It is no surprise to learn that like most 'new' technologies,
the wind power industry is full of myths and misconceptions. While
the technology of making power from wind is an ancient one,
with improvements in equipment in recent times and wide spread
availablity of inexpensive gear, the technology is
affordable and very easy to install and integrate into your
home and life, making self-sufficiency an attainable goal
for many people who never imagined they could 'unplug' from the grid.Here are 10 myths and misconceptions. Below these is an explanation for each topic.
Before we begin, let's do the bonus myth; myths 11 and 12. We'll squash right here and now.
Big wind (large megawatt towers) are not cheaper than small wind (home built family and community towers).
If you learn to make your own gear from scratch, you can unplug from the grid and eliminate your utility bill for less than the price per kilowatt of even the large mega-watt generating stations. It requires your two hands and some education. We'll show you how.
Some expert or article said I can't or it's too hard.
If you follow the class, it's easy, you can, the permits are possible even in urban areas and restrictive zoning, from neighbor issues to the subpanel wiring, we'll walk you through each step of the way and it is far less labor than you might think.
- Installers earn their money with that labor and usually do a fine job, but they aren't going to tell you to do their job and they'd probably do it faster, neater and better than you, but certainly not cheaper.
- We looked and searched the magazines and found out that articles in magazines that sell solar panels do not encourage you to install wind, despite the fact that it's
1/20th the price of Solar PV...don't wait for an editor of a magazine to tell you to buy something he doesn't run ads for.
- If calculations from The leading wind expert
alive today, Paul Gipe and NREL (National Renewable
Energy Labs - a NASA agency) and HOMER, related to
NREL and the Ace in the Hole, good old NASA Jerry all say
you can...
...and your installer, A/E magazine or some website all say you can't...
...would it stop you from learning that in fact you can afford to unplug with or without their help?
We even offered them the WindGenZen CD free to give to their subscribers...someday perhaps they'll offer it to you.
Meanwhile, use this step-by-step or go to many other home built wind genearator website and take the classes and learn to unplug from the grid permanently at a price you can afford TODAY. It requires your two hands and some education. We'll show you how.
Here are the 10 most common myths about wind power:
- Think you can't get permits?
You can. - Think you can't afford wind power?
You can. - Think you need a 100 foot tower?
You don't. - Think you it takes 5-10 years to payback the utility bill savings?
It doesn't. - Think wind power makes loud noises that keep you awake at night?
It doesn't. - Think your neighbors will complain?
They won't. - Think your State or National Building Codes stand in the way?
They don't. - Think you need cranes and heavy equipment?
You don't. - Think you need expensive technicians to install your system?
You don't. - Think a rebate or tax credit makes it 'more affordable'?
It doesn't.
Many people believe they can't use wind power in their homes
today because of either costs or local ordinances, noise or
safety issues, when in fact most of the 'roar' over wind power
is just hot air. Let's take these Top Ten issues one at a time.
KCK is committed to education and when we find
answers to tough questions we'll pass them on to you.
Click here to see how one man got his
permits and made his system for much less than 'contractor' rates would have been.
Write to Fred - a building and planning expert and get your plans
drafted up and ready for approval.
View several plans and diagrams. You can do this with or without a gen, with or without a grid-tie, with or without batteries. There are many ways to unplug today at a price you can afford and add equipment with money saved by reducing or eliminating your utility bill.
If you have been told 'YOU CAN'T DO THAT HERE WITHOUT SPECIFIC
EQUIPMENT AND PERMITS' Click here to see how one man got it done in
a way that was safe, within the law and while others seem to struggle to get this done, his method
should work for anyone, anywhere...even in Canada where the laws and regulations seem pretty hard on folks
who want wind power now at a price they can afford.
Once you have developed a safe plan for bringing wind power into your home and gained community support, the final step for approval may involve educating politicians and bringing media to County Supervisor meetings. Explain that the system you are proposing is safe, uses UL approved or certified components or if you are using
non-standard motors as generators (much less expensive), have the rated labels with you and the data that shows your wind generator will be operating within those limits.
