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annepan001 · Neepster Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 125 Location: Midmar

Has anyone taken the plunge and installed a wind turbine for their home, or for a small number of homes? If so, can you share your experiences / advice on what to avoid, what to look for, reputable suppliers / fitters?

I read the topics on roof mounted chocolate teapots, so I won't be going down that route!

I live at about 600 feet, towards the top of a north facing slope in midmar. It'd be good to have the option to feed any xs electricity back into the grid, but also to have the option to go off-grid ... is this combo feasible??

I met someone from the energy saving trust recently who said that companies who become accredited installers tend to put their prices up so the grants that are available basically end up in the pockets of the companies, and individuals end up paying what would have been full price anyway.

Again, has anyone had any experience of this? Or is there a way to 'build your own' wind turbine which would be financially viable and still effective? So much to learn ...!!!

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wildgarlic · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:05 am Post subject:

Martin will be along to give his advice, I'm sure. I totally agree with the bit about the grants too so you might as well shop around

I am very interested in having some form of alternative power installed here too - whether it's water or wind - just haven't got the money to afford it yet. We're an all electric household at the moment and if the power goes off for whatever reason we've got nothing, including heat, cooking and water.
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kimmie · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:34 am Post subject:

hmmm thats spooky!

matt and I were looking at them too!
Martin gave us some great advice last year, but finances were and still are a bit tight, but OH's house up for sale we may be able to get one!
I recieved this pm from him last year

Martin · Neepster Joined: 16 Sep 2007 Posts: 675

There's already some sterling advice in this thread - avoid roof-mounted chocolate teapots (they don't work), and don't rush in to buying equipment before you've done lots of homework. I advised someone recently on another forum to sell the Chinese turbine he'd bought - probably perfect down here in the near windless south (it was a "low windspeed" model), but destined to become turbine spaghetti in a western-isles blow!
The advice about grants is bang on right (the price goes stratospheric under their influence)
It is possible to "have the best of both worlds" and have a battery system AND export to the grid, but you are buying the major part of the system twice, so it's blessed expensive. (To do it properly is not cheap anyway!)
You can most certainly "build your own", and for that you'll need http://scoraigwind.com/ - the excellent (if a little tatty) website of the bloke who probably knows more than anyone else about wind in the UK.
Don't underestimate the dedication and skill needed to build your own - if you have it, Hugh knows his onions.....
Then two other points - you mention a north facing hill - traditionally most of the wind (and your power) comes from the South-west (from the other side of the hill), but high up, and in the countryside as you are, you may get a good amount from other directions too - you'd be wise to firstly check the new "is my site suitable for wind" thingummyjiggler on the Carbon Trust website, which will give you a rough idea (if in any doubt at all, invest a couple of hundred quid or so in some basic wind-monitoring equipment, and take readings over a period of months, it can save you a fortune).
The other practical tips I'd give is to have an informal chat with your local planners about a turbine (they can often be very helpful), and then "start at the other end" - scrutinise ALL electrical consumption very carefully (particularly if you're thinking of a battery system), and make all possible economies - never heat electrically in any shape or form, and even contemplate ditching electric fridge/freezers, and replace with bottled gas ones - then once you've done that, you only have to generate/store electricity for what can only be powered electrically, and it can cut costs by a lot!
You probably already know, but something to be borne in mind, particularly in remote areas is that if you're grid-tied and the line goes down, you have no electricity (it has to cut out completely, or your turbine electricity could fry the bloke up the pole repairing the line) - which has got to be one of the most frustrating scenarios ever - the wind is hurtling, turbine going like a dingbat, and you're sitting in the dark......

You're probably chomping at the bit to look at turbines - assuming that you may well get some hefty winds, go for solid UK-made turbines that are built to take it - look at Futurenergy and Miniwind at the lower price end, if cost is no object there's Proven - bombproof but very pricey!
Hope that helps

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IainC · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 11:07 am Post subject:

annepan001 · Neepster Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 125 Location: Midmar

Thanks very much for the speedy top tips!

Will check out the info online and see what I can find out there. SCARF say they may be able to send someone out to give some advice too. Our wind does tend to come from the southwest. I've been eyeing up the hill behind the house and wondering if we can come to some arrangement over siting a turbine on the top of it ... much will depend on our neighbour who owns that bit!

I like the idea of looking at all our electricity use too, to minimise it, with the goal of getting the smallest turbine needed to do the job. But also tempted to be able to make a small contribution to the national grid.

And even better in many ways would be to get the community here involved and do something jointly - which reduces cost per unit energy produced and spreads the 'ownership' and greens up the whole area. But I just wonder if it would take toooo long, rather than rustling up something small with only a couple of decision makers to talk to!

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IainC · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:02 pm Post subject:

I was going to suggest that you paired up with your neighbours for one (if it's to go on their land) but then you'd probably end up having to go for a much larger turbine (and battery bank, etc) and it'd probably end up more expensive (and more hassle) than it's worth IYKWIM.

I really do want to get shifted to a place with a decent amount of land so I can start playing about with these things myself (although the cost of moving to somewhere with land would probably remove all my money, leaving me with nothing to "play" with

)

Sassinak · Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:14 pm Post subject:

We looked at wind turbines in some depth - it's still on the cards if the money holds out !!
We were told that because of our 'good' windspeeds (gale force much of the year lol) that we would be better looking at the more substantial turbines as the cheaper ones that would be excellent down south would not stand up to the pressures that we would put it under in our breezy spot
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annepan001 · Neepster Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 125 Location: Midmar

We had a 'freak' wind gust of 148 mph a few years ago, which carried off our 20x10 foot shed which had only been up for three months. It ended up all over the neighbouring fields/ hedges/ gardens! On Saturday even down in the veg field we could hardly stand up for the wind ... so we definitely need something robust. Which is why we have a Rhino greenhouse and a Keder tunnel with long guarantees against weather, and why we're planting windbreaks in strategic places to try to protect them!

obviously we need to avoid having windbreaks anywhere close to the turbine tho!

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Martin · Neepster Joined: 16 Sep 2007 Posts: 675

One or two points that got raised -
Prevailing wind over the UK is predominantly from the South West, but local conditions can turn that completely on it's head, particularly in coastal or mountain/hilly spots
Gusts do not nesser-celery mean that the wind is good for wind turbines (you can get enormous gusts in towns, but urban wind is usually a non-starter due to turbulence).....a wind turbine needs to "stick it's head into the wind and churn", lumpy wind is not a lot of good. The ideal spot for a turbine is in the middle of a field, with NO obstructions whatsoever for around 700 yards in all directions (particularly in the direction of your area's prevailing wind) - any fence, hedge, tree or building between the turbine and the wind can stuff the performance totally.
"Community Wind projects" are a brilliant idea - there are one or two Googleable projects that have already gone this route - like everything, it isn't easy, but it is doable. If you have a bigger turbine (80 or 250Kw), which should power from 8 to 20 or more homes, you get the "economy of scale", and pounds per kilowatt they are cheaper - best of all, they are "in scale", and come with tall towers that get the blades up and out of any turbulence - I'd recommend the Dutch company WES, who do an 80 and a 250kw that are well-tried!
Last but not least, battery systems - they're my favourite, but to do it properly is NOT cheap - suitable real deep-cycle batteries are jolly pricey, but can last 20 years - eventually they will need recycling.
Here's a link to a friend's blog - he lives on Raasay and is "off-grid", and uses a turbine, batteries, and Listers -
http://lifeattheendoftheroad.wordpress.com/ - he'll reiterate what I've said about not skimping on batteries, if you do, you end up with a vast pile of expensively dead ones.........
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