03431
(603) 358-3444