I only discovered this thread today. AWESOME
Jason, I presume you know that residential wind has a pretty terrible reputation for vastly under performing expected production, but your setup seems to be doing OK. I'd love to hear you take on this and when residential wind should be considered
Way to go !!
I don't doubt you, but I do wonder why your setup is working so much better than many others.
I'll add some links later to explain my general skepticism about residential wind.
There is a simple reason why our wind system works, it is correctly sited and installed by a qualified installer. Too often, just like many solar installations, work is done by people and companies who are reaching beyond their actual competence. Our installations have been done by a single local company which has been doing this work since 2008. They stand behind what they install. They actually repair wind turbines in their own shop. They have installed more than 250 in the local Cheyenne, WY area, and more in Northern Colorado. They also have done work to repair or replace orphaned products whose manufactures no longer are in business. Having the same installer do all of grid tied project eliminates any "finger pointing" if something doesn't work correctly. There is no one contractor blaming another's work. I have been involved with the design, installation, and inspection, taking pictures along the way. My background of living with off grid wind and solar PV lets me be engaged on a technical level which differs from someone who is buying a product without that experience. We have worked collaboratively in each installation on our property. The result is a system which has proved to be robust and reliable.
https://www.wycowindandsolar.com/
Before this project began, we already had over 20 years experience with off - grid wind and solar PV residential power. We understand that these are mechanical devices which have moving parts that can and periodically do fail. If you want something which is "plug and play" and will never need service or repair, it doesn't really exist, but solar PV is closer to that then wind power. For our situation, we were working within a limit of 25 rate kW or in Wyoming, we would have to become "a small scale utility." Were it not for that constraint, we could accomplish the same goals just with PV, although it would not seasonally balance our power production to more closely match our usages in summer and winter they way a combined system does. For us to produce enough power for our home an EVs alone by PV only in winter would cause tremendous overproduction in summer. Given how "net metering" works (for now) in Wyoming (which is among the better places for wind power in the United States), our system is designed and implemented in a manner which matches our needs. I'm not making any pronouncements about that being true for anyone else, anywhere else.
Wind power has gotten a bad rap by too many people attempting improper installations. It's similar to people who say "electric cars aren't practical" because they don't understand you can't drain a battery to 10%, leave the car unplugged overnight in -20 degree weather, and expect to drive 100 miles without charging the next morning. Similarly, it's also like people who install roof top solar, where it is shaded a part of the day and are disappointed that their results don't match the manufacturer's claims. I've looked at many articles criticizing residential wind power. Some of them are because of bad products, many of which are imported by "fly by night industries." More are the result of poor siting and/or poor installation.
Please don't bother posting links to articles trashing residential wind power. This thread is not about whether or not you or anyone else should get wind power. It's about that it is possible to connect the type of wind turbines we have to the Powerwall 2. When I started looking at this project, no one was out there who could answer that question. Thank you.
