| Wind Power |
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If you live in New England, you're probably a good candidate for a wind turbine. New England is blessed (cursed) with above average wind speeds, especially in the winter. Areas along the coast and areas at higher elevations are especially good sites for a wind turbine. For New England in general though, a wind turbine installed on a 100 foot tower would experience average wind speeds of 4.5 meters per second (m/s), which equates to 10 mph.
If you're considering installing a wind turbine in an area with average annual winds speed of 4.5 m/s, then the payback period will probably at least equal the life of the turbine. In other words, if you divide to cost to install the turbine by your average electricity savings due to the turbine's energy production, the payback will equal between 25 years and 60 years. Percentage wise, incremental increases in wind speed more than doubles the energy production of the turbine. For example, increasing the wind speed from 10 mph to 12 mph reduces the payback to between 17 and 30 years. The payback numbers should not discourage you from investigating installing a wind turbine if you have the space and desire for one. After all, the payback numbers do not include inflation and rising electricity costs, which you'll no longer be subjected to with your wind generated electricity. And it's a sure bet electricity rates will continue to rise. The most accurate way to determine winds speeds is to use anemometers to measure wind speeds over a period of at least one year at the same height and location where you wish to install the turbine. It could easily cost several thousand dollars to purchase or lease and install this wind measuring system. Adding the cost of the wind measuring system to the cost of the wind power system greatly increases the payback period. There are cheaper (free) ways to get a good estimate of the average winds available throughout most of the United States. Various states and AWS True Wind has developed wind maps for most regions of the United States. These wind maps represent over 20 years of wind speed measurements which is much better than the 1 year wind speed average measured from an anemometer. AWS True Wind has developed an interactive feature for New England, where you may enter your latitude and longitude to receive wind speed data. The wind maps, including the interactive feature, have a standard error of 6% (0.4 meters per second). To show you how to estimate your cost and payback using AWS True Wind, let's walk through an example. 1. If you wish to install a wind turbine outside of New England or if you do wish to install a wind turbine in New England but only want to us the wind maps, skip to step 2. a. The first step in estimating your wind speed is to determine the latitude and longitude coordinates of where the turbine is to be located. There are various ways to determine your coordinates, including a Global Positioning System device. We use the Google Earth website, which requires a high speed internet connection. The following is a summary of how to use Google Earth. b. Download Google Earth at http://earth.google.com/downloads.html. c. When Google Earth is ready to use, enter your address under "Search", such as: 261 Jennie Lane, Eliot, ME 03903. Then click "Search." d. Once the program has zoomed in to your location, turn on the latitude and longitude grid lines as follows: In the Toolbar, click "View", then click on the following until a "check mark" appears on the left side of each: "Grid", Scale Legend", and "Status Bar". e. Move your cursor over the exact spot you wish to locate your turbine. f. On the lower left hand corner of you screen, you can now view the latitude, longitude and elevation of where you've placed the cursor. The coordinates will appear in the form of: 430 08' 57.14"N 700 48' 59.25"W Elev 53 ft. g. It is possible to "Zoom In" and "Zoom Out" by moving the cursor to the upper right hand corner of the screen. Click on the "+" sign of the vertical zoom bar to "Zoom In". 2. Once you know your coordinates, now go to www.AWSTrueWind.com. You don't need a high speed internet connection for the remaining steps. a. Click on "Products" at the top of the page, and then "United States" on the left side of the page. b. On the map of the United States, click on your proposed wind turbine location. If your proposed turbine location is in one of the "Private" or "AWS Truewind Owned" states, send us an email with the address (or latitude and longitude coordinates) of where you want to locate your turbine. We'll provide you with the estimated wind speed for that location. c. If your proposed wind site is in New England and you wish to use the interactive feature, skip to step 2.f. If your proposed wind turbine site is not in New England, click on "Wind Speed at 30 m". d. When the map appears, zoom in as much as possible on the proposed turbine location. e. Identify the color of the area where you want to locate your turbine. Then use the "Mean Speed at 30 m" legend to estimate wind speed. Now skip to step 3. f. If your proposed wind site is in New England, click on the New England state, such as "Maine" and then click on the link: http://truewind.teamcamelot.com/ne. Then select "New England Interactive Wind Map." g. In the upper right hand corner, click on "Click Here to go to specific coordinates". Enter "Go". h. Enter your coordinates. This example uses the following coordinates: Latitude: 43:08:57.14, Longitude: -70:48:59.25 (Don't forget to enter the "-" sign in front of the longitude coordinate). Click "Go". i. AWS True Wind will calculate your wind speeds for tower heights of 30 meters (100 feet), 50 meters (165 feet), 70 meters (230 feet) and 100 meters (328 feet). See Figure 1. j. Each speed category also is qualified according to its general suitability for wind energy applications, as shown in the following table.
