Wind Power

Wind Powered turbines

A compact wind turbine works in tandem with your electric utility to power your house. When the wind isn’t blowing, the utility supplies your electricity. But when it’s windy out, your compact wind turbine pivots to catch the best wind and provides clean, quiet electricity. When it generates more electricity than you need, your meter can actually spin backwards. This allows you to essentially sell electricity back to the utility.

A wind turbine typically lowers a household electricity bill by 50% to 90%. It is not uncommon for wind turbine owners with total-electric homes to have monthly utility bills of only $8 to $15 for nine months of the year. Depending on the turbine size and the installation site, a turbine could supply more than 100% of a home’s energy needs, sometimes resulting in a “negative” electric utility bill.

In a normal residential application, a home is served simultaneously by the wind turbine and a local utility. If the wind speeds are below cut-in speed (7-10 mph) there will be no output from the turbine and all of the needed power is purchased from the utility. As wind speeds increase, turbine output increases and the amount of power purchased from the utility is proportionately decreased. When the turbine produces more power than the house needs, the extra electricity is sold to the utility. All of this is done automatically. There are no batteries in a modern residential wind system. Most small turbines have very few moving parts and do not require any regular maintenance. They are designed for a long life (up to 20 years) and operate completely automatically.