Solar seems to be the only “free” power option people talk about for residential but what about wind? Has anyone done anything with mini turbines?
I live on a hill in the outskirts of Wellington so I get plenty of wind. Most of my power usage is after the sun has gone down especially in the colder months. So it seems to me that wind power makes much more sense than solar. Why isn’t it more popular?
I’ve heard people say they’re noisy. Really? If you take your desktop fan outside on a windy day and let the breeze turn the blades how much noise does the fan make? Almost nothing.
They’re ugly. Well yes the older style ones are a bit but now you can get cone shaped, mushroom or flying soucer shaped ones and the range of colours are great.
You can get a 500w vertical turbine that stands just over a meter tall in almost any colour you you like. Three of those just inside the back fence would take care of all my background energy consumption for roughly 90% of the year. A similar sized solar array would only generate for roughly 60%.
Council restrictions on height along boundaries can be restrictive but if I brought them in a couple meters from the boundary how high up can I go? Five meters away from the house I wouldn’t need to clear the rooftop just the fence line.
Also the cost of the grid tied controller is up there as there isn’t the competition here yet. There’s plenty from China but I don’t think they’d be compatible with NZ electrical regulations regarding grid tying.
If anyone’s gone this way or has the answers please get in touch.
I live on a hill in the outskirts of Wellington so I get plenty of wind. Most of my power usage is after the sun has gone down especially in the colder months. So it seems to me that wind power makes much more sense than solar. Why isn’t it more popular?
I’ve heard people say they’re noisy. Really? If you take your desktop fan outside on a windy day and let the breeze turn the blades how much noise does the fan make? Almost nothing.
They’re ugly. Well yes the older style ones are a bit but now you can get cone shaped, mushroom or flying soucer shaped ones and the range of colours are great.
You can get a 500w vertical turbine that stands just over a meter tall in almost any colour you you like. Three of those just inside the back fence would take care of all my background energy consumption for roughly 90% of the year. A similar sized solar array would only generate for roughly 60%.
Council restrictions on height along boundaries can be restrictive but if I brought them in a couple meters from the boundary how high up can I go? Five meters away from the house I wouldn’t need to clear the rooftop just the fence line.
Also the cost of the grid tied controller is up there as there isn’t the competition here yet. There’s plenty from China but I don’t think they’d be compatible with NZ electrical regulations regarding grid tying.
If anyone’s gone this way or has the answers please get in touch.
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