Wind power production

After micro-hydro systems, wind power systems are the next most cost effective renewable energy source ($.12 to $.25 per kWh)

Three rules of thumb concerning wind power systems are:

  1. Your site should have an average annual wind speed of 7 mph or greater. Check www.windpowermaps.org, local weather information, or install an anemometer to determine your wind resource. We can provide a reasonably priced anemometer to assess your wind resource. If the wind is often a nuisance, you probably have a good wind resource!
  2. The wind system tower should be at least tall enough so the bottom of the wind turbine blades are 30 feet above any obstruction within 500 feet laterally. Wind speed increases with tower height, and power output increases dramatically with greater wind speed. Taller towers are better! Tilt up towers make erecting and servicing wind turbines much easier.
  3. If you have less than one acre, a wind system tower may take too much space.
  4. Although we love wind turbines, you should be emotionally and financially prepared for the turbine to fail or fall.  Although it is rare, this can happen.

We are a Bergey Windpower (www.bergey.com) Certified Dealer. Bergey wind turbines are very quiet (see the National Renewable Energy Lab (www.nrel.gov) small wind turbine noise study), and reliable. Impacts on birds and bats are practically non-existent for the small wind turbines. The latest studies on avian impacts can be found at the American Wind Energy Association (www.awea.org) web site.

We are also dealers for Abundant Renewable Energy (www.abundantre.com) which offers new small and medium wind turbines.

We can perform a site assessment and design a wind turbine system to meet your needs, either grid tied or off grid (Living Off Grid.pdf).

In Chelan County, the Chelan County PUD (www.chelanpud.org/SNAP) Sustainable Natural Alternative Power (SNAP) (SNAP Synopsis.pdf) will purchase power from your grid tied wind system for up to $1.50/kWh! We pay only $.028/kWh for grid power. If you are not located in Chelan County, ask your utility if they have a similar renewable energy buy back program.

In addition, wind power Green Tags (environmental attributes) can be sold for $.04/kWh. Contact Northwest SEED (www.nwseed.org) for details.

Wind systems we have installed include: