Windy Whatnots

Andy @ Allerton · November 21, 2006

http://www.theargus.co.uk/lifehealth/going...in_the_wind.php

This month B&Q started selling domestic wind turbines for £1,500.

The Windsave turbine is a three-bladed fan just under two metres in diameter. It's fitted to your roof on a long metal pole, the height of which depends on the air flow around your house.

Although, technically, the installation of a turbine is quite simple, for health and safety reasons it must be carried out by an accredited fitter and the cost of this is included when you buy one. Planning permission is also needed but Brighton and Hove city council is currently investigating relaxing the rules for these ecofriendly machines. And, for those worried about noise, they are reported to make about as much sound as a person talking.

Windsave says financial payback can be achieved within five to seven years and the Department of Trade and Industry's Low Carbon Building Programme is offering grants of up to 30 per cent of the cost of the system. Your carbon dioxide savings can start as soon as the machine is plugged in.

continued...

Although wind turbines are becoming more common, critics say they can't be relied on because of the unpredictable nature of the wind.

But, since England is the windiest country in Europe, it seems we're in a better position to try than most.

According to the British Wind Energy Association, wind turbines generate electricity for 70 to 85 per cent of the time but operate at full capacity for only 30 per cent.

The Windsave turbine is designed to produce 1kW of electricity at a wind speed of 12.5m/s.

According to Windsave, this means users can generate about a third of their annual domestic electricity usage.

Reducing the amount of energy we use at home is particularly important for people in Brighton, who use more than anywhere else in the country.

Across the UK, the percentage of energy used in homes is 27.5 per cent.

In Brighton, it's a staggering 47 per cent.

Howard Johns is the managing director of Southern Solar, a Sussexbased company which sells and installs solar panels, larger wind turbines and other environmentally-friendly power sources.

He is sceptical about Windsave's claims, saying: "The urban environment is not ideal for wind power. There are lots of different roofs causing wind flows, eddies and so on. Most turbines going up now are on the sea. The moment you get on land, the characteristics of the wind change dramatically and the turbine won't be as good."

Others, however, aren't so cynical of the new technology.

Daren Howarth from Brighton company C-Level, which aims to help people understand their carbon footprint, is the first person in Brighton to be given planning permission to install a Windsave turbine on his house.

He says: "People love to shoot things down. Why is it there are at least two companies really going for it with this technology? These guys are no idiots, they've done their homework, have major backing and have produced turbines which will produce quite a lot of power.

"It's difficult to assess what kind of savings I'll get, time alone will tell. The machine I'm installing is about 1kW and if it works at that efficiency then the savings should be very significant.

As for issues about performance, why aren't we putting up 100 and seeing what happens?

Then at least we'll know the answer two months down the line. Let's try it.

You've seen the Al Gore film, An Inconvenient Truth, you know the score. We don't have time to argue. We've just got to get on with it."

The growing trend of producing energy at home from renewable sources, such as the wind or sun, is called microgeneration.

It encourages people to rely less on a fossil fuel-driven, centralised energy grid and towards a more localised source of clean power.

Howard remains unconvinced these small turbines will deliver and suggests instead larger turbines for small communities.

"It's economies of scale." says Howard, "You're going to get more for your money if we put larger turbines up around Brighton and Hove. My feeling with the domestic turbines is that I wouldn't put one on my roof. We're putting up a 6kW turbine on a 15ft mast soon, which will power a college. Basically you get more energy for less money."

I elephant/Koala with this article

November 21, 2006

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