Is Backyard Wind Power Worth It?

eldavojohn wonders: "In the October IEEE Spectrum magazine, I read an article on backyard windmills and their growing feasibility. With the lowest model's price tag, it's about $9,000 and lasts for around 100,000 kilowatt-hours (20 year life), which results in 9 cents per kilowatt-hour. Now, the article mentions that if the market takes off, that price will drop. However, I was wondering what price range the windmills would have to fall to (or the energy rates have to rise to) before I could consider this? Well, the price of the windmills in the article are out of my price range right now. I don't imagine many Americans have $8k-$11k laying around and the current month's rates for energy in my neighborhood are 2.2 cents/kWh for the first 800 kWh and 1.2 cents/kWh after. I was wondering what are your thoughts on being an early adopter of wind energy? Do you think that if enough people bought these windmills, the price per kWh could compete with the local power grid's? Will it ever?"

Comments

To avoid a few flamewars.

[UbuntuDupe]

1) No, on a purely financial basis, it probably isn't worth it. (Saves the posts of people doing a detailed analysis.)

2) Yes, it has the non-financial benefit of being earth-friendly, which isn't necessarily captured in a financial analysis. (Saves people from lecturing others that money isn't everything.)

3) Yes, it would probably save you money if the appropriate goods were taxed to reflect their environmental costs. What the appropriate externality compensation would be depends on your ideology, so if you wanted people to use less fuel anyway, you probably think these costs are HUGE.

4) Yes, we know that alone, windmills won't solve all energy problems. No one thinks that.

5) Yes, some birds are killed from these. No one cares, since tall buildings kill a lot more.

Does that about cover it?

1.2/2.2 c/kwh????

[bloosqr]

Are you sure you are reading your bill correctly? Are you in canada or something? I think i pay about 13 c / kwh

here is a list of average prices around the US

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table 5_6_a.html ,,

1/2 is the distribution cost and 1/2 is the generation cost..(this is only matters if you choose a different energy provider as all you can save is the generation cost .. the distribution cost is fixed) .. if you are making energy on site you save on both since they aren't distributing that power to you...

Re:Solar panels

[demigod]

A windmill is too big and too much of an eyesore to be installed in backyards.

They don't have to be eyesores.

Hooking to the grid can cost $$

[garyebickford]

If the grid isn't already in place, it can be very cost effective to adopt energy independence. Two scenarios in real life:

1. Someone I know lives on 50-odd acres; his house is about 1/2 mile from the road. As I understand it, the power company quoted him $18,000 to run power poles from the road to his house. Of course, this upfront cost was just for the opportunity to send them money every month thereafter. For that same $18,000 he bought a complete power system including a bunch of special batteries, high tech electronic load and generation management and a diesel generator. I think the generator and batteries came from folks who had installed Y2K panic systems, and never used them. For several years he ran the generator once a week for a couple of hours, now he's installed two solar panels and he has gone all summer without running the diesel, though he will probably have to run it occasionaly during the winter. He has a small wind generator for testing, so far. His major electricity usage is shop tools and clothes dryer. He uses propane for hot water, and propane and wood for heat. He plans more solar panels eventually, and will then use the diesel only for emergencies.

2. According to the World Bank, small amorphous silicon solar panels are replacing kerosene lamps in rural African villages - they cost about the same as two months' worth of kerosene, provide more light than the kerosene lamps previously used, and once paid for cost nothing to run, except amortized cost of replacement every ??? years. This also offers the opportunity to radically change lifestyles in these areas. Evidently amorphous silicon panels are less efficient than the more expensive solar panels but are so much cheaper that they're a better deal. I can easily foresee several families in a village connecting their panels and batteries together, and voila! Instant community power grid, that can grow incrementally.

For the large percentage of people who live outside areas that already have well-developed electric power and other networks, localized community-based or individualized solutions including wind, solar and small hydro can be very practical, and even life changing. This paper notes that:

"Off-grid renewable energy investments are cheaper when communities and individuals can build and operate electricity generation facilities without going through regional governments and utilities. In Nepal systems under 1 MW do not need approval for off-grid development. This has played a critical role in helping local micro-hydro entrepreneurs set a tariff which is acceptable to the community being serviced as well as being profitable to the entrepreneur running the micro-hydro plant"