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More interesting is the contrast between that USA map and the one on page 3 of the report summary. Differences include more areas off the coasts mapped (e.g., near California/Oregon) and data for 50m above the surface, as well as extra-superb category names.

It noted that "strong wind resources also exist offshore California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii, but it appears that the majority of this resource lies in deep waters where technology constraints are potentially significant" -- a sentiment Salazar echoed when asked about Pacific wind potential.

If my memory serves me correctly, the Oregon coast has amazing ONSHORE wind resources along the coast. (http://www.bergey.com/Maps/USA.Wind.Lg.htm

It kind of boggles my mind that we're worrying about deep-water offshore wind when that kind of potential lies untapped.

For just the US: http://www.bergey.com/Maps/USA.Wind.Lg.htm For the world: http://www.bergey.com/Maps/World.Wind.Lg.htm

For just the US: http://www.bergey.com/Maps/USA.Wind.Lg.htm For the world: http://www.bergey.com/Maps/World.Wind.Lg.htm

Somebody has to pay the electric bill...

Not necessarily.

Wind of course is vary variable and there is already significant resistance to more towers marring the landscape. So the only alternate at the moment is nuclear, preferably many low temp, long life reactors, rather than the high complexity, high temp units currently used.

Though there's resistance to wind farms there's also resistance to nuclear power plants, so that's a wash. As for variability of wind usually when it's not windy it's usually sunny, and modern wind gennie designs don't need a lot of wind. Though it's small, for Off the Grid applications, the BWC XL.1 Wind Turbine is a slow wind speed gennie capable of producing electricity with wind speeds as low as 5.6 mph.

With wind turbines there is a big economy of scale: Large turbines produce a lot more power in lower wind speeds than little ones.

Be careful when you see the quoted output of turbines--what's the speed at which they make that power? In a lot of cases, it's absurdly high.

For interesting calculators, check out Bergey windpower (click on "technical stuff" on the left nav bar).

Also, you probably shouldn't mount one on the roof. They make noise and cause vibrations that your roof probably isn't designed to withstand.

I've looked at the cost of photovoltaics, and the ROI, and my conclusion was that I'd rather go with a wind turbine. The same thing applies - in areas that allow it, your excess power runs your meter backwards and the power company pays you for it. A pretty good selection of small scale wind turbines can be seen here. Of course, if you have 5 acres like I do, you can dream about these little darlings that start at 1.5MW power generation and move up from there. No serious zoning issues if you are out in a rural area, and your ROI is as low as 3-4 years - assuming no unusually high maintenance costs and that the power company will pay you a decent rate per kWh not some pittance.

And use a secure version of Windows, an honest attorney, or a Hooters franchise that doesn't debase women.

I recently relocated to a new city for work and the #1 item on my list of home requirements was No HOA. Now, I have over an acre of land, quiet neighbors who keep neat properties and I don't have to ask anyone's permission "Please, Sir, may I use my own property as I see fit?".

(Now, back on topic) I'm still thinking about Solar, but I'm concerned about durability in this area of Oklahoma. According to my home insurance guy on average you'll have serious roof damage from the weather every six years around here. I'm also considering wind turbines. A 10kW tower would whoop ass. However, as I've been doing the math, the bang/buck seems to favor increasing efficiency before investing in alternative energy sources. We replaced all of your windows this past month and can tell a big difference in the comfort level of the house already. In the spring we're updating the air conditioning to be more efficient, and then insulating the attic better. After all that is done, all of the math for the solar or wind power will be done again.

Peter

Just because you're not getting a lot of sunlight, the fact that there is ambient light coming through the clouds still does generate some power. It may be reduced, but it is still there. If you read the related article Hacking Your Way Off The Utility Grid he approaches it from a reducing his expenditures on power, and providing a cushion for any future price increases.

Additionally, depending on where you're at in Michigan, there are varying classes of wind power available. The inputs listed in the system in the article are pure DC inputs. That means anything that generates DC at the same voltage can be used for input, being a generator, solar, wind or even a generator attached to your gutters that takes the rain and does hydro power from it. The point is that if you approach it from an overall viewpoint of reducing your power consumption from a grid, you will be helping the system. If everyone reduced their needs from the grid by 1kWH/person/month it would count for a lot.

My approach i'm taking towards my home system i'm planning is to do a combined solar+wind system. Usually where I live (in Ann Arbor/Dexter area, Michigan) the wind is blowing or there is some sunlight. The average wind speeds combined with a wind generator may help reduce the power. If you're living near one of the great lakes, the amount of wind power you can generate is quite reasonable. I know today we're under a high wind advisory (again) so if I had my wind generators up and going now, it would help offset my other electricity costs.

I was searching for some links to a story I read on slash a while ago.

Found these people along the way.

http://www.bergey.com/

There is a large(ish) market for offgrid products, especially in remote areas.

Heres a small generator (targetted at marine use) that gives 550watts at 12v from 60inch diameter blades:
http://www.thesustainablevillage.com/servlet/displ ay/product/detail/21750

The costs range from a few hundred dollars to many thousands depending upon requirements, so could easily pay for themselves within a few years.

Lots of others are available, hopefully you should find some links and keywords to find out more yourself. :)

Many green energy solutions can be implemented in a decentralized manner, instead of in huge projects like you mention. Installing them in this manner could make use of space that could not otherwise be used for energy generation.

Covering your house's shingles with solar panels would be expensive, but this could provide for much of the electrical needs of your household. For about $14,000, you can buy 24 165w Sharp 1575mm x 826mm solar panels, and save about $500 a year on electricity.

A 20m tower with a 7m diameter wind turbine could be installed in even a very small inner-city house lot. If you live in a reasonably windy climate, this could generate all the electricity you need for about $25,000.

I know these are expensive solutions, but certainly not impossible. The prices will come down.

Net Metering is the issue here.

Electric companies buy the electricity from you at wholsale rates. Then they sell it back to you at retail rates.

This way you get a real incentive for building your own small facilities and put power on the grid.

Power companies don't like it because they loose money on the deal: transmission efficiencies are well below 100%, the power is not reliable in peak hours (because you are probably consuming it), and they don't get their administration and maintenance costs.

But I like the idea of generating your own electricity, espically for something as engery-intensive as cooling.
More power to ya!

Have you considered installing solar panels or a windmill? A 10kw windmill will run you about $30,000 for the whole kit and its grid intertied so that you can sell power back to the grid(at market rates). Production is somewhere around 800-2000 kwh a month depending on yoru area. Even if you just cover your regular power bill every month, you can pay back the cost of the tower in about 6.5 years, after that its all profit. Plus california has a deal where you get up to half of the cost of the system rebated for a wind electric system of 30kw. So you pay off your investment in about 3 years instead of 6. Stop whining about your power prices and do something about it.

Have you considered installing solar panels or a windmill? A 10kw windmill will run you about $30,000 for the whole kit and its grid intertied so that you can sell power back to the grid(at market rates). Production is somewhere around 800-2000 kwh a month depending on yoru area. Even if you just cover your regular power bill every month, you can pay back the cost of the tower in about 6.5 years, after that its all profit. Plus california has a deal where you get up to half of the cost of the system rebated for a wind electric system of 30kw. So you pay off your investment in about 3 years instead of 6. Stop whining about your power prices and do something about it.