Study Says Home Wind Turbines Are Often Useless
Before buying a small wind turbine for your roof, consider this: a recent British study claims that many home turbines generate only a fraction of what manufacturers promise, and some don’t even generate enough power to run their own electronics. The study, which was funded by the British Wind Energy Association, looked at turbines in four rural, 10 suburban, and 12 urban sites over the course of a year.
- » See also: Storing Renewable Energy in Boxes of Air
- » Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
Many of the turbines in the study generated on average only 214 watt hours per day— less than five percent of a household’s electricity.
Unfortunately for many homeowners, obstructions like trees and buildings often get in the way of accessing substantial wind power. Turbines installed on buildings in exposed positions obviously have the best results.
Of course, there are still plenty of options for homeowners hoping to invest in renewable energy, including solar panels, which usually reap better results than home turbines.
Photo Credit: NREL
Hey Ariel– can you find a link to the actual study? Everywhere I’ve seen mention about the study, and BWEA, but can’t find the actual study anywhere… please please please send link? Thanks!! U & Clean Technica rock!
ha ha. nevermind, should have just done more looking around: it’s http://www.warwickwindtrials.org.uk/2.html right?
You got it!
It is unfortunate when a reporter such as Ms. Schwartz puts out a mis-leading article. She is referring to a study called the Warwick Wind trials. http://www.warwickwindtrials.org.uk/ - This is a study relating to proper siting of a wind generator. It compared the installation of one unit installed on a tower to others attached to the roof of a house.
I am from the company that produces the Skystream which is pictured in the article. We and all credible small wind manufacturers emphasize the importance of proper siting of a wind turbine. All dealers are reuqired to attend training prior to selling our product. Understanding where the wind resource is, is critical to the sucess of any small wind system. It is no different than installing a solar panel on the north side of a building. Poor installation, poor performance.
Lastly, the wind turbines used in the Warwick study had an output range between 100-1500 watts. Skystream is rated for 2400 watts. Ms Schwartz is again mis-leading people in thinking that is all these systems can do. Small wind systems come in all sizes and if properly sited, can produce more than replace a homeowner’s monthly electric consumption.
I hope she does the public a favor and either write the article correctly or removes it.
Andy Kruse - Southwest Windpower, Inc.
Andy… good come back! How can you get any substantial wind generation when the wind mill is below the trees (as pictured).
Correct siting and height is the key!
I also see a mistake on the placement of the solar panels. The house is shading one and a half of the panels. Put the panels on the highest roof.
Just a bad plan all around!
Andy - I wasn’t trying to make any sort of statement about the general ability of wind turbines to produce power. See: “Unfortunately for many homeowners, obstructions like trees and buildings often get in the way of accessing substantial wind power. Turbines installed on buildings in exposed positions obviously have the best results.” While you as a manufacturer may emphasize proper siting, third party dealers often don’t.
Ariel - You need to re-title this article to read - Poor wind turbine siting results in bad efficiency. THIS site will be USELESS if you keep publishing slanted articles like this and don’t incorporate all the facts!
Chris - the title isn’t inaccurate, and I’m not trying to slant anything. The PhysOrg article I referenced is entitled “Home turbines fail to deliver as promised.” Does that make PhysOrg also slanted and useless? I have nothing against wind turbines - in fact, I wholeheartedly support their use in many situations. The title is just meant to provoke discussion. As for the bit about if we “keep publishing slanted articles” - I’m not sure what other posts you’re referring to.
I think the misconceptions here are coming from how the article is arranged.
“Many of the turbines in the study generated on average only 214 watt hours per day— less than five percent of a household’s electricity.”
The paragraph: “Unfortunately for many homeowners…” comes behind: “Many of the turbines in the study generated…”, so people reading it may not quite understand they they are related.
If you were to directly state the link between the two like: “The primary reason for this is that many home owners…”, then there would be less confusion.
I do agree with the article. I’ve seen far too many poorly placed small turbines.
[...] while wind may have the advantage for large projects, I’m still keeping my eye on solar power for small-scale [...]