Are you looking to lower your electric bills by using wind power as alternative energy? You’re not the only one, millions of people are looking into going green. Moving into wind power will reduce your carbon footprint thus helping the environment and will reduce your energy costs and dependence on foreign oil.
If you’re looking into wind power you probably want to know how much power a home wind generator actually produces. In order to determine a realistic approximation of what power can be generated on your property there are some rules and guidelines that you can use.
To determine the approximate annual energy output for a small wind turbine, you can use the following formula:
(Yearly output in kilowatt-hours) = (0.01328) x (blade diameter in
feet)^2 x (average wind speed in miles per hour at your location)^3
The simplified formula is: Power = 0.01328(D)^2(V)^3
There are two factors that have a significant impact on energy output, blade diameter and wind speed. Increasing the blade diameter increases the energy output as a square function. For instance, if you increase the blade diameter by a factor of 2, the energy output will increase 4-fold.
Although blade diameter has a dramatic impact on energy output, wind speed is even more important. Energy is a cubic function of wind speed. For example, if wind speed is doubled, the energy output will increase by a factor of 8. Thus, wind speed is the most important consideration in smaller wind turbine energy production.
The above equation and discussion therefore indicates that your money is better spent on raising the height of your tower or choosing a better location with greater wind exposure than on a generator with larger diameter blades.
Having been involved in the alternative energy field for over 20 years, D. R. Smith has done a large amount of research and testing of various designs and found what he believes are the best energy generator plans currently available. He's also put together some alternative energy reviews to help you make the best choice when building your wind and solar power system. You can read them here: http://www.powerplans.net
