Wind power assesment

[firefox]

Hi All, Does anyone know where I can find records of wind data for Eureka,NV?

Does anyone know what criteria to use to determine if setting up a small wind turbine is feasable.

I will be hooked into the grid, but I am looking at this to help reduce my bill and as backup.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Bruce

[Windpower]

http://firstlook.3tiergroup.com/


requires a log in but otherwise free

If you do not have at least a 10 mph average a wind turbine will probably not give a positive payback

12 mph is VERY good

[firefox]

Thanks Windpower!!!!
Bruce

[firefox]

Here are the preliminary results for the three tower heights:

20m: 7 - 11.9 mph
50m: 9 - 13.2 mph
80m: 9.8 - 13.8 mph

So it would seem that even if I only used a 20 meter tower I
should get enough to pay for the equipment and provide emergency backup power.

Does that seem reasonable?
Bruce

[firefox]

Very strange, I may have the wrong co-ordinates. When I moved around on the map and selected Eureka,
it came up with different statistics and the distance to the original coordinates was pretty large.
Now I am getting 8.9 - 15.5 for a 20 meter tower. So I think this is starting to look very good for what I need.

Thanks again Windpower!

[Squirl]

Is that 10 mph avg. for the entire day?

[Windpower]

The average is over a fairly long period  -- ~ a week

but it is very complicated -- they are typically Rayleigh distributions

because the power goes up as the cube of the wind velocity it becomes very complex

eg if you have a 4 days of 25 mph and 4 days of 0 mph the average is 12.5 mph but the energy available is greater than 8 days of 12 mph because of the higher energy at 25 mph

25 mph is  8 times the energy at 12.5 mph

having said that the averages are good indicators of energy available

10 mph average is a good rule of thumb

but not all sites with a 10 mph average are equal

[glenn kangiser]

Also at least 30  feet above any nearby trees and obstacles.

Taller is better - Mine is 85 feet but wish I would have went 100.

A small generator can do decent even in places that are not decent for a big one.  Good chart readings are even  better.

[firefox]

Trees are not a problem. There aren't too many of them alas.
So far there aren't to many buildings in the area and I am on a
road that slopes up gradually so it is hopefully like a wind tunnel.

Obviously I'll have to do some experimenting, but I am optomistic.

Thanks everyone!!
Bruce