The other option is to develop 'test sites' within your community on an annual review basis. This gives politicians breathing room to allow trials, giving them a chance to make
a sound environmental decision while addressing safety and noise issues. Trial sites and test periods
are one of the best ways to see if wind power is right for your community.
And of course a video camera and large group of neighbors asking pointed questions of politicians, playing that segment on the local news...that can get results as well.
Before drilling them with that sort of scene, give your local politicians an opportunity to consider options that are affordable, that allow home owners to use their own two hands and some elbow grease, rather than relying on expensive contractors and installers. This also allows local governments to
generate permit revenue for those inspections done by home owners, so everyone wins.
If your region lacks wind, there is no point investing in wind generating
equipment. View the wind maps and see if your
region has wind. If so, then it makes sense to construct wind generating
stations; it is that simple.
"WAIT!" you reply, "I can't afford it."
Yes you can. A 10 foot airfoil and 1500 watt generator can be purchased
for as little as $1000.00 if you shop around.
That doesn't mean it will make 1500 watts all the time, but if you checked
your local wind map above and then used the
Wind vs Watts vs Size calculator, you might find that
you need 1, 2, 3 or 4 such towers, depending on your wind speed to produce
enough power for your family.
If you need 3, that is about $3000.00 for the airfoil and generator.
Towers are about $250.00 for a very sturdy rig, half or a quarter of that
for smaller towers. There are even complete kits, grid-tie, tower, batteries - the works -
for half the price with bigger gear and higher output. It pays to shop carefully for both price and performance in the wind generator industry.
A large battery bank (for days without wind) is $500.00 - $2000.00. The
more consistent windy days you have, the less you have to rely on
a battery based system.
The wires and cables and subpanel is less than $200.00 - $500.00, depending
on how far you need to run the wiring.
The inverters to create AC power from DC start at $180.00. To be completely
self-sufficient you may need $500.00 - $800.00 of these.
Total cost for a 3 blade/gen, 3 towers, 3 inverter system : around $6000.00 - $8000.00. Add $2000.00 - $2500.00 if you want a grid-tie as well.
Slightly higher if your winds are light.
Most quotes from installers and contractors who install a 10kw system will
be 5 to 10 times this price; they do a professional job and charge for
technical service, but you don't have to spend that much if
you are willing to erect the towers yourself.
Our classes show you how and as you can see below, once installed and with zero utility costs,
your payback period (break even) on your system can be less than a year.
Look at this chart.
While it is true a 100 foot tower can make twice the power (kilowatt hours) as a 33 foot tower, the 100 foot tower costs
much more to erect and is more likely to have your neighbors block your
efforts when you apply for permits: which one is more likely to be allowed?
A 33 foot tower can easily be erected so it doesn't impact the skyline as much and if it should ever fall, would land completely wihin
your property boundary.
It is true that 100 foot towers make more power, but it is not true that those
heights are required to make wind power a part of your life and
lower towers may be easier to bring into your neighborhood and are available
for $100.00 - $300.00. 100 foot towers are much more expensive.
Think you need 2, 3 or 4 towers? You don't. You can actually stack several wind gens on one tower at various heights to save tower installation costs by simply using a thicker wall pipe and heavier guy wires. This reduces the amount of 'space' in your yard required for wind gen towers.
In the $6000.00 example above, if a family normally pays $150.00 per month
for electricity and that bill stops, in 40 months the system will have
paid for itself. If you have better wind, that time will be even less.
And if you carve your own airfoils, you reduce that price by another $3000.00
and your system would pay for itself in 20 months or about a year and
a half.
And if you used 'scrap water pipe' for your wind turbine masts and shaved
another $1000.00 off your setup cost, your $2000.00 system would pay for itself
in about 1 year.
The payback period is directly related to how much of your material you
purchase new from expensive suppliers vs surplus houses and scrap yards
and how much of the labor you do yourself.
