Wind Turbines for Homes

Yes, experts say, eventually, wind residential wind generators will become commonplace. We have control over how long “eventually” may take.

Advances in composite technology will foster development of lighter, more durable, more efficient rotors. Similar advances in crankshafts and transmissions will improve a turbines’ performance in very light winds, and they may increase wind turbines’ durability and reliability in storm winds. Improvements in building materials and construction techniques will make taller, fatter pre-cast concrete towers more affordable. And increasing demand for clean, renewable energy will increase the urgency of engineers’ and architects work on wind power installations. Some wind energy optimists predict wind turbines for homes may become common by the middle of the twenty-first century-if families seize the initiative right now.

Before installation of a residential wind generator…
Working with families interested in wind generators, wind power experts emphasize the importance of two preliminary steps: First, they stress families must initiate aggressive conservation measures, reducing their consumption of electrical energy more than 40%. Second, experts point out most urban and suburban lots do not afford enough space for construction of residential wind generators large enough to supply all the electricity twenty-first century families need. Therefore, they stress installation of wind turbines along with photo-voltaic cells and high-capacity storage batteries.

Will wind turbines for homes set families free from the grid?
Wind energy experts definitively answer inquiries about liberation from the grid with authoritative declarations, insisting “Maybe.” Stressing that sweep area and tower height determine a wind turbine’s productivity and efficiency, experts say homes set on lots large enough for two or three “thirty meter” wind turbines probably can satisfy their demand for electricity with wind power alone. The experts qualify, however, in addition to providing adequate space for towers, turbines, and supports, a lot must be relatively free of obstructions at forty or fifty feet above the ground, where the rotors will spin. Experts upgrade “maybe” to a simple “yes” in response to inquiries about “integrated systems.” Yes, they say, combinations of residential solar generators and wind turbines for homes will set families free from the grid.