Figure 1 - Example of AWS True Wind Calculation Results 3. Let's use the 4.5 m/s (meter per second) wind speed calculated for a tower height of 30 m (100 ft) in Eliot, Maine, as shown in Figure 1, to consider the performance of the Skystream 1.8 kW (kilowatt) turbine and the Bergey Excel-S 10 kW turbine. These 2 turbines were selected since they each have 5 year warranties and we know of local installations of these turbines. The owners of these locally installed turbines are pleased with their performance. Before installing your own turbine, it's important to talk with other turbine owners in your area to determine if you want to install the same turbine. Also, go to the turbine site and listen to the sound it makes. 4. Besides tower height, another key component in evaluating wind speed is the surface coefficient, which ranges in value from 0.1 (flat topography, hard surface) to 0.4 (urban area with tall buildings). The higher the buildings and trees, the higher the tower needs to be to get above the turbulence created by the obstacles. The bottom of the turbine blade should be located at least 30 feet above the tallest obstacle within 300 feet of the turbine. Tables 17 below evaluate wind speeds based on various surface coefficients. In our example, the area in Eliot we're considering locating the turbine is thickly wooded. Therefore I want to use Tables 6a through 6e below to help me decide which turbine to install. through 5. Tables 1a through 7a are setup to evaluate the AWS True Wind results at the reference height, ZR = 30 m (ZR = 100 ft). If you're planning to install a 100 ft tower, then go to the next step since you already know your wind speed at 100 ft. If you're planning to install a tower that is not 100 ft tall, then you need to correct the wind speed measurement to match the actual height of the tower. For example, look at Table 6a and read down the first column (ZR = 100 ft) until you find VR = 4.5 m/s. 6. Read across the 4.5 m/s row to find the adjusted wind speed for a 70 ft tower, which is 4.1 m/s. You would expect wind speed to decrease at lower heights and the calculated results show it does. Correspondingly, you would expect wind speed to increase with higher towers and once again you would be proven correct with adjusted wind speeds of 4.7 m/s at 120 ft and 5.0 m/s at 140 ft. The wind speed adjustment equation is shown on the right side of Table 6a. 7. Skystream 1.8 kW turbine has two pole height options: 33 ft and 70 ft. In this thickly wooded area in Eliot with 40 foot tall trees, the 33 ft pole is not an option. So let's evaluate the energy production of a Skystream 1.8 kW turbine installed on a 70 ft pole. According to Table 6a, the adjusted wind speed at 70 ft is 4.1 m/s 8. Next look at Table 6b. The technical specifications for the Skystream 1.8 kW turbine (see Figure 2) list monthly energy production for 3.5 m/s and 4.5 m/s, but not 4.1 m/s. The values listed in Table 6b are the monthly values listed in Figure 2 multiplied by 12 to get the annual averages shown. To determine the energy production (kWh) at 4.1 m/s requires evaluating the following equation to solve for x: x/2700 = 4.1/4.5. This equation evaluates to 2,460 kWh. Note: Since the energy production graph shown in Figure 2 is exponential and not linear, the calculated value of 2,460 kWh value is a little higher than the actual energy production. Therefore, decrease the 2,460 kWh by 10% to get 2,214 kWh. Use this value for the next step. Figure 2 - Technical Specifications for Skystream 1.8 kW Turbine 9. Next, determine your actual annual electricity savings if you were to install this turbine. Table 6a lists the various electricity rates and the annual electricity savings based on those rates. The actual electricity rate in Eliot, Maine is $0.15 per kWh. Multiplying 2,214 kWh per year by $0.15 per kWh equals $332 per year. 10. And finally, Table 6b estimates the payback: number of years it will take for the annual energy savings to equal the total cost of the turbine. If the total cost to purchase and install the turbine is $12,000 and the annual electricity savings equals $332, then the payback is $12,000 divided by $332 = 36 years. 11. Power output from your turbine increases substantially with small increase in wind speed. Let's say your average wind speed at 70 ft is 5.5 m/s (12.3 mph). Then according to Table 6b, the annual energy production from the Skystream turbine is 4,800 kWh. Which equates to $720 per year in electricity savings at $0.15 per kWh. The payback is now 17 years. So a 25% increase in wind speed results in a 54% increase in energy production from the same turbine. 