# wind turbine two 5kw or one 10 Kw.



## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

I have enough salvage cell phone microwave tower , to build two 80' towers, or one 100' and a 60' or some combination of that, in other words I have 160' of usable tower, this tower was twin towers about 300' tall and had about 20 microwave dishes on it, and had a connection across mid way up, thus I have two bases, the rest of the tower a salvage crew cut up into small pieces. (they put up a new taller tower), and more dishes on it, it was the hub for cellphone company).

OK I plan on building my own turbine, something similar to the, breezy 5.5 http://www.prairieturbines.com/ I have some ideas that I think will improve there design but basically the same approach and type of system, (this would be a grid tie system),

my calculations indicate I need 10 kw to 12 kw wind power to basically erase my power bill at the electric company, for a year round usage.

preliminary talks with the power company is a go a head, with up to 20 kw of generation capacity, 

my premlinary calculations are that two units would not hardly cost many more than the one larger unit, as you step up on size the weight and the cost of components increases rapidly was well,

the towers are more than capable of handling the larger unit, but again the 5 kw unit would be lighter and smaller, 

I have space for two 

I have tower enough for two, 


I have a strong enough tower for the large one, (am positive the tower is more than capable of handing a 20 kw unit with ease). 


my thoughts are is if a turbine does go down (production wise) , I would in theory still have one unit working still producing some power, rather all my eggs in one basket adage, 

currently the transformers the power company limit my unit at 10 to 12 kw uless, (there rules) I pay for the labor of replacing the transformers, 
IN my estimation they are too small any way, but I guess that is there decision, to make as how they size there equipment, 

at one time I was considering a 20 kw unit, but feel 10 kw will do the job, 

but how would you do this, one 10 kw unit, or two 5 kw units.


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## adamtheha (Mar 14, 2007)

How much power do you actually NEED? 10kw is a LOT of power, probably enough for 2 or 3 normal houses. I would go with one 5kw and cut down on your power usage. However, if you are running some sort of business and really need the extra power, keep in mind that two units will double your maintenance costs. Also remember that the best investment for your money on a wind turbine is a larger tower. You can add 20% or more to your total power just with 20 feet higher. If it were me, I would go with the 5kw unit on a 60 foot or better tower. 120 feet would be nice, but very expensive.
Our family uses about 400 kwh per month at our current location, where we use electricity for cooking and clothes drying. I estimate we could knock about 150 kwhr off of that, which would mean we need a bit more than 4 kwhr of production per day. On a 2 kw machine, we could easily get that with an average of 4 hours per day of less than full wind, which is typical in most prairie locations.
If you put up a 10kw unit running a normal house, you will get money back from the power company.


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

between the shops, the drying fans, the refrigeration and freezers and the walk in cooler and freezer, tank heaters, (no electric heaters besides the tank heaters), house AC set for 80+, and it is "efficient".

I am going off my current electrical bills, and I have done energy audits and improved efficiency in many areas, (I have replaced freezers with more efficient models, still have one refrigerator that could be swapped out), insulated and done other,
I will use all the 10kw will do, but there is no way to afford a 20 kw unit, for me, even tho many of these loads are temporary but used throughout the year at various times,


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## seedspreader (Oct 18, 2004)

I do hope you will blog this adventure for us to follow? Please?


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

There is ALWAYS more wind at greater heights, at the same location. Put the big machine on the tallest tower that you are willing to deal with.


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## adamtheha (Mar 14, 2007)

Yeah, when you talk refrigeration, you're talking massive power loads. I agree, get the biggest one you can afford as high as you can afford to get it. If you hunt, you might be able to find a power pole or something like that. Go higher rather than bigger.


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

here are my tower sections, waiting to be stacked




























then at the top of it I am considering a telescoping pole system similar to this guys,



















since my tower is a wider spread than his I was thinking of a platform instead of a few steps, something similar to this platform on this water pumper, but may be with a railing on it, out of 1/2 pipe,








at the top to make any maintenance or work that needed to be done safer, and was thinking of some type of built in gin pole for the placement or removal of components if necessary,

these are my current ideas.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

How often do you plan on guying it -----distance . .1st 2nd 3rd . .etc.


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

This was a twin 300+ foot tower original, and my current thoughts were two guys, one about 50' and one near the top of about 100', my thought was jsut under the "platform"
the guys that were on it were 1/2", 5/8", and 3/4", and 7/8" and the longest was nearly 600 foot long, (ever try to roll up 600' of 7/8 guy wire)?


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Here's a MN wind turbine maker.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=71502&section=homepage

"Toward that end, Bayly, a longtimepromoter of wind power, has developeda three-bladed wind turbine designed to generate up to 10 kilowatts of electricity. His latest creation, the Ventera VT10-240, entered the market in November. So far, he has sold a dozen of the machines."


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