Talking About Green

There’s probably no need to tell you of the importance of using renewable energy sources. If people knew a little more about clean, renewable energy sources we’d demand it from our energy suppliers and we could all breathe a little easier. When we don’t pay attention to how our energy is produced, we continue to meet our needs for energy through unhealthy means which harm our environment and our bodies.

It’s imperative that our generation make the change and start to use renewable green energy sources and ingrain the importance of using these clean energy sources on the younger generation. One of these technologies with great potential is wind power. However, before we discuss how much energy you can produce with a wind turbine, let’s examine how wind power works.

Many fear that wind power cannot produce enough energy without a steady strong wind. This is a misunderstanding of how wind power operates. Even the slightest breeze can produce electrical power. Wind power works by taking the kinetic energy of the wind moving the turbines of a wind generator to produce electrical power which can be used to power homes and businesses.

The best place to install a wind generator is on the roof of a home or other building where it will receive the most wind. Even with a good wind generator, it’s a good idea to keep your existing electrical supply from your utility company as a backup source of power.

This is so that if there ever is a time that you are not able to capture enough wind energy, you can still get the power you need to light up your house or to keep the heat running if you rely on electric for your heating needs. What about the times that there is a lot of wind being produced around your home? If there are winds that exceed seven miles per hour, which can happen a lot, you are able to sell the extra energy that is produced back to the utility company.

You can generate enough electricity from a wind generator to supply your home with the electricity it needs; and at those times when you need more than your wind power system is generating, you can use your local electric company’s supply. Any surplus can be sold to your utility company and if you have batteries to store it, can be used another time.

Your wind generators are an investment in your energy independence which will pay for themselves and then some. Being able to sell your unneeded electrical power to your utility company is just one more way that this investment pays off. How much electricity can you produce with your wind generator? It all depends on the size of your generator and how windy of a region you happen to live in.

If the average wind speed in your area is 12 mph, then you can generate about 10,000 KWH annually with a 10KW generator; plenty of energy to meet the needs of the average household. If you have a 5 MW generator, you’ll generate more than 15 million KWH per year, which is enough energy to supply 14,000 homes with the electricity they need!