5/30/2023 0 Comments Home wind turbines reviews![]() For onshore Big Wind the cost is generally around $2/W of rated power (offshore Big Wind is up to $9/W) and that of onshore Small Wind currently spans from $3 to $7/W. There are a few common beliefs that we have noticed from talking to interested buyers from all over the world.Ĭommon belief #1: “Small Wind is more expensive than Big Wind.” That is generally a true statement, if one compares only the installed cost per rated W. ![]() The wind-power at 13.86 m/s is roughly double compared to 11 m/s, meaning if someone declares a power rating of 10 kW at 13.86 m/s, they are selling effectively a 5 kW turbine.įor more wind turbine basics, here is a pretty nice summary from MIT: MIT-Wind-Power-Basics.PDF In order to illustrate how “effective” (or misleading) this marketing can be, you can do the simple math on the cubed function of power versus wind-speed. We have noticed many “inventive” marketers of small turbines rating their product at wind-speeds higher than 11 m/s (we’ve seen ratings at up to 15 m/s), which effectively means they are overstating the turbine’s performance. As most insiders know, the power of the wind (and therefore the power of the wind-turbines) goes up by the cube of wind-speed (double the wind-speed means 8 times the amount of power). The internationally acknowledged standard is to rate turbine power at a wind speed of 11 m/s (24.75 mph, or 39.6 km/h). Let’s start with the nameplate rating of the wind-turbines. For the purpose of this article, we use the same definition as AWEA, up to 100 kW. ![]() ![]() As we all know, 100 kW wind turbines aren’t small! Therefore, others have decided to define them as anything up to 10 kW. It also explains why the market for “Small Wind” is vastly different from that of “Big Wind.”įirst of all, “Small Wind” has been defined by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) as any turbines under 100 kW of rated power. Have you ever noticed energy blogs or articles about small wind turbines comparing them directly with big wind technology and solar? I am writing this article to provide a little background on where small wind turbines can be very successful and where they make absolutely no sense. ![]()
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