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thinking putting a wind turbine up

  • 21-08-2010 10:44pm
    #1
    derekp188
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭


    Like to know if anyone has put up a wind turbine to there house and link it to the esb grid. like to know do i need planing for it and the cost and is there any grants i can get to help me. confused any info will be welcome thanks you :confused:


Comments

  • #2
    mgmt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,361 ✭✭✭mgmt


    derekp188 wrote: »
    Like to know if anyone has put up a wind turbine to there house and link it to the esb grid. like to know do i need planing for it and the cost and is there any grants i can get to help me. confused any info will be welcome thanks you :confused:


    Where do you live? Wind power depends a lot on turbulance. In a built up area, forget about it.

    Otherwise,small wind turbines up to 13 m in height, 6 m rotor and 14 m away from neighbours perimeter are exempt from planning permission.


  • #3
    quentingargan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,627 ✭✭✭quentingargan


    Agree with Mgmt. The output of a turbine is completely a function of the average wind speeds. But any old wind will spin an anemometer. A wind turbine blade travels at multiples of the wind speed using the same sort of dynamics that allow a yacht to sail against the wind. If there is turbulance in the wind, the blade just doesn't get the sort of lift to allow it to work properly.

    But on a good site, wind turbines make financial sense. There is no grant as such, but ESB will buy back your surplus power at a subsidised price - currently 19c per Kw Hr for the first 3,000 units exported per year. After 3,000 units, the price falls to 9c. This subsidy becomes less effective as the turbine gets bigger.

    There is also great satisfaction in having your own wind power. We have run our house on a turbine for 7 years now on a mediocre site - we have a lot of trees nearby. Nothing a chainsaw couldn't fix, but we're willing to accept the compromises.Q


  • #4
    Prabhu Deva
    Closed Accounts Posts: 75 ✭✭Prabhu Deva


    quentingargan wrote: »
    We have run our house on a turbine for 7 years now on a mediocre site - we have a lot of trees nearby. Nothing a chainsaw couldn't fix, but we're willing to accept the compromises.Q

    has your turbine paid of at this stage? are you using it off grid or with grid tie inverter?


  • #5
    quentingargan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,627 ✭✭✭quentingargan


    Prabhu Deva wrote: »
    has your turbine paid of at this stage? are you using it off grid or with grid tie inverter?

    No. Seven years ago there wasn't a snowflake's chance in hell that ESB would start buying our surplus electricity. Things have changed. At the time, on an off-grid system, I reckoned the payback time would be about 73 years. So I'm still waiting. It's a hobby rather than an investment that one.

    I now have a second one further up the hill which is grid tied, though I am experimenting with it a bit and haven't signed off on it for the ESB as yet.


  • #6
    demonspawn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,460 ✭✭✭demonspawn


    When it comes to wind turbines, initial cost does not have to be an issue. A bit of ingenuity and hard work goes a long way. The following is an extreme example but proves my point quite well.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UPe6A_UVPc


    Check out some other videos, wind turbine technology has come a long way. The following is one of my favorites.



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  • #7
    mgmt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,361 ✭✭✭mgmt


    Before you think of buying a wind turbine. Research the wind speed at your site. Use a wind sensor for a number of months or at least check out the SEAI Wind Atlas charts to find the wind velocity (at 12m). You can then calculate the power generated using this site.


  • #8
    shoegirl
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,029 ✭✭✭shoegirl


    www.cer.ie probably will answer most questions. Also potentially www.eirgrid.com with regard to attaching to the grid.

    Friend of mine did it on her farm - good idea really.

    There is an application for predicting wind but I can't remember what its called.


  • #9
    waxer1986
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 213 ✭✭waxer1986


    quentingargan wrote: »
    No. Seven years ago there wasn't a snowflake's chance in hell that ESB would start buying our surplus electricity. Things have changed. At the time, on an off-grid system, I reckoned the payback time would be about 73 years. So I'm still waiting. It's a hobby rather than an investment that one.

    I now have a second one further up the hill which is grid tied, though I am experimenting with it a bit and haven't signed off on it for the ESB as yet.


    so how long would you say it ll take for the second one to pay
    its self off when its hooked up to the grid?..
    was thinking about getten a turbine ..but not
    sure wat size i should get as the house is big enough
    and a lot off appliances been run at once same as any house i
    suppose..


  • #10
    quentingargan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,627 ✭✭✭quentingargan


    waxer1986 wrote: »
    so how long would you say it ll take for the second one to payits self off when its hooked up to the grid?..
    was thinking about getten a turbine ..but not sure wat size i should get as the house is big enough and a lot off appliances been run at once same as any house i suppose..

    My site isn't that great. Low mean wind speeds and a lot of trees around so I wouldn't go by my site particularly. If you want to work out the payback time of a turbine, you need to do quite a comprehensive site assessment, and even at that, it isn't an exact science.

    If you have a site with a good mean wind speed , you should be able to get a turbine with a payback time of about 10 to 12 years at today's energy prices, even less on an exceptional price. I'm one of those who are betting that energy prices will rise over the lifetime of the product though...

    If you pm me an email address, I can email you details of how to do a site assessment using online wind maps and online calculators. It isn't 100%, but it is free and easy to do and will give you an idea of whether you should pursue the matter or not.


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