A Windmill for Your Backyard? Aug. 25, 2006 — A small, affordable wind turbine available for the first time this September promises to help homeowners fight the rising cost of energy. The Skystream 3.7, a wind generator from Southwest Windpower in Flagstaff, Ariz., stands 35 to 100 feet tall — depending on the location — and costs about half that of conventional turbines currently available. Southwest Windpower is planning to mass produce the Skystream and sell it for between $10,000 to $12,000 installed, about half the cost of similar size turbines, which are typically assembled by hand on a much smaller scale. According to the developers, the system could save the average homeowner $500 to $800 per year on electricity. "I think Skystream has a chance to break the 10 cent per kilowatt hour at the best sites," said Jim Green, senior project manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's National Wind Technology Center in Golden, Colo. The center partnered with Southwest Windpower to help engineer and test the turbines. Comparable technologies that generate electricity from the wind or even the sun cost between 15 to 35 cents per kilowatt hour, said Green. That high pricetag has kept renewable energy sources from being competitive with fossil fuels. And for those willing to install wind turbines, whether out of choice or necessity, there have been other hurdles aside from cost. Wind turbines typically require stabilizing wires running from the tower to the ground to keep the structure steady. Installation is further complicated by the need for up to three electrical boxes that work to convert the energy harvested by the turbine into useable household power. But Skystream needs no stabilizing wires. It needs to stand just 20 feet higher than the tallest object within a 500-foot radius, so its tower can be as short as 35 feet. And all of the necessary electrical conversion is built into the machine. After a Skystream turbine is installed, the house uses energy from the wind when it exists. If there is no wind, the house automatically takes energy from the local utility. "If the generator produces more power than what your house uses, the meter spins background and gives you a credit to use another day," said Andy Kruse, vice president of business development at Southwest Windpower. Depending on the available wind, the turbine could provide 40 to 90 percent of an average home's energy needs. But even though the Skystream may be affordable and easy to hook up to a residential circuit breaker, it may still be difficult for a homeowner to tap into available wind, said renewable energy expert Scott Sklar, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Stella Group, which helps companies select clean energy technology. The majority of homeowners associations, which mandate rules and guidelines for new developments, prohibit wind turbines on properties, he said. Furthermore, only 29 states have passed laws mandating standards that make it easy to plug into the power grid. "You can buy any maker's push-button phone and it has the same plug. But we have not done that nationally for on-site power generation," said Sklar. Southwest Windpower - Renewable Energy Made Simple |
