Turbine, Aroostook

System

Wind: 3 kW, 1 kW, 300 W turbines

Cost: 3 kW ~$2500, 1 kW cost unknown, 300 W $450

Date of Installation:

Type/kind: Residential (2 occupants)

Installer: All installed by himself

Supplier: For turbines that he built, he sourced all materials locally when possible

Experience: Experience has been great with technology

Results: Energy production has been good, and provides enough energy given needs so far.

Description of Case Study:

After buying his first turbine in 2004, he began making his own turbines based on designs by otherpower.com ( http://otherpower.com/) and Hugh Piggott (http://www.scoraigwind.com/) . He has since added to these designs to adjust for the NB climate. He has built two turbines for himself, and over 30 others for local individuals because of his interest in building turbines as a hobby. He has found local sources for virtually all of the materials needed for constructing the turbines, except for the fiberglass blades that he sources from the US. He has built turbines in a variety of sizes between 300 watts and 3 kilowatts.

He uses the wind energy to provide for all of his lighting and some of his other appliances, using 24 volt lights, and has a battery bank that can store up to 24 kilowatts, with a 3 kilowatt inverter. He has also set up the system to dump extra energy, which can not be stored in the batteries, into his hot water tank to offset grid use. He plans to install an in-floor heating system in the future to use this extra hot water.