GreenEnergy360

The GreenEnergy360 team are working hard to put together information that we believe will be most helpful to you in your decision making progress. This page contains news from ourselves, and across the internet, to save you the hassle of finding it yourself!

Small Wind Turbines in Urban Environments

A number of you have contacted GreenEnergy360 to ask about the feasibility of siting small wind turbines in built up areas (which includes villages and dispersed settlements). Well, the latest research from Loughborough University and other Institutions shows that in general, energy yields from micro-wind turbines are not as high as expected. The NOABL wind speed database is commonly used to obtain an approximate wind speed for specific sites, and provides an average reading for a 1km square. This means that NOABL does not take into account local obstructions such as nearby trees or buildings, and can in some instances over-estimate wind speed by a factor of 4 or more! This is bad news, as the power in the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed.

The latest computer simulation work at Loughborough shows that small turbines mounted on or near buildings can return 'capacity factors' as low as 3-5%, far below manufacturers' quoted figures of 20-25%. These results are backed up to osme extent by the latest measured data from the Warwick Wind Trials. The message here is 'tread with care' - if you live in a village, town or city, the chances are that a small wind turbine will yield dissapointing results.

However, the news isn't all bad - if you live in a more exposed rural location, yields from micro-wind turbines can be more encouraging, as more than one GreenEnergy360.org user has told us. If you would like to explore the performance of two 5kW wind turbines in rural Nottinghamshire(manufactured by Proven and ISKRA), then we recommend visiting the Hockerton Housing Project Website.

Caveat Emptor!

Labels: , , , , ,

posted by GreenEnergy360 at 12:23