Wind energy generates power for local home
By Duane Ramsey
A Scio Township businessman and homeowner is using wind energy to help provide electric power to his home and serve as an example of "green" or renewable energy.
Jay Mehta, owner of Case Handyman and Remodeling on Jackson Road west of Ann Arbor, installed a 15-foot diameter turbine on a 45-foot tower at his residence near Miller and Zeeb Roads in Scio Township. The Skystream 3.7 residential wind generator with built-in controls and inverter is designed to provide quiet, clean electricity in relatively low winds for homes and small businesses. It was installed at a cost of $15,000 on the site of Mehta's 2,600 square-feet, 3-bedroom, split-level home located on an open lot without many trees. "This was the best way to generate power to the house without using fossil fuels." said Mehta. "We wanted to bring the best energy solution for our home to the marketplace.
"It was also another way to provide an example of wind turbines to generate more interest in them and our home remodeling business."
Wind generators are usually connected to the electric power source to help reduce or eliminate electric bills. Mehta's generator is connected to Detroit Edison, the local electric utility source.
When the wind is blowing, the home is powered in part by the generator which provides 1.9 kilowatts of continuous output and up to 2.6 kilowatts during peak periods. The estimated energy production is 400 kilowatt hours per month with an average wind of 12 miles-per-hour.
A typical home consumes between 800 and 2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month. Four to 10-kilowatt wind turbines are designed to meet that demand, according to the manufacturers. Mehta said his two kilowatt generating system is designed to provide between 80 to 100 percent of the electric power needed for his home.
During periods of stronger winds, the generator can actually produce excess electricity that is contributed to the local power grid and reduces his electric bill. When it's not blowing, the house is seamlessly powered by the electric utility as usual.
Wind speed increases with height above ground so the turbines are more effective at higher levels. The towers for wind turbines range from 35 to 70 feet high and require 20-30 feet clearance above any object within a 250-foot radius to be effective.
Wind generators are ideally suited for sites of at least one acre in size. More than 17 million homes in America are located on land that is appropriate for the small wind system, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The wind has been a source of energy in the U.S. for 150 years with more than 8 million mechanical windmills installed since the late 1860's. Farm families used wind generators to power lights, radios and appliances in homes in the early 20th century.
Wind power sources were nearly driven out of existence by the 1930's when government policies favored the construction of electric utility lines and fossil fuel power plants. In the late 1970's, interest in wind energy was renewed as a possible solution to the oil and energy crisis.
Small wind turbine systems were installed in individual homes between 1976 and 1985 in all 50 states with federal energy tax credits. When those tax credits expired in 1985 and oil prices dropped to $10 per barrel, the small wind turbine industry almost disappeared.
Today, with oil, gasoline and energy prices rising, there is renewed interest in alternative and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
Wind energy follows seasonal patterns that provide the best performance in the winter months and the lowest during summer months, just the opposite of solar energy. For that reason, wind and solar energy work well in hybrid systems that provide a more consistent year-round output than either wind or solar systems individually.
Skystream wind turbines are manufactured by Southwest Windpower based in Arizona and known as the world's largest producer of small wind turbines. Skystream turbines are and distributed in Michigan by Contractors Building Supply near Tawas City; Geo-Renew Systems in Holly, Independent Energy/Best Electrical in Monroe, and Advanced Distributed Generation in Toledo, Ohio.