Domestic Wind Turbines in Caithness

[Listener]

Does anyone on the forum have a Turbine?

I have seen a few around and I would like to know some actual facts and figures about the actual costs and output from any up here in the far north.

I know there is loads and loads of facts and figures on the web but I'm interested in the actual end result here in Caithness.

Thanks

[emb123]

Much as I am opposed to their poor siting in beauty spots simply to make conglomerates and wealthy landowners richers, I have no problem with a thoughtfully placed personal turbine and have been considering one myself :)

I've been looking on ebay and to get one which is capable of generating any serious amount of power it looks like you need to spend serious amounts of money.

You can make your own and if you are fortunate enough to get hold of a suitable generator then you'd probably be ok.

So far as I've found out the downsides are:

They generate low current levels unless you spend serious money.
They generate DC current - typically 12V DC
You need to store/accumulate power in banks of batteries.
To run any mains equipment you need a DC to AC inverter with step up transformer, all of which would need to be capable of realistic amount of current - they're available but they're not cheap.

If I look at the bottom line, to get a suitably powerful turbine with power storage for generated power that is not for immediate use, a decent amount of overall current capability compplete with DC-AC invertor and step up transformer, you'll be looking at upwards of £3,000 to around £8,000 for something that you could theoretically use in place of the national grid, and potentially even sell your unused excess to them. The starting prices for something halfway useful are around £800, and bottom end is pocket money for something which is little more than a toy.

The first problem is the inital dynamo - it needs to be able to generate high current, and it need to be able to do it without spinning at several thousand revs per minute (such as a car alternator does). Car alternators could potentially be used but you would need some sort of gearing arrangement which is vulnerable to damage and wear over time and needs to be kept lubricated.

If you have a spare £10,000 then it would be well worthwhile as unless you moved, you'd probably never need to pay Scottish Hydro another penny - although you'll periodically need to renew components.... in which case you would maybe need a second one to fill in while the first one is having parts replaced or repaired.

[MadPict]

They are expensive and don't really generate that much - one report recently on TV was of an owner whose turbine had generated less than his log fire does in an evening in a whole year (iirc)...

[j4bberw0ck]

need a second one to fill in while the first one is having parts replaced or repaired.

or while the wind isn't blowing the first one round........:lol:

[Don Quixote]

A colleague of mine in work who lives in East Kilbride, bought one from B&Q. He said it cost £1500 with a ratedoutput of 1kw, this price also includes installation.

These systems were initially recalled because the output was not as claimed and the government stepped in and made them reconfigure the system to give better output. They connect to the household electrics after the meter and when you are not using power they backfeed through the meter (making it turn backwards, no batteries required) earning you money from your power supplier.

He was told he needed an electrical socket, 3 pin type with a 16 amp breaker. They came to fit it and then said his connection was no good and that it had to be on a ring and not a spur and it had to be 32 amp breaker. They went away without fitting it.

He got someone in to sort his electrical connection and called them to install his turbine. They came back but could not do it as they had no scaffold.

He is still waiting six months after paying for his B&Q wind turbine.

I do not know how efficient they are supposed to be but B&Q are not very efficient at installing them.

In East Kilbride no Planning Permission is required, do not know how that will be in Caithness.

[Listener]

Thanks for the replies

In short these microturbines and pretty much anything below 2.5 Kw seem a waste of time.
2.5 to 6 Kw however seems doable however there is a lot of rubbish to cut through to get some actual real results.
A lot of data is based on average figures and this leads to totally innacurate output data, one manufactures data actually shows that it's turbine wouldn't perform on the figures given!

What I'm after finding out is how often is a turbine actualy producing a useable source of power in Caithness?

Thanks