Micro wind?

Ive been waiting for the halcium pods to move forward as I would love to supplement my own solar some more.
 
When i'd briefly looked into it the prices seemed very high for the output compared to solar although i know you can't really compare in a sense as they generate so differently.

The thing which concerned me is that as there's moving parts it will wear out and need things like bearings replacing, unlike solar panels, and i couldn't find much/any info about that side of them.
 
It would be a very good compliment, but as you say the costs will be higher compared to solar. If it were as simple with another inverter from turbine plug and play it would be attractive. Could be a planning permission thing too but maybe from this high energy crisis they can improve on this area.
 
I was chatting to our solar fitter about this just two days ago - they've applied for permission to start rolling it out and thought it'd be a few weeks before they started trials.

They mentioned Tesup cylinder turbines and a few others - out myself on the waiting list with them and was as nice as I could be to them!!!
 
Very early days so fella wasn't sure - he said cost of devices was pretty low, ie:

But he was quite rightly saying he wanted to cover the increased mechanical failure risks Vs solar, so he was trying to assess reliability.
 
Yes exactly, but if you look at the size of these things, they're pretty tiny. So as you say, I'd be treating them much more like solar panels (eg you get an array of them, rather than a single entity).

Cost is pretty low also @ 60p/kw assuming 6hrs of wind at 14mph a day, you'd pay back in 12 months. Now obviously depends on loads of factors and you'd likely be smashing it if you live in a windy location and during winter/storms, but it's certainly interesting option.

I like the fact that they complement solar - ie tends to be windier at night and in winter where solar is weak.

Could see myself getting 3-4 of these and using them as another source - if you take my example and divide it by 5-10, you start to get to the sort of ROI people are comfortable with for solar - ie 5-10 years payback.

Interesting as you say...!
 
These look pretty neat, but I would not have a good location to use them at on this house. Solar kind of works because it just sits there, wind needs the right type of location I think.
 
Yeah, there's definitely a geographic profile to all this - although likewise with solar, the East of the UK is less cloudy, North to South and then even local microclimates. Eg we live on the side of a mountain in Scotland that's quite famous as the sunniest spot in the region as the mountain takes all the rain and condenses before it reaches us.

Been looking at tools like this to get a sense of potential:

Think if you were near the coast or in flat areas like Norfolk, this could be very interesting!

I'm pondering if a small array of 4-5 along the ridge of our house would work. Basically like small chimneys!
 
30 dB: Whispering nearby..

I was more thinking of between houses in an estate. Ours is like a wind tunnel. I guess you chould measure it and see if a location is viable.
 
Yeah they suggest getting a cheap air measurer and test it for a few months in positions
 
Looks doable for a roof - would need to be in the middle i think

Small scale Wind:

I understand that the proposal is for small scale wind within a residential garden.

Small scale wind generating equipment is generally split into two categories, ‘building mounted’ and ‘standalone’, I will address these in turn:-



1) Building mounted wind turbines for Householders.


The installation, of a building mounted wind turbine for domestic use can be considered to be Permitted Development under Schedule 2, Part 14, Class A of the General Permitted development Order, provided that ALL of the limits and conditions listed below are met:

  • Permitted development rights for building mounted wind turbines apply only to installations on detached houses (not blocks of flats) and other detached buildings within the boundaries of a house or block of flats.
  • Development is permitted only if the building mounted wind turbine installation complies with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Planning Standards (MCS 020) or equivalent standards. Read more about the scheme.
  • The installation must not be sited on safeguarded land.
  • Only the first installation of any wind turbine would be permitted development, and only if there is no existing air source heat pump at the property. Additional wind turbines or air source heat pumps at the same property requires an application for planning permission.
  • No part (including blades) of the building mounted wind turbine should protrude more than three metres above the highest part of the roof (excluding the chimney) or exceed an overall height (including building, hub and blade) of 15 metres, whichever is the lesser.
  • The distance between ground level and the lowest part of any wind turbine blade must not be less than five metres.
  • No part of the building mounted wind turbine (including blades) must be within five metres of any boundary.
  • The swept area of any building mounted wind turbine blade must be no more than 3.8 square metres.


The wind turbine itself must:

  • use non-reflective materials on blades.
  • be removed as soon as reasonably practicable when no longer needed for microgeneration.
  • be sited, so far as practicable, to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building and its effect on the amenity of the area.


Important Note - In Conservation Areas, an installation is not permitted if the building mounted wind turbine would be on a wall or roof slope which fronts a highway.

Permitted development rights do not apply to a turbine within the curtilage of a Listed Building or within a site designated as a Scheduled Monument or on specially designated land other than Conservation Areas.



2) Standalone Wind Turbines for Householders.

The installation of a standalone (not building mounted) wind turbine within the boundaries of a house can be considered to be Permitted Development under Schedule 2, Part 14, Class B of the General Permitted development Order, providing that all of the below limits and conditions are met: -

  • The wind turbine installation must comply with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Planning Standard (MCS 020) or equivalent standards.
  • The installation must not be sited on safeguarded land.
  • Only the first installation of any wind turbine would be permitted development, and only if there is no existing air source heat pump at the property. Additional wind turbines or air source heat pumps at the same property would require an application for planning permission.
  • The highest part of the standalone wind turbine must not exceed 11.1 metres.
  • The distance between ground level and the lowest part of any wind turbine blade must not be less than five metres.
  • An installation is not permitted if any part of the standalone wind turbine (including blades) would be in a position which is less than a distance equivalent to the overall height of the turbine (including blades) plus 10 per cent of its height when measured from any point along the property boundary.
  • The swept area of any standalone wind turbine blade must be no more than 3.8 square metres.


In addition, the following conditions must also be met. The wind turbine must:

  • use non-reflective materials on blades.
  • be removed as soon as reasonably practicable when no longer needed for microgeneration.
  • be sited, so far as is practicable, to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building and its effect on the amenity of the area.
  • * Designated land includes national parks and the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and World Heritage Sites.


Important Note - In Conservation Areas, development would not be permitted if the stand alone wind turbine would be installed so that it is nearer to any highway which bounds the curtilage (garden or grounds) of the house or block of flats than the part of the house or block of flats which is nearest to that highway. Permitted development rights do not apply to a turbine within the curtilage of a Listed Building or within a site designated as a Scheduled Monument or on specially designated land other than Conservation Areas.



Note - In both Standalone and building mounted development, only the first installation per dwelling is considered PD, subsequent additions, or proposals for multiple sets of generating equipment would require planning permission.
 
Some of this is just pure stupidity in an energy crisis - eg if you have an air source heat pump, you can't have a turbine without planning???
 
i linked a complaint about the particular company in the other wind turbine conversation, maybe there customer service has improved... but seemed like most things when they have the money and a problem occurs they were slow to help.
only other thing i would add i was looking at the wind turbine route but then got bogged down with council permissions and distances from boundaries etc, would not be able to site them in my garden, ok for folk in the country with larger gardens but looks like its going to be solar for us, or maybe im too old to worry :)
 
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