12. Bergey 10 kW Turbine. Now let's evaluate the performance of a Bergey 10 kW turbine installed on a 100 ft tower in the same location as the Skystream 1.8 kW turbine. At 100 ft, the wind speed is 4.5 m/s. We don't need to use Table 6a to adjust the wind speed. 13. Next look at Table 6d. The technical specifications for the Bergey Excel-S 10 kW turbine (see Figure 3) list monthly energy production for 4.5 m/s as 6,240 kWh. Figure 3 - Technical Specifications for Bergey Excel-S 10 kW Turbine 14. Next, determine your actual annual electricity savings if you were to install this turbine. Table 6d lists the various electricity rates and the annual electricity savings based on those rates. The actual electricity rate in Eliot, Maine is $0.15 per kWh. Multiplying 6,240 kWh per year by $0.15 per kWh equals $936 per year. 15. And finally, Table 6e estimates the payback: number of years it will take for the annual energy savings to equal the total cost of the turbine. If the total cost to purchase and install the turbine is $50,000 and the annual electricity savings equals $936, then the payback is $50,000 divided by $936 = 54 years. 16. Power output available from your turbine increases substantially from small increase in wind speed. Let's say your average wind speed at 100 ft is 5.4 m/s (12 mph). Then according to Table 6b, the annual energy production from the Bergey turbine is 10,800 kWh. Which equates to $1,620 per year in electricity savings at $0.15 per kWh. The payback is now 31 years. So a 17% increase in wind speed results in a 42% increase in energy production from the same turbine. Rebates and Tax IncentivesIf you're interested in the rebates offered in a state not listed below, send us and email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . We'll check into the wind rebates offered by the state and update our website to show that information. Also, if you have information to share with us about your state's wind rebate program and electricity rates, please send us an email. We'll include your information on our website. Federal Tax Credits for Homeowners Federal Tax Credits for Business owners Connecticut Wind Rebate Program Massachusetts Wind Rebate Program New Hampshire Wind Rebate Program Rhode Island Wind Rebate Program List of local Wind System Installers Federal Tax Credits for Homeowners:At this time, there are no Federal tax credits or incentives available. Federal Tax Credits for Business owners:At this time, there are no Federal tax credits or incentives available. Connecticut Wind Rebate Program:A property tax exemption is available to all Connecticut residents and business owners. For more information about this program, visit Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-81 (56, 57, 62, 63) [previous law] For Businesses, Schools and Governmental Organizations Commercial, Industrial, Schools, Local Government, State Government and Institutions wishing to install wind systems at their locations may apply for a grant under CCEF's On-Site Renewable Distributed Generation Program. For more information about this program, visit http://www.ctinnovations.com/funding/ccef/renewable_dg.php Maine Wind Rebate Program:At this time, there are no state tax credits or incentives available. Massachusetts Wind Rebate Program:The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) has available a Small Renewables Initiative (SRI) rebate program each year through FY2010. The program provides rebates of up to $50,000 for design & construction of renewable energy projects that are up to 10 kilowatts and located at residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and public facilities that will consume 50% or more of the renewable energy generated by the project onsite. The applicant and project site must be a customer of a Massachusetts investor-owned electric distribution utility. The grant awards may be used to facilitate the installation of renewable energy projects on existing buildings (retrofits) or in conjunction with new construction/major renovation projects, including green buildings. Awards are made on a first come first serve basis on a monthly basis. Applicants considering larger onsite projects are encouraged to explore funding opportunities provided through the MTC Large Onsite Renewables Initiative, which is a competitive grant application process. The SRI is designed for projects 10 kW and less. Applicants may install systems of any size, but the rebate from MTC will be based on the rebate caps ($2.50 per watt of installed capacity). An eligible applicant is defined as any residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, or