Many communities require 'licensed installers' to do all of the
labor; with rising gas prices and public anger, awareness and education,
this CAN change when you put the pressure on your local politicians
and that means people who are willing to do the labor can erect very affordable systems.
A well made airfoil is whisper quiet. Some airfoils are designed to start sooner and their
powerband is smaller so they stall and make noise sooner; avoid those types
if you want a quiet generator. Some airfoils take 1 or 2 more knots of
wind to start but have a much wider zone where they don't stall and remain
quiet. Use that type if you want your wind generator to be silent for a wider
wind speed range. With a quiet airfoil, you are more likely to hear the wind
in the trees than on a wind generator blade.
Here is a discussion on airfoil
characteristics to help you learn about shapes and profiles.
Everyone is tired of paying for rising energy prices. To avoid problems with neighbors, they need to benefit from what you learn about wind power.
Let's examine the types of neighbors who are likely to complain and
see if we can give them something in return and turn them into someone who welcomes wind power:
Make sure that when you talk about wind power in your neighborhood, you explain that you are going to try it
and teach others how to do it. If you make it a community event, there
is less likely to be resistance.
The studies are in: not only is the clean power good for the environment, but
birds are more likely to crash into windows, moving cars on a highway
and other manmade objects than wind towers and moving airfoils.
If you have neighbors like these, you can probably afford to pay
for your utility fed power too and aren't likely to convince a gated
community Board to allow wind generators. However if your community is
pro-environment and is willing to try a test of wind power or
has land at one end of the community that might be suitable for erecting wind
towers, you are in luck; a co-op system is actually one of the best
ways to go and most affordable.
Again, the payback period can be less than one year if the home owner understands
how to put their own tower up and carve their own props. Our classes show
them how and poor people are often eager to replace high costs with a little
grass roots labor to get the job done.
If you were poor and in 12 months your electricity was free, that might make you change your mind about wind power.
There is financing available
to make it even more affordable.
Well built steel wind towers do not fall over; they can take 100 mph
winds and more. A regular inspection, perhaps an annual fee paid to
the local county inspectors to insure your tower is properly maintained,
along with the right size guy wires all make this myth disappear.
And a 33 foot tower can easily be erected so it could only fall on your
land.
Today, many states, counties and a few countries such as Canada have strict laws on erecting
wind power towers and connecting them to your home: you need a licensed installer
so you don't burn the place down.
If the wiring is done properly, if the subpanels meet code, if you provide a single common
shut-off point for emergency personnel, your wind power system can
easily be designed to meet UBC (Universal Building Code) standards and
most of the work can be done by the home owner.
As wind power becomes more popular, the NEC (National Electric Code) will
have to evolve. Licensed electrical contractors can benefit by standards
that allow them to install subpanels on home owner erected towers. If your State or National laws are preventing you from doing this, it is
time to take action:
A 33 foot tower can be erected using a pickup truck and tabernacle mast system.
While large 10kw generators are very heavy and usually require very large tower structures and foundations,
smaller 1500 - 3000 watt generators are much lighter and in many ways, more reliable. Not only
is maintanance easier (you can lower the tower with your own car/truck), making them safer (you can check them more frequently),
but the equipment is less expensive (you can replace them easier), and if one tower goes down,
the others are still producing power. This makes a redundant system of multiple generators
an attractive way to go.
Also, if money is an issue, you can afford to buy one, get it up and running and
add more as your budget allows; this makes it an affordable step-by-step process, rather
than a large chunk of cash required for large 10kw wind generator installations.
There is no doubt that a professional with experience is worth their weight in gold. It doesn't
matter if it involves installing a swimming pool or refinishing a coffee table.
But wind generators are not difficult or complicated to install. We offer step-by-step classes
as well as hands-on live labs, chat rooms and a variety of ways to learn and get support and help along the way.
While many people would prefer to spend money and let someone else do the job, carving a blade from scratch, setting up a tower and
wiring a battery bank and inverter can be done in 1 or 2 weekends for less than $1000.00. The batteries are
one of the biggest expenses and again you can expand that storage system as your budget allows. We even have a class on using recycled batteries. Follow those step-by-step instructions and that can save you another $1000-$2000 of your expense and you end up with a very large battery bank for pennies.
