Antinuclear

Solar panels best for town home energy: wind turbines better for farms

average wind speed needs to be above 5m/s (18km per hour) to make installing a wind turbine really worthwhile. Ideal locations for wind turbines are in the country, on farms, or on the coast: basically anywhere away from built-up areas. The more buildings around the wind turbine, the less wind there is and the more turbulent any wind present becomes.

While wind power can be ideal on farms, for most suburban settings Energy Matters strongly recommends solar panels.

Backyard Wind Turbines – In Adelaide You Can (For Now) http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3413 by Energy Matters  9 Oct 12, If you live in Adelaide and want to install a wind turbine atop a 10 metre tower in your back yard, it seems to you can do so without the need for council approval. But you may need to be quick.

An Adelaide man was surprised to discover that under the Development Act, wind turbines do not require council approval if they are installed on a tower less than 10 metres high. Roof mounted wind turbines can also be installed without approval as long as they are less than 4 metres high.

Publicising of the loophole seems to have captured the attention of some Adelaide folks, much to the concern of councils. In fact, some councils believe the loophole should be closed.

Planning approval issues aside, just because you can do something; it doesn’t mean you should.According to Energy Matters, average wind speed needs to be above 5m/s (18km per hour) to make installing a wind turbine really worthwhile. Ideal locations for wind turbines are in the country, on farms, or on the coast: basically anywhere away from built-up areas. The more buildings around the wind turbine, the less wind there is and the more turbulent any wind present becomes.

“Excessive turbulence or ‘bad wind’ causes fatigue damage and shortens a generator’s working life,” according to a guide on the Energy Matters web site.

While wind power can be ideal on farms, for most suburban settings Energy Matters strongly recommends solar panels. Planning permission is not required for solar panel systems, there are no moving parts to wear, maintenance is minimal and installing solar panels in Adelaide can bring substantial electricity bill savings. With a large enough system, the company says households can wave goodbye to power bills altogether thanks to generous feed in tariff incentives available to South Australians.

Energy Matters offers an instant online solar quotes tool that provides performance and financial benefit information of various home solar power system configurations.

October 9, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | South Australia, wind