Wind Power Rules

 December 16, 2009, WASHINGTON, DC (Ecobuild USA 2009) - Before you strap on a windmill to your house to impress your neighbor with your eco friendliness, give Steven J. Strong, president of Solar Design Associates, a listen. Though a champion of renewable energy, Strong says homeowners attempts to harness wind power may result in folly. For one thing, to get into the laminar flow (away from ground effects and the resulting turbulence) that is required for constant spinning, wind turbine blades have to be over 100 feet tall. And don't even think of a vertical axis turbine - you can't get the ncessary height and putting them on the building will shake the building apart.

Don't try this at home: a wind turbine can shake a house apart.
 

More nuggets:

• Was once approached by a doubter who said "You haven't spent any time in Atalnta in August." Ironically, that would be a high yeild of solar energy when it is needed the most (peak air conditioning time).
• Before installation of a wind turbine, get a years worth of wind data
• Power provided by a wind turbine is a function of the 2nd power of the diameter and the 3rd power of wind speed
• It's a damn shame there is no wind farm off the shore of Massachusetts. It seems like the rich folk of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have been successfull in fighting off an eyesore that is 12 miles offshore, no more than 3/16" between 2 fingers on an outstretched arm
• Contrast that with Denmark, which gets 30% of its energy after 10 years of starting a massive off shore wind farm. Ironically, it is also a tourist attraction. See Denmark Brings World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm Online.
• The noise from the machinery in utility size wind turbine, whose blades can be stretch over an entire ball field long, was drowned out by the clanging of hardware on a nearby flagpole.

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[hermes birkin1]

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