is it windy enough for a turbine?

[Rainy]

Hi
My plot [at home] is on top of a hill with an open south / south westerly aspect and gets very windy. We are thinking about the possibility of installing a turbine but wondered if there is a way of measuring if you get enough wind to make it worth while before splashing out on kit?
Also is there a height above which you have to get planning permission or will I need permission regardless?

[camillitech]

hi rainy,

depends on your local authority as regards planning permission but if you ask them they will allways say you do (even if you don't) as far as your site goes a lot more information is needed, like are there any trees or obstructions nearby and do you live in the south east, north west, by the sea up a hill or in a built up area? there is a website that you find your average windspeed from
just google bwea and you'll probably find it.

good luck paul

[Wombat]

I have seen anemometers over here that are quite cheap, based on a little white ball in a tube, the faster the wind passess over the top of the tube, the higher up the tube the ball is sucked!

Nev

[paddy]

I would have thought if you get SWesterly's it would be well windy enough.

[revdode]

I have seen anemometers over here that are quite cheap, based on a little white ball in a tube, the faster the wind passess over the top of the tube, the higher up the tube the ball is sucked!

Nev

CAT sell these in the UK.

[contadino]

It's important when measuring the wind using an anomaonamometer to put the amononnmo....er...measuring-thing at the right height i.e. where the turbine will be, not at the bottom of the planned site for the tower. Turbines are vastly more efficient (and will last longer) in the less turbulent wind well above trees and houses.

[Wombat]

It's important when measuring the wind using an anomaonamometer to put the amononnmo....er...measuring-thing at the right height i.e. where the turbine will be, not at the bottom of the planned site for the tower. Turbines are vastly more efficient (and will last longer) in the less turbulent wind well above trees and houses.

Bloody good point!

[Rainy]

wow thanks all - what a lot of info.
I do get the south westerlies - in the January storms we lost trees, hen houses, very heavy climbing frames etc.
If I get one of those things that measures wind speed - how long would I use it for as I understand that there needs to be an average - I read somewhere last week that the wind needs to be blowing as fast as Linford Christie ran the 100 metres for 20% of the time.
Do any of you have a turbine? If so how tall is it, is it noisy and does it cause a lot of vibration through the ground? [I dont want my eggs scrambled before I crack them open

[camillitech]

hi rainy,
we've got a proven 2.5kw and it supplies all our needs and more besides. however we do live in a windy spot with good clean wind. i never took readings before hand but tried a few rutlands in various locations over about 15 years ours is 200m from the house so we don't really hear it but it does make quite a noise. my neighbor lives right below it but she quite likes the noise (but then it does supply her aswell )

if you do live in a windy spot a wouldn't look past a proven as they are designed and built in a windy place (scotland) i think chinese, spanish, italian or american machines may well be fine inland or down south but i doubt they would stand up to the winds we get here.

good luck paul

[paddy]

Hi Paul

I to live in a very windy spot, infact too windy cause the bags under my eyes are due to the storms from November to January and sadly nothing else.

Anyway how big and how much did your wind Generator cost and have you a battery storage pack with it???????????

[camillitech]

Hi Paul

I to live in a very windy spot, infact too windy cause the bags under my eyes are due to the storms from November to January and sadly nothing else.

Anyway how big and how much did your wind Generator cost and have you a battery storage pack with it???????????

hi paddy,
the mast is 6.5 m and the blades 3m the mast weighs about 200k and the head 250k, we have huge storage bank (1000ah 48v) and the mains is supplied by a trace 4.5kw inverter. the whole thing cost us about 15k and we borrowed the money for it. but bear in mind we were burning 100lts of diesel a week in our genny which is about £160 pm (about half our monthly loan repayments) for only 6 or 8hours of mains power a day. we now have plenty of power 24hours a day and the excess goes into heating.

it can be done for much less, our bank and inverter are a bit ott. our cable cost £2k because of the distance from the house and you could certainly make your own mast. we had to do things to a certain spec to qualify for a grant but to be honest the 3k we got from the grant meant we had to spend much more money. my only regret is we did not do it sooner

[paddy]

Hi Paul

I did write a reply to your post but it seems to have disapeared

Anyway the gist was........how long do the batteries last,,,,are they like car batteries which expire after around 2-3 years????????

Why 48 volts dont you have 20 x 12 volt batteries = 240 volts??????

[camillitech]

Hi Paul

I did write a reply to your post but it seems to have disapeared

Anyway the gist was........how long do the batteries last,,,,are they like car batteries which expire after around 2-3 years????????

Why 48 volts dont you have 20 x 12 volt batteries = 240 volts??????

hi paddy, we are hoping for an absolute minimum of 5 years life but wanting 10, they are deep cycle traction batteries so this is not an unreasonable expectation. 240v dc would be leathal 48v is about as high as you can go safely though i think some direct heating systems work on 110v

regards paul

[paddy]

OK Paul really interested in this now and just found out you only need a drop of 2 meters for a water turbine...........things are looking good.

Now what happens when the wind blows too fast??? all too often where you are same as here

And did you have to do much work to your house...i.e. conversions of electrical stuff to 110v??

I heard about 240v dc being bad i think if you touch it...it grabs hold of you and you fry.

[camillitech]

OK Paul really interested in this now and just found out you only need a drop of 2 meters for a water turbine...........things are looking good.

Now what happens when the wind blows too fast??? all too often where you are same as here

And did you have to do much work to your house...i.e. conversions of electrical stuff to 110v??

I heard about 240v dc being bad i think if you touch it...it grabs hold of you and you fry.

yes i like the water idea but our house is not near enough to the burn.

the proven is a downwind turbine and the blades fold inwards slightlly, the beauty of this is that it continues to produce full power even in storms when other turbines feather out of the wind or brake.

our house has an ordinary ring main + some extra wiring for the dump loads as the inverter converts the 48vdc to 230vac so even if our genny auto starts all power goes through the inverter and there is no interuption in supply.