public entity in Massachusetts that contributes to the Trust. To contribute to the Trust, the applicant must be a customer of an investor-owned electric distribution company located in Massachusetts. For information on areas served by investor-owned electric distribution companies: http://www.masstech.org/renewableenergy/green_buildings/ElectricUtilityMap.pdf For residential customers, rebates for wind are limited to an amount based on a maximum system capacity of 10 kW (10,000 watts) per meter. Additional rebates apply for low income areas and if the wind system is manufactured in Massachusetts. For more information, please visit http://www.masstech.org/renewableenergy/sm_renew/one.html A Massachusetts homeowner or business owner who installs a $12,000 (1,800 watt) Skystream wind turbine system may receive a minimum rebate of $4,500. The total cost of the wind system is now $7,500. Dividing the $7,500 by the $332 per year of electricity savings (for a 4.1 m/s wind speed) yields a simple payback of 23 years. A Massachusetts homeowner or business owner who installs an $50,000 (10,000 watt) Bergey Excel-S wind turbine system may receive a minimum rebate of $25,000. The total cost of the wind system is now $25,000. Dividing the $25,000 by the $936 per year of electricity savings (for a 4.5 m/s wind speed) yields a simple payback of 27 years. New Hampshire Wind Rebate Program:To stimulate interest in wind as a renewable resource within the New Hampshire Electric Co-op (NHEC) service territory, NHEC is providing incentives of up to $3,000 on the qualified installation of small and medium wind generators. For more details, please see the full program rules in the resources section at right, or call 1-800-698-2007 or visit http://www.smallsteps.coop/coop_programs/wind_generator.php. A New Hampshire homeowner or business owner who installs a $12,000 (1,800 watt) Skystream wind turbine system may receive a minimum rebate of $3,000. The total cost of the wind system is now $9,000. Dividing the $9,000 by the $332 per year of electricity savings (for a 4.1 m/s wind speed) yields a simple payback of 27 years. A New Hampshire homeowner or business owner who installs an $50,000 (10,000 watt) Bergey Excel-S wind turbine system may receive a minimum rebate of $3,000. The total cost of the wind system is now $47,000. Dividing the $47,000 by the $936 per year of electricity savings (for a 4.5 m/s wind speed) yields a simple payback of 50 years. New York Wind Rebate Program:Cash incentives for new wind generation systems are available in New York. Incentive levels vary depending on the size of wind generation system, the tower height, and the class of customer. The incentive level for farms, municipal and county governments, not-for-profit facilities, and schools is higher than the base incentive level; multiplication factors are provided below. Additionally, the New York Energy $martSM Loan Fund provides interest rate reductions on loans for energy efficiency projects and renewable technologies. Interest rates for loans can be reduced by 4.0% for up to 10 years. Visit www.nyserda.org/loanfund for more information. Please visit www.powernaturally.org to learn more about wind systems, applications, costs, and anticipated benefits from a system. A New York homeowner or business owner who installs an $50,000 (10,000 watt) Bergey Excel-S wind turbine system may receive a minimum rebate of $26,800. The total cost of the wind system is now $23,200. Dividing the $23,200 by the $936 per year of electricity savings (for a 4.5 m/s wind speed) yields a simple payback of 25 years. Rhode Island Wind Rebate Program:Rhode Island offers a personal tax credit for wind systems (minimum capacity of 250 watts at 28 mph). The tax credit is equal to 25% of the system cost and applies to residential installations. Wind systems costs up to $15,000 are eligible for the full 25% credit. (Owners of wind systems that exceed $15,000 in cost will receive a credit based on a $15,000 system cost.) For more information, please visit http://www.energy.ri.gov/programs/renewable.php Vermont Wind Rebate Program:Vermont has the following incentives available for wind system installations: Incentive Amount ($/Watt) by Customer Type:
Individuals, businesses $2.50 base - up to $4.00 with Vermont-made components* Maximum Incentive:
