With the growth of net metering and feed-in-tariff policies across the nation and the world, more and more homeowners and small businesses are opting to install micro, or small scale, wind turbines. These systems are generally no more than 6 kW in capacity, and are often quiet smaller. However, the growth of micro wind systems represents a very real trend in electricity as a whole: localized production.
Micro wind systems grew out of a necessity to deliver electricity to hard to reach locations. Whether it was the small farmer in Nebraska or an isolated village in Kenya, there have been countless instances where delivering electricity from the grid was simply impractical. To deal with this issue, localized energy production became essential.
An interesting story about localized with production is The Boy who Harnessed the Win. (Listen to William’s TED talk here for a brief summary: http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind.html).
Like other mechanical electricity generating systems, micro wind turbines move a series of magnets in a circular fashion to induce an electrical current along a conducting wire. Without getting into the details, this current is then regulated by a regulator and inverter system which allows the electricity to be used in a meaningful fashion.
Micro wind turbines have the advantage of being able to produce electricity locally, which cuts down on inefficiencies of distance. However, they also do not have any guarantee of production or production levels as the wind is fickle in most areas. This means that if you are solely dependent upon micro wind turbines as an electricity source, some days you will undeniably have an excess of electricity, and others you will have a dearth.
However, with the rise of deregulated energy markets, there has been an increase in the number of people opting to have a micro wind turbine system AND be plugged into the electricity grid. With the knowledge that any amount of electricity generated from the wind turbine will effectively lower the energy bill, or better yet result in proceeds from feed-in-tariffs, micro wind electricity generation has become prevalent in suburban and even urban areas, where it was previously unheard of.
Micro wind is an excellent example of where policy, not technology, has been the driving force in spreading the adoption of a (relatively) safe, and renewable energy source. For proof of this, take a look at EnergyGridIQ’s project page and see where all the new micro wind facilities are cropping up. The results may surprise you.
From a design perspective, there are many different types of micro wind generation plants. For simplicity, we have grouped them into two main sections. Those that harness the wind vertically, and those that use traditional, horizontal fan blades.
Vertical System Examples and Articles:
A nice little article about the advantages of vertical systems:
http://cleantechnica.com/2008/06/20/vertical-axis-turbines-the-future-of-micro-wind-energ/
A unique provider of vertical helical systems:
http://www.urbangreenenergy.com/
A cool database of wind turbine specs and figures:
http://www.allsmallwindturbines.com/
Horizontal System Examples and Articles:
A bit of a technical overview of the small wind market:
http://windpowerauthority.com/small-scale-wind-power-primer-market-economics-choosing-turbines/
Some aesthetically pleasing pictures (alright it’s just wind turbines in general but I thought you may want a visual treat…)
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/10/28/business/energy-environment/20111029_wind-6.html
As always check back into www.energygridIQ.com for more information on wind turbines, wind projects, or just energy thoughts in general. We always want to know what’s on your mind.
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