| From my experience, smaller scale Wind Turbines are more hassle than they are worth, at least in the early 90's when I was servicing them. First, one has to complete a wind survey, so installing an anemometer for a full season to get an idea of the annual wind resource, in order to properly size the turbine. Of course, one can use weather service annual wind velocities for your local area as a general guide, but every place has it's own micro climate, so a site local wind survey is essential. And one also needs a Tall Tower to get the turbine well above any close by hills, trees, or structures, otherwise quite a bit of efficiency is lost. Towers are expensive, and usually require specialists to safely install them. And smaller scale wind turbines also need to be maintained at least yearly, which requires climbing the tall tower to do so. And wind turbine systems were very expensive back then (12-20K US$), but costs may have come down since then, not sure. They also can be a bit noisy when wind speeds are higher. I also can't really speak about the micro wind turbines I see for sale, other then to remark they are not as efficient as larger turbines mounted on tall towers, and I don't see them as viable, reliable sources of power. I also would like to hear from someone who's been installing wind turbines in recent years, to see if things have changed in a positive way. |