Thread: Base load power
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Old 16-07-2011, 06:17 PM
Hagar (Doug)
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 4,646
Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry B View Post
Why doesn't wind work?
On a personal note I live in a windy place with 3 small wind turbines within 1 km of my place. I will eventually join them with my own. It is windy more often than it is sunny.
The only way wind is really effective in a domestic situation is if you are prepared to use a battery storage system which uses the wind generator as a battery charger but the cost is very high indeed. In some respects a similar intallation to solar will work but again you need some alternative when the wind isn't blowing. The other problem with wind generation is the wind turbine usually only works in a relatively small band of wind speed.

To explain this fact: If you look at a large wind generator and imagine the speed of the turbine it looks to be spinning relatively slowly but in reality the tips of the turbine blades are running at just under the speed of sound. Should they inrease above the sound barrier you can imagine the noise created and the blades just self distruct with the pressure wave created.

Hope this helps.
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