subject: How Can You Find The Best Wind Generator? [print this page] Once you've done your homework how do you go about finding the best wind generator on the planet?
I guess I should say first what your homework is. The first thing you need to do is assess how much wind you have on your property and if you have enough land to make a wind turbine work. That can be done with a small handheld device called an anemometer. You just put that in place for several weeks and record the data that the wind gives you.
Then you check with your local government and make sure there are no permitting restrictions that will keep you from putting a wind turbine up on your property.
Once you've done those things it is time to analyze the choices of wind turbines that you have.
The following are the points you need to understand in order to correctly analyze any wind turbine that you are looking at:
* Total cost of the wind generator - this is the purchase cost of the wind generator plus installation plus several other things to come up over the life of the generator. Replacement costs which include blades and maintenance costs which includes annual maintenance on the wind generator must also be included in the total cost.
* How much power will the wind turbine put out - this is the rating of the wind turbine. The way it is calculated is the manufacturer takes the total amount of power that is possible at a certain wind speed. That wind speed is usually around 30 miles an hour. So, you can't look at just the power rating. You have also got to look at the average wind on your property. That is the speed at which most of your power will be generated. That is going to be a lot less than the speed the manufacturer used to calculate total power output.
* Continuing costs - there are a number of ongoing costs that you must calculate when coming of the total price for the wind turbine that you will have. As we said before replacement cost, which include blades, must be figured in. Then, you must add the cost of annual maintenance which shouldn't be more than $200 per year.
* Starting speed for the turbine - the starting speed for the turbine is the speed at which it begins to make power. As this technology evolves starting speeds, or cut in speeds, are becoming lower and lower for wind generators.
* The speed at which the turbine shuts down in a storm - this is called furling speed. The furling speed is usually in the 30 mile-per-hour range and is designed to shut the turbine down rather than have it destroy itself and storm.
These are great factors to understand in your search for the best wind generator. Take your time and make sure you get this information from the manufacturers' product brochures.
