Wind generator in urban areas

[emil.aguinaldo]

Hi All,

I live in a park that disallows installing solar panels. They have a small baseline allowance in electricity that makes charging unpractical. Im trying to see if anyone has experience with small wind turbine non grid tied installations, and if its worth it. Wonder if they have recommendations. I mostly work from home and probably average about 20 miles a day (-+5miles loss per day). Id be happy if i can at least recoup the loss (assuming i have enough wind).

TiA

 

[SSedan]

Wind is less consistent than solar(most places) and not grid tied means big battery bank.
To get good clean wind usually means elevation above obstacles and many jurisdictions dictate you need enough land around it so that if it tips over it doesn't land in someone else's property.

 

[Electroman]

There was a very nice article detailing how small turbines at low heights are simply not cost effective. Both in terms of capital investments and maintenance. Google effectiveness of small wind turbines.

For every 10 meter increase in height and marginal increase in blade size, the increase in output is dramatic.

 

[Lasairfion]

Something like this would be cool
RB1 Residential

 

[emil.aguinaldo]

Thanks for the replies. I currently live next to a mountain with good gusts, but not sustained throughout the day. Electricity hits x4 the rate at tier 3, just not possible. Im forced to charge smaller amounts at home and schedule charging outside, too much wasted time, and im considerable letting go this great car ive had for almost 6 yrs now. Just wondering anyone has technical actual experience to say the air turbines is see on amazon, coupled with a few big batteries would make sense.

The RB1 looks pretty cool btw.

 

[Electroman]

RB1 looks cool. But it looks like the generation is subject to wind direction?

 

[Graffi]

OP, if you want usable suggestions I suggest you let us know where you live, what utility you use for electricity, and what rate plan do you use. It may be that you can get special rates for EV charging. Also, if you use an electrical medical divice you can often get a lower rate and an increase in the baseline allowance, as well as be exempt from rolling blackouts.

 

[nwdiver]

Hi All,

I live in a park that disallows installing solar panels. They have a small baseline allowance in electricity that makes charging unpractical. Im trying to see if anyone has experience with small wind turbine non grid tied installations, and if its worth it. Wonder if they have recommendations. I mostly work from home and probably average about 20 miles a day (-+5miles loss per day). Id be happy if i can at least recoup the loss (assuming i have enough wind).

TiA

If they don't like solar panels... pretty sure they would hate a wind turbine... and no, urban wind is generally not worth the cost. You'd probably be better off hiding a solar panel somewhere out of site or hanging one inside from a window.

Check your state laws. Many states have passed laws overriding HOAs with regards to solar.

 

[Shygar]

I heard that you have to have your turbine at least 100 feet into the air. I briefly looked at it just to have an idea if it was possible, and I really don't want (nor I doubt my neighbors would like it) if I installed one. It would be nice to generate power at night, but it's really not necessary for me personally.

 

[Johan]

May I ask what the stated reason is for disallowing solar panels (on your own property)? Esthetics?

 

[MikeBur]

As mentioned knowing a little more background would help with better informed responses.

In the meantime, there may be some ability to use vertical axis aligned wind turbines. Though their efficiency is less than larger traditional wind turbines they have other considerations around lower cut-in speed and ability to generate in less consistent wind direction areas.

There’s some specs and expected generation curves at Buy - Semtive. Note wind speed is often m/s, so remember to convert

 

[abasile]

If you can't install solar panels, what about a Tesla Solar Roof? It would be quite costly, but the aesthetics and durability should be great. It's hard to imagine small wind turbines being much less costly in terms of the actual energy produced, or being any more palatable to your HOA than regular solar panels.

Don't give up your EV too easily! Perhaps you can get a second electric meter dedicated to EV charging at a low rate. Also, even if your electricity rates are very high, I doubt that it's more costly to charge your EV than to fuel a comparable gasoline car. Don't undervalue your time by wasting it looking for cheap charging.

Another option could be to go on a time-of-use (TOU) electric rate plan where certain times of the day are cheaper than others. The goal would be to charge your EV at home, at a time of day (probably nighttime) when electricity is cheap. If you end up using a great deal of "on peak" electricity due to working at home, you could mitigate that in the future by installing a Powerwall or two and storing cheap electricity in the battery.

Thanks for the replies. I currently live next to a mountain with good gusts, but not sustained throughout the day. Electricity hits x4 the rate at tier 3, just not possible. Im forced to charge smaller amounts at home and schedule charging outside, too much wasted time, and im considerable letting go this great car ive had for almost 6 yrs now. Just wondering anyone has technical actual experience to say the air turbines is see on amazon, coupled with a few big batteries would make sense.

The RB1 looks pretty cool btw.

 

[Lasairfion]

Just came across this one NEMOI: Affordable Wind Turbine for Homes - Residential

 

[nwdiver]

Just came across this one NEMOI: Affordable Wind Turbine for Homes - Residential

Hmmm.... I'm generally skeptical of small wind. It's a physics thing. There's simply not enough energy to take advantage of anywhere near ground level. That does look a little more promising. It it works as advertised ~$5k for a 2.4kW turbine might be doable. Most of the small wind turbines I've seen are ~$20k for ~3kW. Need to see some real world results.

 

[RDoc]

There's another problem with low height wind turbines beyond low wind speed, turbulence. Buildings, trees, hills, etc bounce the wind around which means the turbine blades aren't operating in wind coming from a single direction. That means that the blades' angle of attack is to generally wrong, even along a single blade, and certainly second to second. The result is lowered efficiency.

IMHO, most commercial small wind turbines on buildings, airport roofs, etc. are mainly there for green washing purposes.

 

[Uncle Paul]

A major issue it that turbines large enough to generate significant energy also tend to generate significant noise.

 

[Brando]

A major issue it that turbines large enough to generate significant energy also tend to generate significant noise.

Noise may well be a concern. significant? only you can research and decide for yourself.
Many more options in just the last 5 years.

internet searches and wikipedia are a fine start