And wiring a battery bank to an inverter is a pretty simple operation and wiring an inverter to drive
a circuit or two in your home is also easy, although for some people a licensed electrician is
a good idea and would only cost $100.00 - $200.00 to have them install a subpanel and move a few outlets or lights
over to your 'alternative energy subpanel'. As you save money and can invest in more gear, you can move
more and more of your home over to that panel and reduce your utility consumption in affordable steps.
This is especially true if you are forced to include a solar panel PV system in your plans. If you have wind solar PV useable power is about 20 times more expensive than a home-built wind generator and no amount of rebates and rewards is going to make that system more affordable than one you can build and erect yourself.
Let's look at some numbers without that expense. You would think that a 25 percent or 33 percent or 50 percent rebate or reward program would make wind power more affordable. Unfortunately it usually does not.
None of these systems will qualify for most 'Rebate or Cash Reward' programs.
Which system is less expensive?
Which system allowed you to use your hands and save money?
And the fact is, most reward programs only offer 10, 15, 25 or 33 percent and even those programs are usually limited on what they will and will not cover. Sometimes items such as batteries and towers are covered, often they are not.
Here is one way to understand the challenges of installing your own
wind generator system:
Automobiles have just come out on the maket and you are the first
to buy one. Your neighbors have horses and their horses panic everytime
your car backfires or you rumble down the highway. There is no place
to park in town because all the shop owners want you to keep that new-fangled
contraption away from the rest of their customers and their horse and buggy rigs.
The roads are dirt so you always seem to be getting stuck in mud holes and
if you break down, there is no such thing as a tow truck service; you will have
to either fix it on the road or go get your own horse and wagon and drag the
car back home yourself. In other words, cooperation is low, support is low
and in a few years everyone on your block will wish they had one.
If you want to be free of utility bills and are willing to organize and
educate your neighborhood, your state and your politicians, you can
unplug from the grid permanently, as can each of your friends. If you
expect to just 'put up a tower' and hope nobody says anything, that
isn't going to happen. If you can't afford a battery storage system
and expect wind to give you 365 days of power, that isn't likely to
happen either. Many systems do use a combination of solar panels and
a diesel generator or at least have a battery storage system or a grid tie
so when winds are light, you still have power.
Your local region and wind conditions dictate what system is best for
you, but many 'experts' recommend systems that are best for them,
for fees paid for the skills they bring to your site, as valid as they are, and for their profits; they
need to make a living too. If you can afford the installer charges, it is a wise way to go and will save you time in the long run.
But that doesn't mean your system has to be a huge up-front expense. Using a method of buying what you can afford, you can install one component at a time and as your utility savings climb, you can expand that system, one more inverter, one more wind gen, a larger battery bank.
We'll show you how.
There is no reason why you have to continue paying for electricity. You can
afford a wind generator system, you can get the approval you need, you can include
your entire neighborhood in a 'green program' and you can, with the right data and literature and video, convince your local, state and federal politicians that your system is safe and affordable and it's time to make a change that helps the environment and helps families make it through these times of rising energy costs.
You can.
You can.
You don't.
It doesn't.
It doesn't.
They won't.
The key to avoiding objections in your neighborhood is to get the
community involved. With skyrocketing fuel prices, this is going to
become even easier.
People don't like paying for power when it can be made locally free of charge.
You don't.
You don't.
It doesn't.
Now if your rebate program gave you 50 percent of that back as cash (a great rebate program), you'd still pay more than $10,000.00 for your system vs. $6000.00 for the same system that did not qualify for the rebate program.
All in all, the least expensive way naturally requires more time and skill on your part; we will give you the knowledge to do the job, you supply
just 1 or 2 weekends per wind generator, and pay 1/3rd to 1/5th the price of expensive options.
That is the way new technology evolves and wind power is no different.
