How to Tell if My Wind Resource is Good for Turbine?

[Rooftop Wind Turbine]

>> I am a electrical contractor looking to start a dealership in my
>> county. Business has been slow and I am looking to have a
>> good ice breaker to call all my customers about. The Wind/Solar
>> looks like a good fit and no-one is doing that here. I get most
>> of your posts I have been reading, great info here to learn. The
>> part that gets me is not electrical stuff... It's the wind stuff.

>> Can you explain how I can check if my wind resources will be
>> good enough for a system like this. How do I know if we have
>> enough wind here? Thanks, John, JMC Electrical Contractors

Hello John,

Yes, I have many electricians, electrical contractors, and even electrical supply houses that are becoming dealers now. Let me know if you want to speak with one about getting into this business.

I used to not recommend that you install in a wind zone of less than 2. Wind Maps from the US Dept. of Energy are broken down into zones. This is our dirst source of reference geographically. So, I would say that you should want a zone 2 or higher of wind. Starting with zone 2 like I have here in Ohio, I call it "serviceable" and it's worth getting a system. The higher the zone, the better it will perform. But even in a zone 1 it is worth doing and the systems will pay for themselves. It's just the less wind, of course the longer it takes to pay off a system. Also, anything 3 or higher will do very, very, well.

We sell a weather monitor that is wireless, has software for computer data tracking, it's $159 for Wireless Weather Monitor. Other than that, there are wind maps you can see at our site. Go here: http://windenergy7.com/turbines/ Click on link at right, says Wind Maps. We usually use the DOE maps from US Dept. of Energy. These maps are based on decades of data collection and provide a general measurement to make decisions and estimates by.

Since we specialize in Wind/Solar Hybrid systems, you would balance the expansion of systems more toward solar if you have a weak wind resource. These systems, you start out with a turbine and 2 solar panels. Then, you add from there usually. If you find your wind resources to be light, you would add more onto solar than wind. But still, I would never recommend a solar only, or wind only system. Wind or Solar alone is not a consisent system, together, they do very well. It's a very natural fit and is one reason our systems are so much better than other green energy systems. Hope that answered your question.

So, recently our solar system components are getting so efficient that in a low wind area, we do go ahead and install systems. What we do though is shift the ratio of wind to solar more toward solar as the system is scaled up. So, a whole house system in a low wind zone has more panels and less turbines than it would be designed in a high wind area. You play to the strength of the site in terms of ration of wind to solar power in a system. No matter where you live, the systems will do well, but we do tailor a system to a site's strength.

If you are interested in becoming a dealer, fill out the contact form and I can connect you with an electrician or electrical supply house who's doing this already. There are still areas open for new dealers but county territories and entire states are being established now, a few states completely established. So, if you are interested in becoming a dealer fill out the same form and we can see if your area may still be open.

To read more about the systems and wind/solar hybrid technology, there's lots of good info and links to Home Wind Turbine pictures here.