Individuals, businesses--$12,500 System incentive amounts are determined based on manufacturer's total rated turbine output with a hub-height wind speed of 11 meters per second. There are additional incentives available for systems that use components manufactured in Vermont by a Vermont-based company and certified as such by Renewable Energy Vermont (www.revermont.org). Incentives will be increased to $3.00/Watt for systems using a Vermont-manufactured tower, increased to $3.50/Watt for systems using a Vermont-manufactured turbine, and increased to $4.00/Watt if both are used. The maximum total incentive will still be $12,500. The additional Vermont component incentives are not be available to schools, farms, or local/state governments, which are eligible for a $4.50/Watt incentive for qualified systems. The Vermont Department of Public Service has created a small wind website specifically to address questions about the siting, permitting, installation, and net-metering of systems in Vermont . The website includes detailed wind resource maps at the county level. All incentive participants are encouraged to use this resource at www.vtwindprogram.org . Additional small wind information is available from Renewable Energy Vermont at www.revermont.org. A Vermont homeowner or business owner who installs a $12,000 (1,800 watt) Skystream wind turbine system may receive a minimum rebate of $4,500. The total cost of the wind system is now $7,500. Dividing the $7,500 by the $332 per year of electricity savings (for a 4.1 m/s wind speed) yields a simple payback of 23 years. A Vermont homeowner or business owner who installs an $50,000 (10,000 watt) Bergey Excel-S wind turbine system may receive a minimum rebate of $12,500. The total cost of the wind system is now $37,500. Dividing the $37,500 by the $936 per year of electricity savings (for a 4.5 m/s wind speed) yields a simple payback of 40 years. Net Metering Agreement:What happens when your wind system produces more electricity than you are using, such as during those windy winter days? A net metering agreement allows the excess electricity produced by your wind system to be "banked" by the electric utility company for you to use at a later date, such as in the summer. As long as you use the excess electricity within a certain period of time (usually a year), your excess electricity will not be a free give away to the electric company. If your wind system is sized perfectly to match your usage, you could actually reduce your electricity bill down to zero. You will actually never really reduce your payment to the electric company to zero as long as you are connected to the grid. The electric company will still charge you a monthly connection fee, usually about $7, just to be connected to the grid. This monthly connection fee is well worth it since the grid is now your battery bank, storing your excess electricity. Without this grid connection, your alternative would be to store your excess electricity in a battery bank, which is more costly system to install and maintain. The drawback in using the grid as your storage is that when the grid has an outage, so do you. The grid tie inverters are design to shut off electricity produced by your wind system when it senses a loss in grid power. This a safety feature to prevent utility workers from being electrocuted when working on utility lines that should not have any electricity flowing through them. Many states allow net metering agreements between wind system owners and the electric utility company delivering your normal electricity. Before investing in a wind system, check with your utility to learn about net metering requirements. Additional Resources:Home Power magazine's online website, www.HomePower.com, provides an easy to understand tutorial about wind power basics. Lots of other great information is available at Home Power's website including a Wind Turbine Buyer's Guide. Every member of our company has their own subscription to this magazine. List of Local Wind Installers:David Ayer, owner of Ayer Electric LLC located in Barrington, NH, is highly recommended by Seacoast Consulting Engineers to install small scale wind turbines (up to 50 kW). We know first hand of David’s experience and high quality work. David was instrumental in the successful completion of the 10 kW Bergey turbine installation on the Isle of Shoals, Maine, to support Cornell University’s and the University of New Hampshire’s research facilities on the island. David is a distributor of the Bergey 10 kW turbine (www.Bergey.com) and the very popular Skystream 1.8 kW turbine (www.SkystreamEnergy.com ). Bergey is expected to add a 5 kW turbine to their product line some time in 2008. The following is David’s contact information: Ayer Electric LLC P.O. Box 1363 Dover, NH 03821-1363 Phone: (603) 868-6446 Fax: (603) 868-7290 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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