A small wind electric system will work for you if:

 A small wind electric system will work for you if:

• There is enough wind where you live

• Tall towers are allowed in your neighborhood or rural area
• You have enough space
• You can determine how much electricity you need or want to produce
• It works for you economically.

How Do Wind Turbines Work?

Wind is created by the unequal heating of the Earth’s surface by the sun.Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical power that runs a generator to produce clean electricity. Today’s turbines are versatile modular sources of electricity. Their blades are aerodynamically designed to capture the maximum energy from the wind. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft connected to a generator that makes electricity.

the ambient noise level of most modern residential wind turbines is around 52 to 55 decibels.

The smaller or “micro” (20- to 500-watt) turbines are used in a variety of applications such
as charging batteries for recreational vehicles and sailboats.

One- to 10-kW turbines can be used in applications such as pumping water

A typical home uses approximately 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year (about 830 kWh per month). Depending on the average wind speed in the area, a wind turbine rated in the range of 5 to 15 kW would be required to make a significant contribution to this demand. A 1.5- kW wind turbine will meet the needs of a home requiring 300 kWh per month in a location with a 14- mile-per-hour (6.26-meters-per-second) annual average wind speed.

Automatic overspeed-governing systems to keep the rotor from spinning out of control in very high winds.

The amount of power a turbine will produce is determined primarily by the diameter of its rotor. The diameter of the rotor defines its “swept area,” or the quantity of wind intercepted by the turbine.

A general rule of thumb is to install a wind turbine on a tower with the bottom of the rotor blades at least 30 feet (9 meters) above any obstacle that is within 300 feet (90 meters) of the tower.

to raise a 10-kW generator from a 60-foot tower height to a 100-foot tower involves a 10%
increase in overall system cost, but it can produce 29% more power.