You can have varied wind resources
within the same property. In addition
to measuring or finding out about the
annual wind speeds, you need to
know about the prevailing directions
of the wind at your site. If you live in
complex terrain, take care in selecting
the installation site. If you site your
wind turbine on the top of or on the
windy side of a hill, for example, you
will have more access to prevailing
winds than in a gully or on the lee-ward
(sheltered) side of a hill on the
same property. In addition to geologic
formations, you need to consider
existing obstacles such as trees,
houses, and sheds, and you need to
plan for future obstructions such as
new buildings or trees that have not
reached their full height.
Your turbine
needs to be sited upwind of buildings and trees, and it needs to be 30 feet
above anything within 300 feet. You
also need enough room to raise and
lower the tower for maintenance, and
if your tower is guyed, you must
allow room for the guy wires.
Whether the system is stand-alone
or grid-connected, you will also need
to take the length of the wire run
between the turbine and the load
(house, batteries, water pumps, etc.)
into consideration. A substantial
amount of electricity can be lost as a
result of the wire resistance—the
longer the wire run, the more electricity
is lost. Using more or larger wire
will also increase your installation
cost. Your wire run losses are greater
when you have direct current (DC)
instead of alternating current (AC).
So, if you have a long wire run, it is
advisable to invert DC to AC.
