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The State of California leads the method in renewable energy initiatives and offers generous rebates of 50% for choose wind power systems.

The wind power systems described in this article are connected to the utility company, or grid tied, and don’t incorporate storage batteries. In California excess power generated by a wind power system will be sold back to the utilitiy (web metering).

The 5 basic necessities for a wind power system: 1. You own your own home.
2. Your property is a minimum of one half acre.
3. Your owners association or city/county will not restrict towers.
4. The average wind speed in your area exceeds 9 mph.
5. Your utility allows web metering.

Wind Speed Requirements

Most wind turbines have a start up speed of 8 MPH however need a minimum average wind speed of 12 MPH to come up with an appreciable quantity of electricity for your home. You’ll research the wind speeds in your area by consulting these wind maps: http://www.awstruewind.com/inner/windmaps/California.htm

Not surprisingly, the highest average wind speeds in California are registered inside 25 miles of the Pacific Coast.

The minimum height at that wind speed is measured on these wind maps is 30 meters, or a hundred feet. Since most residential wind turbine towers are forty-eighty feet in height, your actual wind speed will be but what is shown on the maps. As tower heights increase, the wind becomes faster and fewer turbulent. A twenty foot increase in tower height, from 60 to eighty feet, can increase the output of your wind turbine by as much as thirty six%.

Heap Size Requirements

A wind turbine needs at least [*fr1] an acre of land to make sure it will be located way enough removed from wind impeding obstructions like trees, your house and alternative out-buildings. The tower should additionally extend twenty feet higher than these obstructions. Usually speaking, the upper the tower, the more land is needed by local zoning laws.

California Wind Power Tax Incentives and Rebates

Currently the Federal doesn’t provide a wind power tax credit. But, California offers generous rebates for eligible wind turbines at the rate of $2.50 a watt for the primary 7.5kW (seven,five hundred watts) of rated output and $1.50 per watt thereafter up to 50kW (fifty,000 watts). The whole list of eligible equipment is accessible at:
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/cgi-bin/eligible_smallwind.cgi

As an example, Southwest Windpower’s Whisper two hundred, one,000 watt wind turbine would qualify for a $a pair of,500 rebate. This represents fifty% of the total $five,000 cost for a wind turbine, inverter and 80′ tower.

Wind Turbine Output

The Whisper 200 turbine will manufacture 158kW per month at 12 MPH. The higher the average wind speed, the a lot of power it can generate. For many homes, 158kW represents solely 20-twenty five% of monthly usage. On the opposite hand, your electrical bill will immediately drop by 20-twenty five% and the cost for electricity generated by the wind turbine 20 years from currently can be the same as it’s today.

At the other end of the residential wind power spectrum is that the Bergey BWC 10,000 watt wind turbine. A 10Kw system is capable of providing all the required power for most homes. The initial money outlay for a system of this size is around $40,000 including installation. This is often before the $22,000 rebate from the State of California.

Wind System Towers

Three sorts of towers are most typically used for residential wind turbines. The foremost expensive is that the monopole tower. This is often a scaled down version of the towers used on wind farms.

The second sort is the tilt up tower. The tower is raised using an hooked up gin pole and is stabilized with guy-wires.

The third could be a lattice tower additionally stabilized with guy-wires. A a lot of taller version of this tower is used by television stations.

Benefits of Wind Power

The price/benefit of a wind power system makes them relatively cheap to own. With the rebate factored in, a 10Kw system will acquire itself in as very little as vi or seven years. Mechanically, the straightforward design is straightforward to put in and needs little if any maintenance. Though you will have your share of calm days, you may also have lots of windy California nights when you’re wind turbine is spinning away while your neighbor’s solar array is literally collecting dust.

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