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5 Common Misconceptions About Home Wind Turbines

By Aaron Wright

| July 21st 2012 | Views:

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The principles that makes wind turbines work is simple, and its operation is not that highly complicated compared to nuclear energy. But despite regular developments in wind energy technology, many myths and misconceptions still arise about the issue of having your own home wind turbine. These false ideas often discourage other homeowners in embracing green energy, and stymie the proliferation of home renewable energy systems.

In this article, we shall discuss some of the most frequently mentioned misconceptions, all the while providing a few answers that would disprove the said myth.

1. Wind turbines are unpleasantly noisy

Actually, a few decades ago, this was a clear fact. Older and earlier wind turbines do generate a considerable level of noise, due to the internal mechanical noise of the home wind turbine. Today however, more advanced designs have made the mechanical operation of wind turbines almost completely silent, and the only “noise” that you are going to hear is the swooshing sound the wind produces as the blades spin around.

2. Wind intermittency makes wind turbines far too inefficient

True, wind is quite an unreliable force, as it tends to randomly get too strong or too weak. However, this hardly accounts for the performance quality of a home wind turbine. Unless the wind is not naturally weak in a certain area, you can expect a residential or home wind turbine to work 70-85% of the time. Besides with proper load balancing, you can get the battery banks to supply more than enough amount energy before the turbine starts spinning again.

3. Startup costs make energy from wind turbines expensive

Not true at all, at least from an investor’s standpoint. As we entered into the 21st century, wind energy has been dropping by 15% every time production rates get doubled. Today the economic efficiency of wind turbines is now nearly comparable to fossil fuel energy, with just about 15-20% difference in unit price per kilowatt hour. The initial investment is still high of course, although today’s rates allow us to get back what we had spent for the system much faster than before.

4. Wind turbines can have a serious effect on the avian wildlife

This is a confirmed fact, but only if we remove the word “serious” in it. There had really been isolated cases of birds and other flight-capable animals getting hit by the blades or wind vortices of the turbines. However, the incidences are far too seldom; there is an exponentially higher chance for a bird to be killed by a communication tower instead. The number of incidences get even lowered further due to standard rules and protocols that wind turbine technicians must adhere to in order to prevent the wind turbines from disrupting the environment.

Most of the misconceptions usually thought about wind turbines are usually the product of lack of. Many people often only know part of the truth about the efficiency of residential or home wind turbines, and are often discouraged to use one because of the uncertainties this new form of energy has compared to the apparently more stable grid fossil fuel energy.

Aaron Wright - About Author:
Find more information on wind power and wind turbines for the home at windpoweredgeneratorsonline.com. Also read articles on solar vs. wind power.