ELECTRICITY GENERATION USING SMALL WIND TURBINES

The wind is a clean and plentiful source of energy. TheCanadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) believesthat wind energy could potentially supply up to 20% ofCanada’s electricity requirements.Wind turbines used to generate electricity come in awide variety of sizes. Large wind turbines, which areusually installed in clusters called windfarms, cangenerate large amounts of electricity. Large wind turbinesmay even produce hundreds of megawatts (MW) ofelectricity — enough to power hundreds of homes. Smallwind turbines, (see Figure 1), which are generally definedas producing no more than 100 kW of electricity, aredesigned to be installed at homes, farms and smallbusinesses either as a source of backup electricity, or tooffset use of utility power and reduce electricity bills.Very small wind turbines (20 – 500 watt units) are usedto charge batteries for sailboats and other recreationaluses. FIGURE 1. Wind turbine. (Source: Ontario WindSmith) A small wind energy system could prove to be a practicaland economical source of electricity for your home orfarm if some or all of the following are true:• Your property has a good wind resource.• Your property is at least one acre in size.• Your local zoning ordinances allow wind turbines.• Your electricity bills tend to be high.• Your property does not have easy access to utilitylines, i.e. off electrical power grid.• You are comfortable with making long-terminvestments.• Turbine is 250–300 m away from your neighbour’shouse (closer for small turbines ie.1 kW).WIND AVAILABILITYWhether constructing a wind turbine is economicallyviable at your home or farm depends most strongly onthe quality of your wind resource. Generally, averageannual wind speeds of at least 4.0–4.5 m/s (14.4–16.2km/h; 9.0–10.2 mph) are needed for a small windturbine to produce enough electricity to be cost-effective.A very useful resource for evaluating a site for its windenergy potential is a wind resource potential map. (Seewind maps Figures 13 & 14 end of the Factsheet.)It may be useful to check wind speed measurements thathave been recorded at a local weather station. It isimportant to consider that siting factors at these weatherstations, such as nearby trees and buildings, might influence any wind speed measurements. Also, keep inmind that the equipment at these stations is oftenlocated close to the ground, and that weather stationslocated at airports are usually sheltered from the wind.This means that wind speed measurements recorded atthese stations might under represent the wind potentialat your site.For the most precise evaluation of the wind speed at yoursite, you need to purchase a wind resource evaluationsystem. While wind resource evaluation systems can beexpensive, if your property is hilly and has unusualterrain features then it might be worth obtaining one.The most important component of a wind resourceevaluation system is an anemometer. Anemometers aretypically designed with cups mounted on short arms thatare connected to a rotating vertical shaft.The anemometer rotates in the wind and generates asignal that is proportional to the wind speed. If you dopurchase an anemometer, you will also need to purchasesomething to record the readings made by theanemometer, and a tower or tripod to mount the wholesystem on.

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