wind turbine

vinne

Have any of ye invested in a wind turbine in the last few years ,and if yes was it worth it .

yellow50HX

no but the tought has struck me about getting one for the house, perched on a hill so get a nice bit of wind regulary. my great grand father had one in genereations ago to power light in the house.

i think you need to get abuot 6 m/min minium at the trubine height to make it viable (not sure the excat number).

mind you dont have a mob of protesting midlanders marching accross your garden, or a load of people from teh other end of the parish cribbing about you spoling thier view on thier sunday afternoon walk.

Birdnuts

Is it a domestic turbine or something you want to connect to the national grid??. Big difference in costs and planning between the 2. A neighbour of mine in North Mayo has one of the former. It kicks in between wind speeds of 5 to 30mph. Anything over that it cuts out. He has it a few years but I don't know has it paid for itself yet. He had some techanical issues with it but like everything else some makes are better than others.

A wind turbine to put power into the national grid is a totally different kettle of fish and would require serious investment and guarantees from both major power companies and the goverment in terms of contruction, connection and payments.

Dampintheattic

I see a few around west Clare, which gets plenty wind.
Strange thing is, they seem to be stopped more time than running

Realistically, I reckon you need to be using a LOT of electricity to justify these things. Big dairy farmer perhaps.

AntrimGlens

Haven't personally invested in one but have a site that a wind company are keen to lease from me for 25yrs @ £15,000 per yr. Its on a serious rough bit of ground thats barely fit to be walked on and we're in the process of getting solicitors involved to agree the pre-contract as there is no guarantee that they'll get planning permission. Its a 250kw machine, 30m to the hub and they fund all works and leave the remedial works back to the state they found them - but then everyone says that don't they.
We're holding out for another £1000 per yr then i think we'll sign up and see how we go - theres a large wind farm planned for the mountain behind us as we get good wind from the NE on a sea facing site.

reilig

Plenty of options out there. C & F seem to be the leading supplier.

You can go to a certain height of wind turbine without needing planning permission.

Domestic wind turbines can be connected to the grid through a reverse electrictiy meter in your house. So when the wind's blowing you're feeding in, and when it's not, you are back on the grid. Any extra units that you supply, you get paid for.

Plenty of threads about it in the renewable energy forum.

The downfalls of it are:

The feed in tarrif (ie. what you get paid for feeding into the grid) is poor. Therefore is if only feseable to put up a turbine if you are going to use the majority of the electricity produced in your home, business or farm. The resulting offset of ESB bills will more than cover the cost and maintenance of the turbine. But if you are relying on feeding electricity back into the grid to make money then it won't cover the cost and maintenance.

Aesthetics - do you want one near your home. I like them, but some people don't.

Cost - €25k+ for one suitable for feeding into the grid. Has to be maintained also which is a specialised job. You'd want to be saving an ESB bill of €5k+ per year by installing one in order to justify the cost and maintenance.

Lifespan - 15 to 20 years. After that you have to replace.

Site suitability - you need a 12 - 18 month wind measurement test to ensure site suitability. No point putting it up if site is not suitable.

My knowledge beyond that is limited and some of it may be a year or 2 out of date, but it gives you some idea of the ups and downs of it.

Birdnuts

AntrimGlens wrote: »

Haven't personally invested in one but have a site that a wind company are keen to lease from me for 25yrs @ £15,000 per yr. Its on a serious rough bit of ground thats barely fit to be walked on and we're in the process of getting solicitors involved to agree the pre-contract as there is no guarantee that they'll get planning permission. Its a 250kw machine, 30m to the hub and they fund all works and leave the remedial works back to the state they found them - but then everyone says that don't they.
We're holding out for another £1000 per yr then i think we'll sign up and see how we go - theres a large wind farm planned for the mountain behind us as we get good wind from the NE on a sea facing site.

Whats the story if the company installing the Turbine goes belly up??. The reason I ask is because it seems to be a growing problem in parts of Europe that have been forced to cut subsidies to this form of energy due to rising costs. Notably Spain where many investors have been cleaned out according to a recent article in the Economist. I know bankruptcy laws are different in the UK but how would you be fixed as a creditor etc.??

AntrimGlens

thats exactly why the solicitors are getting involved now - haven't been informed as to what happens in that situation but its one of the list of Q's that i have for the company if we agree to move forward to that stage. I know of several council buildings, small enterprise parks that invested in Vestas turbines that haven't operated in years and all they have is the scrap value for them

enricoh

15k sterling a year for 25 years for a bit of waste ground ? grab the hand off them if you dont get the extra one k!
theres a thread in the louth section about the turbine in dkit college n all the uproar before it n how no-one objects now

kevthegaff

We have 3 on our land 750 KW, luckily we got them in 11 yrs ago before objections and protests have become more popular

Birdnuts

enricoh wrote: »

15k sterling a year for 25 years for a bit of waste ground ? grab the hand off them if you dont get the extra one k!
theres a thread in the louth section about the turbine in dkit college n all the uproar before it n how no-one objects now

The net income is likely to be a good deal less depending on ones VAT and income tax liabilities. Especially if the payment knocks you into a higher tax band. The link below is an eye opener in that regards

http://www.independent.ie/business/farming/before-embarking-on-a-wind-farm-project-be-sure-to-understand-the-various-tax-implications-26892300.html



