Microgenerating wind turbines

[wotanykey]

hi all
i am from the uk but now live in ireland and i am just waiting on delivery of a new wind turbine, this will be a grid linked unit generating the house needs and uploading to the grid any excess (when the wind blows that is!)
i looked under wind turbines on this site, but that thread was mostly clogged up with people banging on about bird strikes, and getting too heavy about the pros and cons of the big ones ..... well this thread is JUST for the micro's please, thanks

i look forward to hearing from others that have already installed, or who are thinking of doing so, the good and the bad comments to help and advise other readers

regards paul

[Lancashire Lad]

Welcome to WAB Paul, I hope you stick around.

I don't know whether your decision to participate resulted from my final comment in this post earlier today: - Sustainable Energy Without Hot Air or whether it was just coincidence, but hopefully when your turbine is up and running, you will be able to provide some useful input on the microgenerating turbine subject.

You obviously have a more than average interest in the technology, and I assume that you will be monitoring the turbine's output to assess cost effectiveness, payback period, etc. etc.

It might prove very helpful to a good number of people, if you might feel inclined to post the specifications for your installation, and in due course such things as actual output averages, compared with stated turbine capacity (Load Factor).

As you will see from my comments elsewhere, I remain to be convinced about the economics of small "domestic" turbines, especially if the financial incentives of indirect subsidies such as "feed-in tariffs" etc. are taken out of the equation. Nevertheless, I hope that we will have some useful and friendly dialogue on the subject, and would be more than happy if my opinion is eventually proved to be wrong.

Regards,
Mike.

[wotanykey]

thanks for the reply

its about 3 weeks till it comes, so the concrete base will have been in for 5 weeks by then (nice n' ard'....tech term there!) the turbine is a German.. Braun 6 kw, supplied by Micropower from Cork in ireland, it will by on a 10 mtr hindged monopole with 4.25 mtr span blades. over here there is a set of limits to be able to fit a turbine without planning permission eg. max of 13 mtrs high, max of 6 mtr blade span, it must be one mtr more than the height from the nearest boundery, and a couple of other point that are safety items, and if your lucky enough to have a good location with a good size garden then your set,

[dazzap]

I was really excited about domestic turbines and was all up for buying one until I learnt that in a typical residential area they really dont work.

If there is an obstruction height H you need to be 20H distant from it to avoid turbulence. If you have a large open garden and can get planning for a decent size mast... GREAT!!! otherwise dont bother. (Space Needed)

I had a little smirk when my local B&Q were trying to flog off and old windsave that was on display and no-one wanted it.

So instead I bought solar thermal and PV and now I'm earning £50 a month from the FIT and much smaller bills

[wotanykey]

thanks for that comment the turbine is already in and working, i have quite a high site overlooking a valley to the west and the north , i cant say how well its working til its been in a little white ... how ever i have also paid a deposit and am installing very soon a 3kw pv system as well... so with that , the turbine and the 3 panel hot water solar i am hoping to loose the power bill generated by the heat pump, electric cooker and other electric drains on the house, as we have no gas or oil so everything is on electric. and if it makes more than the few percent the bank was paying me on the money on deposit then im winning in my book