Windmills for home electric generation
Windmills for home electric generation
Idea Description
Offer windmills in a variety of sizes for generating electricity for personal uses such as heating a hot tub, auxilary water heater, decorative lighting, etc. Possibly have the smallest windmill about the size of a satelite dish and mount it on the house. Larger windmills would be pole mounted in the yard for higher energy output. This could also be used in conjunction with a bank of batteries to offer backup for calmer days.
What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?
Put a team together to pursue this idea and fabricate some demonstator models.
Vote for it now.
Sounds great, hurry and do it.
You may want to consider vertical-axis micro-wind turbines for an application like this. They are quieter and can accept wind from any direction without having to turn into the wind. Likewise, they tend to be more efficient and be able to handle higher wind speed than blade type turbines. I would also scrap the battery idea. Most utility providers will offer net-zero metering...no need to store the energy, just put it back on the grid for the utility to use...much cheaper and more environmentally friendly than having all of those batteries. Check with your local utility...unless this is for remote applications which are no-where near the grid. I'm actually going to be doing these installation in Chicago and Detroit in the next 1-2 years. Good luck!
Take a look at homepower.com, tons of info there.
You may modify your idea into something that harnesses this new technology. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4224763.html This video explains all the problems with small wind turbines. It's also very inexpensive since there's not turbine mechanics involved.
In the UK you can buy these from your local B&Q store (like Home Depot in the States).
I love this idea. I'll buy
Great idea! The more we bring products like this to market, the sooner it will catch on.