Wind Turbine for Home outbeats PV Solar Panels in 2023_!

Small wind turbines for home could play an important role for off-grid living. A 15 kilowatt hour peak solar system that manages to supply a whole house in the sunny season produces only a fraction of the energy in the winter. And this is exactly where small wind turbines can come into play. The wind turbine season is asynchronous to PV systems. When the sun no longer shines so strongly in winter, it is statistically windier in Europe, which is also reflected in other regions with the same climatic conditions. Several companies have already recognized this potential for off-grid users and have launched small wind turbines for home, as they can play a decisive role in addition to solar panels or to completely replace them. The company Skywind built a small wind turbine made in Germany, which produces electricity starting at a wind speed of four meters per second and delivers a peak output of 1,000 watts, and that almost silently. From an average wind speed of six meters per second, just one turbine delivers over 1,000 kilowatt hours a year. But also, companies like Flower Turbines with their Wind Flower and Power Collective, with their Ridgeblade Rooftop Turbine, have very interesting ideas for home users to generate 220% more energy through wind power. That's why we took a closer look at small wind turbines of legitimate companies and will analyze them with you today and clarify in just a few points whether an investment in 2023 is worthwhile for home users. Point 1. Is it actually windy enough in your area for a rooftop wind turbine? The most important question if you're looking for an off-grid wind turbine is the wind conditions of your area. If we take a look at the wind map released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we can see that the middle of the U.S. has the highest available average wind speeds, most suitable for wind energy. Fortunately, we live at the age of the internet and we can track real-time wind speeds anywhere in the world on windy.com. There you can see detailed real-time measurements showing that the wind speed in many parts of the Midwest, down to Texas, is currently between 8 and 17 knots, or 9 to 20 miles an hour. In some areas, even 30 knots are achieved, and in those conditions a wind turbine would really make sense. But if that were so easy, why don't we see wind turbines for homes everywhere already? The company Skywind introduced one which could practically be installed on every rooftop as it only weighs 20 kilograms. The rotors are made of aviation aluminum, making them particularly light but robust. Conventional rotors are round, making them unnecessarily complex in the production process. However, wind turbines for homes must be as cheap as possible to make them competitive. Therefore, the rotors are bent at exactly the right place with exactly the right angle to create an aerodynamic profile. In addition, they have a special feature. It consists of only two rotor blades with wingtips at the end, as we know it from airplanes. They increase efficiency and reduce noise. Basically, small turbines work in the same way as industrial turbines. When the wind blows, the kinetic wind energy is converted into mechanical energy and then into electricity using an integrated generator. To protect the turbines from overloading and destroying themselves at storm, it has an integrated automatic switch-off system. This Skywind design is patented, making it the only micro-wind power system in the world with a guaranteed performance curve. With a wind speed of 4 meters per second, the generated electricity price is 30 cents, because the whole system costs up to 3,000 euros. At 5 meters per second, it decreases to 14 cents. The annual electricity consumption of an average American household is 10,000 kilowatt-hours. So, 10 of these 1-kilowatt-hour turbines are needed to cover the energy demand, making it a $30,000 investment. But these systems should rather be in addition to solar panels, to generate electricity even in bad weather conditions. So, is this mini-wind turbine really the best way to generate wind energy at home? What about vertical wind turbines? Flower Turbines has launched a very promising project. Vertical wind turbines, which are available in three different sizes, from 0.7 meters per second or 1.5 miles per hour wind speed, the wind flower starts to produce electricity. It is a really aesthetic solution, and the smallest variant is made for home users, with a weight of just 18 kilograms. The manufacturer also revealed that the flower turbines are not installed alone. If at least three turbines are placed, each flower turbine becomes 20% more efficient. And if more than five are placed, each becomes even 50% more efficient. This is due to the resulting air turbulence and the resulting suction that is created by the flower turbine. Five small turbines produce 1,300 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, at an average wind speed of 5 meters. But the purchase price per turbine is 3,000 euros. The five turbines would therefore cost about $15,000. With 1,300 kilowatt-hours of electricity produced a year, the flower turbine would amateurize after 30 years. And that's only a rough estimate. One to two percent maintenance cost per year also have to be added on top. But the most interesting wind turbine for home is from the company The Power Collective. The turbocharged wind turbine is called RidgeBlade and has to be installed on the rooftop with two mounting rails. The turbine mounted on the rails makes it a safe installation. The special thing about this construction is that it takes full advantage of a typical pitched roof shape. RidgeBlade uses the available area of a pitched roof and binds the force of the wind by using the advantages of the so-called eolian wind focus effect. This is a great multiplier effect for the electricity yield. With a 45% roof pitch, this wind turbine can produce 220% more electricity at the same wind speeds. The RidgeBlade does not have to be stopped in a storm. The rotor blades regulate themselves because the distance between them leads to a flow separation and a loss of torque at high wind speeds. This is how the RidgeBlade withstands speeds of over 100 miles per hour and produces power even in a storm while other wind turbines fail and have to be stopped. The design allows it to merge with the design of the house and has the lowest visual effect. The free roof surface can also be used for solar panels, making it the perfect combination for a self-sufficient off-grid home. This roof, for example, consists of seven RB1 and produces 5,000 kilowatt hours per year at a wind speed of 5 meters per second. In Europe, there are already two architecture offices, one in Italy and one in France, planning these RB1 turbines in-house projects. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a price anywhere for the smaller residential wind turbine, the RB1. But as the product gets ready for mass adoption, more information will definitely follow. So if you're interested in updates about the RidgeBlade or other turbines for home, make sure you subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and hit the bell icon to not miss out on any new videos. And in the meantime, you can see how it's possible to generate electricity at night with your solar panel by upgrading it with a very simple application.