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jimeli

I bought a 2.5kw turbine which I hope will heat the emersion heater in my domestic copper cylinder. I would only expect it to assist with my current heating system during the winter months but would be hoping that it might be sufficient to heat my domestic water during the summer for showers etc when my main heating system is off. The turbine is 24 volt and the emersion heater is also 24 volt. My question is - can I join my turbine directly to the emersion heater or do I need to use a battery or some type of regulator - any advice will be very much appreciated.

colrow

Hi J you will need a bank of batteries to store the energy, and a turbine charge regulator, between the turbine and the batteries, also a dump load monitor that feeds excess current to dump resistor(s). This is needed as if the wind is at a high speed and you are producing more than the water heating consumes, you will gas your batteries, they'll give off hydrogen and are a serious explosion hazard. Also the generator will look like a comet !!!!
I've seen two go up in flames in high wind, 1 kw and 2.5 kw

I had a 1kw, one at the beginning of the year there was a severe wind overnight, and the next morning, it was smashed to bits, a guy rope had failed.

So site it where you can be sure its not going to injure someone if it comes down.

The turbine controller usually has a switch that should stop the turbine rotating, but if this fails in high winds, it'll be a nice fireworks show.

So the thing to do, is if you know bad weather is coming, lower the thing.

bbam

AFAIK you can go either way.
With batteries you have the ability to store energy to heat water when it suits best, maybe when the water is coldest or when your eating is off.
Or you can regular the output to ensure it remains a constant 24v and just heat the water when there is wind. This is a much cheaper option and I think a good idea. It's typically windy on the colder days just when you need the heat.

colrow

jimeli wrote: »

I bought a 2.5kw turbine which I hope will heat the emersion heater in my domestic copper cylinder. I would only expect it to assist with my current heating system during the winter months but would be hoping that it might be sufficient to heat my domestic water during the summer for showers etc when my main heating system is off. The turbine is 24 volt and the emersion heater is also 24 volt. My question is - can I join my turbine directly to the emersion heater or do I need to use a battery or some type of regulator - any advice will be very much appreciated.

You'll get plenty of informed advice on this forum:-

http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.php/board,8.0.html

jimeli

I think the option of regulating the output at 24 volts is what I'm looking for as I do not want to get involved with batteries if at all possible. So if I was to get this regulator do you think that I could then hook up my turbine to the emersion heater where it heats only when the turbine turns fast enough. any idea where I might purchase this type of regulator.

colrow

Ebay, but you need to know exactly what you want, ask the lads on the navitron forums.

jimeli

Perfect - thanks for advice -

user 97

Hello everyone,
I wish to seek information on the performance of anyone's 6kW Grid Wind turbine.
I have had my 6kW machine operating well over the past 6 months , using the Aurora Inverter, 10m tower, living in the South West of Ireland.
I am concern about the Total Power production after this time which is very low, the total output amounts only to an Annual Power Output of only about €1200/yr in electricity production, 2953kWhr. after 6months

I would be grateful if anyone could let me know what the annual Power production of their 6kW Wind turbine on 10m tower,
Your comments will truly be valued,

Thank You & Best Regards,

ggsolar ireland

The 2.5kw turbine set up would normally consist of a dump load and charge controller for batteries and if taking to the main you would need a rectifier to correct the ac frequency. and dump load where you can heat water too.

ggsolar ireland

Im not sure of quantities, but if you look at the paper work of your wind turbine you'll see a spec sheet which would show power outputs at different wind speeds. On the other hand maybe by increasing the height of the turbine you might get a better production form the turbine. Another cause could be location.

From my experience with a 5kw wind turbine you should be looking at treble the output you receiving at the moment.

Donegalforever

AntrimGlens wrote: »

Haven't personally invested in one but have a site that a wind company are keen to lease from me for 25yrs @ £15,000 per yr. Its on a serious rough bit of ground thats barely fit to be walked on and we're in the process of getting solicitors involved to agree the pre-contract as there is no guarantee that they'll get planning permission. Its a 250kw machine, 30m to the hub and they fund all works and leave the remedial works back to the state they found them - but then everyone says that don't they.
We're holding out for another £1000 per yr then i think we'll sign up and see how we go - theres a large wind farm planned for the mountain behind us as we get good wind from the NE on a sea facing site.

£15,000 per year would seem to be on the light side if you have a suitable windy site.
I admit I have no personal experience of dealing with wind farm companies.
Could you make enquiries from other land owners who already have wind mills on their land as to the going rate ?

ggsolar ireland

Just throwing this out, have you looked at seeing if the dump load can be diverted to the Emersion heater.

jimeli wrote: »

I bought a 2.5kw turbine which I hope will heat the emersion heater in my domestic copper cylinder. I would only expect it to assist with my current heating system during the winter months but would be hoping that it might be sufficient to heat my domestic water during the summer for showers etc when my main heating system is off. The turbine is 24 volt and the emersion heater is also 24 volt. My question is - can I join my turbine directly to the emersion heater or do I need to use a battery or some type of regulator - any advice will be very much appreciated.