How To Power Your Home With Wind Power

How To Power Your Home With Wind Power

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The advocacy for renewable energy has been a leading topic for years now, with more and more people joining the bandwagon every day. If you’re thinking of making the switch too and adopting the wind power system for your home but don’t know how to go about it, then this article is for you. and Generating wind power for your home doesn’t just involve putting up a turbine somewhere and leaving it to the forces of nature. It is a much more delicate process with crucial elements you need to be aware of, and thankfully, we are here to walk you through each step of the way of how to power your home with wind power.

Siting

Before taking that leap into installing a turbine in your home, the strength of the wind in your region needs to be evaluated first. The question of whether it will be enough for your power generation is very key to the process. There are special maps that provide information about the average speed of the wind in a year, in different geographical locations, and you could use this to look up the speed or strength of the wind in your region. Knowing the average speed of the wind in your region is one thing, but knowing the predominant directions of the wind is another. Positioning your turbine in the direction the wind blows makes power generation much easier, as you might have already figured out.

Getting a professional

As fun as it might sound, installing a wind power system is not a DIY. Having an expert installer present is very crucial to a successful installation. It’s an added bonus if the person offers extra services like permitting.

Determining energy requirements

Another important factor to take note of, before shopping for your wind turbines, is the amount of energy needed to run your home. Every wind turbine has its specific energy generation capacity and it is important to pick a turbine that suits the energy needs of your home. If you need help with this, you could consult with a licensed electrical technician to help you out with the estimation. The possible energy generation at your chosen site will also have to be determined, based on the average speed of the wind in your region (including its frequency distribution), the power curve of the wind turbine you plan to buy, and how high you intend to set up the tower for the turbine.

Selecting a turbine

Small wind turbines, which are set up on rooftops, are designed to serve on a small scale as supplements to other sources of power. On the other hand, large turbines, which are set up on towers, are capable of generating almost half of the electricity supply needed in an average home. While this is an advantage, one has to consider the magnitude of noise large turbines make — which is of course a significant amount of decibels higher than small turbines.

Securing a permit

If you settled for a large turbine with a tower, then you will need a building permit to allow you to construct a tower of significant height on your site. Interestingly, incentives and rebates by the government at both the federal and state levels may be presented to you after the installation of your wind power generation system.

Circumventing losses

For large turbine towers with guy wires, you need to consider how long the wires run between the turbine and the house. It is advised to use alternating current to cut down the loss of electricity that is seen in lengthy wires as a result of the resistance in such wires.

Grid-connected systems vs. Isolated grid systems

As discussed earlier, small wind turbines serve as supplements to other sources of power. These wind turbines are connected to the electricity grid to form what is known as a grid-connected system. Having a grid-connected system decreases your usage of electricity supplied by the utility. If there’s a deficit in the energy output of the wind turbine, the utility compensates for it. There’s more to gain with this connection as excess energy output by the turbine is mopped up and used to credit future electricity supply from the utility. What’s more? Grid-connected wind turbines can also serve as backup power during power outages!

In isolated off-grid systems, the wind turbines have no connection or interaction with the electricity grid. Instead, the wind power system is hybridized with a solar power system to form a hybrid power system. This hybridization is significantly useful in generating power for homes that are distant from utility lines.

Maintenance of Home Wind Power

Wind power systems are quite durable and last for really long periods, up to twenty years or more if they are installed and maintained properly. A maintenance check should be performed every year and should involve: Inspecting and securing loose bolts and also electrical connections when required, inspecting for and renewing worn out parts of the turbine, inspecting machines for rust, checking the tension of the guy wires, and so on.

Conclusion

Adopting a renewable source of energy for your home is quite a breath of fresh air and taking all the factors above into consideration is sure to make your wind power system installation hassle free. This article of course is the tip of the iceberg, and when asking the question “How To Power Your Home With Wind Power” you should always seek the help of a professional.

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