The U.S. market for small wind turbines–those with capacities of 100 kilowatts (kW) and less–grew 78% in 2008, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

With a total of 17.3 megawatts (MW) of new installed capacity, consumer demand for clean energy options is on the rise, the Association said.

U.S. manufacturers sold about half of all small wind turbines installed worldwide last year. U.S. market share amounted to $77 million of the $156 million global total. (Worldwide, about 38.7 MW of new small wind capacity was installed in 2008.)

“The U.S. wind industry is a growing bright spot in our domestic economy, and the small wind sector is no exception,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “Strong federal policies like the federal investment tax credit for small wind are critical to future growth, just as adoption of a federal renewable electricity standard (RES) is essential to growth in the utility-scale market.”

Growth in the small wind sector is largely attributable to increased private investment that has allowed manufacturing volumes to increase, particularly for the commercial segment of the market (systems 21-100 kW). The still-largest segment of the market, residential (1-10 kW), was likewise driven by investment and manufacturing economies of scale, AWEA said, but also rising residential electricity prices and a heightened public awareness of the technology and its attributes.

“Consumers are looking for affordable ways to improve their energy security and reduce their personal carbon footprint,” said Ron Stimmel, AWEA’s Small Wind Advocate. “Small wind technology can be an answer to that search. As government policies have caught up with consumer interest, we’re seeing people all across the U.S. take advantage of this abundant, domestic natural resource and U.S. manufacturers have been able to meet this increasing demand.”

The study included a poll of small wind manufacturers, who project a 30-fold growth in the U.S. small wind market within as little as five years, despite a global recession. Much of this estimated growth will be spurred by the new eight-year 30% federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) passed by Congress in October 2008 and augmented in February 2009.

We will create 3 categories for wind power systems. We will primarily discuss the small size but all three have some similarities.

-Large: commercial grade Wind Turbines
-Medium: Windmill
-Small: Long Fan blade

How do wind power systems work?

A fan blade system is installed on top of a tower or on the roof of your home and collects kinetic energy and converts it to electricity to be used by your home.

The fan blades are connected to a shaft that is connected to a generator. When the blades turn fast enough the generator will produce electricity. In case of a storm and wind speeds are unusually high the system has breaks that slow the fan blades down to prevent damage to the generator.

Since wind is not under our control we must rely on both wind and local utility power. If wind speeds fall below 7 to 10 mph electricity will not be generated and the utility company will provide all electricity needs.

As the wind increases above 7 to 10 mph electricity is produced and the power purchased from the utility company decreases.

When more electricity is produced than the home will use the excess electricity is sold back to the utility company decreasing our dependency on nonrenewable energy.

How much money will this save me?

It is estimated that electricity bills can be lowered by 50 to 90% . It is very common for nine months of the year to have only an $8 to $15 dollar electric bill depending on wind speed and climate.

How much electricity will I have to produce?

The majority of homes use approximately 9,400 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year (about 780 kWh per month)

Depending on the wind speed and size of the home you would need to generate between 25 and 30 kWh per day.

Will I help the environment if I use wind power?

Yes! Wind power does not produce pollution like other sources of energy. Over it’s lifetime a wind power system can save approximately 1.2 tons of air pollutants and 200 tons of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and other gases which cause climate damage).

Some critics of wind power maintain that birds are negatively effected by wind power. Research has shown that wind power is much less dangerous to birds than power lines, vehicles and pesticides.

Will I need expensive wind surveys to know if I can save money with wind power?

Wind survey information is published by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be used to determine wind power performance. Unless you live in a very hilly or mountainous area the published information should be sufficient.

Will wind power interfere with my TV reception?

Wind systems do produce some noise. The typical system makes less noise than a washing machine and does not interfere with TV reception.

How much do wind power systems cost?

To purchase a large wind turbine system can cost from $6,000 to $22,000 installed depending on the size of the unit. Do it yourself or DIY systems can be as inexpensive as $150

Most systems have very few moving parts which makes the possibilities of a break down uncommon and operation completely automatic.

DIY systems provide considerable savings and complete hands on understanding of the system.

For maximum benefits savvy home owners use wind power and solar power.

Avoid The Mistakes of Wind Power Energy DIY
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shawna_Mac

Speaking to the European energy industry in Berlin, Mr Hutton launched a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the seas surrounding the UK, paving the way for a possible ‘third round’ of wind energy development and beyond:

“The draft plan I’m setting out today could allow companies to develop up to 25 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2020, in addition to the 8 gigawatts already planned.

“This potential major expansion will be subject to the outcome of a Strategic Environmental Assessment. But if we could manage to achieve this, by 2020 enough electricity could be generated off our shores to power the equivalent of all of the UK’s homes. This could be a major contribution towards meeting the EU’s target of 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

“The challenge for Government and for industry is to turn this potential – for our energy and economy – into a cost-effective reality. This will be a major challenge.

“The UK has some of the best offshore wind resource in the world, a long history of design, installation and operational expertise in the offshore environment and the skills and manufacturing capability to transfer to this exciting new sector.

“The UK is now the number one location for investment in offshore wind in the world and next year we will overtake Denmark as the country with the most offshore wind capacity. I want to ensure the UK remains one of the best places for renewable business.

“Our trajectory on renewables is beyond question. They are as central to our future low carbon economy as chimneys were to the industrial revolution and road building following the invention of the mass produced car.”

The ‘first round’ of offshore wind farms, in 2001, comprised a number of small demonstration projects. The ’second round’, in 2003, resulted in the award of options for leases for larger scale projects in three designated areas – the Thames Estuary, the Greater Wash and the North West. Based on current plans under the first and second leasing rounds, about 8GW of capacity could be operational by around 2014. This includes the 1GW London Array which is the largest planned offshore wind farm in the world.

The proposal for a possible ‘third round’, and further regular rounds, of offshore wind development announced today would open up the vast bulk of the UK’s continental shelf to large scale development. It would allow for up to a further 25GW of offshore capacity on top of the planned 8GW. In total this could generate enough power for up to 25 million homes by 2020.

Mr Hutton announced that he will chair an enhanced Renewable Advisory Board with a bigger remit to advise the Government on the EU 2020 renewable energy target, and a wider pool of expertise to help deal with the issues and opportunities across renewable energy.

The Government is also working on a regulatory regime to ensure that all offshore projects can connect to our onshore electricity transmission and distribution networks, quickly, securely and as cheaply as possible. A response to the recent consultation will be published by BERR shortly.

These developments sit alongside plans in the Energy Bill, to be introduced shortly, to ‘band’ the support provided by the Renewables Obligation to give greater support to offshore wind, wave and tidal energy. This will incentivise the expansion envisaged by today’s proposals.

The amount of electricity from renewable sources of all kinds in the UK has doubled to almost 5% since the introduction of the Renewables Obligation in 2002. Current forecasts will see a further tripling to around 15% by 2015. Plans are also under way for a feasibility study into the potential for electricity generation from the Severn Estuary.

At the Spring European Council the EU agreed a target of 20% of all energy from renewables by 2020. This includes fuel for electricity, heat and transport. The Commission is due to propose how that target should be apportioned between Member States in January.