Personal Windmills
How can you be prepared for a cloudy day? Wind mills or wind turbines are the answer. When already having installed a solar panel system, the investment for a wind powered energy source as a backup system is very low. The wind turbine can in this case be simply be hooked up to the existing power inverter and battery pack.
The wind-wheel of the Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century is the first windmill ever recorded. Having advantaged via old fashion windmills, the current commercial windmills are very effective and deliver power for about 10 million households. But what can you do at home, what about personal windmills?
Old windmills
Windmills were back in the days used for pumping water and grinding wheat. Now most of these old windmills are out of commission and converted into living spaces or for recreational purposes. But some are still in use, and some are converted into modern power suppliers. For example the currently rebuild windmill “de Kameel” in Schiedam is planned to be connected to the electrical net and will supply 15 Mega Watt of free energy.
Three Personal windmills
We all have seen the fields of commercial windmills. But what about personal windmills. It turns out there are many on the market and for a reasonable price.
The Air-Breeze
The Air-Breeze wind turbine claims to be the most sold small wind generator on the market. For an average wind speed of 12 mph, the system can deliver up to 38 kWh/month.
The Air-Breeze system however looks like a view invasive system. Suddenly a large windmill is situated near your house. Luckily there are other smaller systems on the market.
The Eddy
Urban Green Energy has several beautiful looking wind turbines on the market. The in step model is the Eddy. This turbine delivers for an average wind speed of 12 mph an output power of 80 kWh/month. A lot more than the Air-Breeze system. The system can be installed on a pole but also straight on the roof is an option.
The Eco 1200
Another interesting system is the Eco 1200 from WindTerra. The blades of the windmill are fixed vertical, making it an omni-wind directional system. This turbine delivers for an average wind speed of 12 mph an output power of 164 kWh/month.
Home use
The power output of these systems is depending on the wind availability in the area. Check the internet for local wind info and start calculating the saving a wind turbine can provide you.
With average North American household consumes 750 to 1000 kWh /month these systems are not enough to deliver enough energy. But when your investment is paid back, all the energy they deliver is renewable and for free. Not a bad deal in the end.