Domestic Wind Turbines

Wind energy is normally generated in large scale wind farms, however it is actually possible to use wind turbines on your home to generate electricity.

Many people know about wind energy, however most people will think of the large scale wind farms. While this is one method used to generate power using the wind, it’s also possible to mount wind turbines on your own house and generate money that way.

This article will look at whether the cost of installing a domestic wind turbine is feasible in the terms of saving you money. We will also make some comments as regard to whether or not these really do help the environment.

First it’s important to understand how your current electricity bill is worked out, so that we can make comparisons. Normally you will be billed per kilowatt hour (p/kWh) and this will typically be in pence.

In order to make these calculations we will have to make some generic assumptions, we will also assume that the owner paid the full retail price for the wind turbine, and did not get any form of discount. We will also have to estimate the amount of power which can be generated by a wind turbine.

Our assumptions:

  1. The average family home requires 4MW hours of electricity every year
  2. The lifespan of a wind turbine will be 20 years
  3. The wind turbine is fitted when the house is being built, this means that it does not attract VAT.
  4. The average UK wind speed is around 6m/s

Electricity Production

A Proven 2.5kW turbine which is produced by a Scottish company, and can be viewed here www.provenenergy.co.uk. At the average UK wind speed the turbine will generate 4282kWh per year.

As we already said that we expect the wind turbine to last for 20 years, over the life of the turbine, it will generate 85440kWh.

Wind Turbine Cost

All of these are the retail costs as taken from the Proven price list which is available at www.almac.co.uk/proven/pricelist.htm. Also bear in mind that it’s not just the turbine you have to purchase, you also need batteries, masts and a charge controller.

  1. Wind Turbine (2.5kW, 24V) = £3655
  2. Charge Controller = £1025
  3. Mast = £1625
  4. Winch = £380
  5. Total cost = £6685*

*Please note that this does not include installation.

You won’t just want to use the power when it’s windy, and so you will need to use batteries in order to store the generated electricity. Batteries do not last forever, and are the worst part about any renewable method of generating electricity.

I did not add the cost of an inverter, as many systems do not require an inverter. You could also use an inverter with other equipment.

The actual batteries that you require will depend on your personal requirements. However I have based these costs on a 700AHr Lead Acid battery pack which costs £500

This means that the total cost of the system is £7185, however, there are grants available for alternative energy projects and wind turbines are covered under certain circumstances, more information can be found at green energy grants.

Over the 20 years the turbine is in operation it will generate 85640KWh of electricity which costs £7185. This means that the cost is 8.4p/kWh.

You can now compare this cost of electricity to the price that you currently pay on your bill.

More Wind Power Information