How to Pick The Most Appropriate Wind Turbine For Your Needs
by Tyler Hodger
As is normally the case when using renewable energy sources, starting to use wind energy bestows many benefits. That being said, there are a lot of considerations to make before one makes the commitment. There following are attributes that need to be considered: 1. Power requirements: before purchasing a wind turbine system, you must determine what are your power requirements and the energy savings you want to achieve, and whether it is feasible with such a system. 2. Average wind speeds in your area: the power that a wind turbine can potentially generate directly depends on wind speeds in the area it will be placed in. Before buying a wind turbine, go to the US Department of Energys website and look for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy section which provides information on wind availability for various regions of the country. If you reside in an area with weak winds, then a wind turbine may not be suitable for your needs. 3. Quality: ideally, a wind turbine will be used for decades. Consequently, it is important that the system that is selected does not require a lot of maintenance. As is often the case, a high quality system offers just that. 4. Manufacturer warranty: when one offers a long period of warranty, it is a logical assumption to make that they have significant confidence that the product won’t require much maintenance during this time, thus, that they believe it is a high quality product. This should be taken into consideration. 5. Brand name: as is always the case when purchasing a product, certain brand names are known to be good unlike product names no one has heard of. Therefore, it is a good idea to go through product reviews. These can be found on various forum sites, internet shops, and DIY websites. Of course, consulting a specialist cant hurt either and may be the best thing to do considering the investment. 6. Asking experienced people: people who have gone through the process of buying and installing wind turbine system are the possibly best resource for advice, as they would be intimately familiar with the device: its pros and cons. Nowadays, finding such people online is a simple task. 7. Setup costs: although for some products this is negligible, for wind turbine systems this could be as high as 40% of the total costs. This should be taken into account. 8. Residential usage: clearly some wind turbines should only be used in commercial settings. Before making a purchase, make sure you buy one that could be used in individuals’ homes. In our next article, we will survey various types of wind turbines and who may benefit the most from them.
