Thursday, January 27, 2011

What Are The Break Even Points Of Sustainable Energy

What Are The Break Even Points Of Sustainable Energy

Mat Jackson

We looked at small scale wind power turbines for a development we planned recently and the payback worked out to be relatively speedy.

We were fortunate in a few respects as the development was coastal, so good low level wind was a constant - which also forgave a lack of aircon (very power hungry); clever design allowed us to use the sea breeze to cool the villas naturally.

We opted for VAWT (Vertical axis wind turbines) which could be mounted in pairs on each villa roof, so no 10 mile visibility problems associated with the larger scale turbines. Sourced from a manufacturer in the Far East, they weighed in at a little over 3,000 a piece ( 6k per house). This also meant that each house absorbed the cost of its own turbine, rather than having a 1mw turbine for which no one wants to foot the bill.

Each set provided more or less for the entire electricity consumption for its associated house - although as a caveat there, users do tend to be more aware of consumption when such devices are fitted - no bad thing.

Pay back on these was estimated to be in the region of 5-7 years, but this time period has yet to pass, so I cant guarantee that that is cast in stone.

See question on Quora


No comments:

Post a Comment