Advantages of connecting wind power to the grid

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Small wind energy systems can be connected to the electricity distribution system and are called grid-connected systems. A grid-connected wind turbine can be very beneficial by reducing your consumption of utility-supplied electricity for lighting, appliances, and electric heat. If the turbine canno …

How to calculate wind power output

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Most U.S. manufacturers rate their turbines by the amount of power they can safely produce at a particular wind speed, usually chosen between 24 mph or 10.5 m/s and 36 mph or 16 m/s. The following formula illustrates factors that are important to the performance of a wind turbine. Notice that the wi …

Earth Turbines to AllEarth Renewables Inc.

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Earth Turbines Inc, Williston, Vermont, the state's only manufacturer of small scale grid-connected wind and solar tracking systems, announces a corporate name change to AllEarth Renewables Inc. "Our company is dedicated to developing new wind and solar technologies," says David Blittersdor …

Understanding the components of a small wind turbine

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Home wind energy systems generally consist of blades, a rotor, a generator or alternator mounted on a frame, a tail (usually), a tower, wiring, and "balance of system” components ie. controllers, inverters, and/or batteries. The spinning of the blades enables the rotor to capture the kinetic energ …

What size wind turbine do I need?

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: The size of the wind turbine you need depends on your application. Small turbines range in size from 20 watts to 100 kilowatts (kW). The smaller or “micro” (20- to 500-watt) turbines are used in a variety of applications such as charging batteries for recreational vehicles and sailboats. 1 ki …

Canadian feed-in-tariff program stimulates growth

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Just months after starting, a more lucrative version of Ontario’s feed-in-tariff program has attracted thousands of renewable energy investors, additional evidence that this particular policy lever, pioneered in Germany, can stimulate rapid growth in decentralized green power resources. As …

NREL tests small wind turbines for certification

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: To help the wind industry offer consumers more small wind turbine systems that are certified for safety and performance, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (or NREL) and the U.S. Department of Energy (or DOE) launched a Small Wind Independent Testing project in 2007. The small wind turbines we …