Benefits of Personal Wind Power: An On or Off Grid Solution

The Need for Energy

Imagine you wake up on a cold Monday morning and you are finding it difficult to get up; you can barely feel your legs! You gather some strength and then you find a way to wobble into the bathroom. As you glance into the mirror it dawns on you the lights are off. You flip the light switch and nothing happens, so you repeatably flick it up and down, to no avail. Then on top of that the sink has no warm water, nothing in the fridge is chilled, and the microwave oven won’t turn on to warm up your Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich. A terrible start to your day, right?

The need for energy in our day to day activities cannot be overemphasized. Be it in chemical, electrical, gravitational, nuclear, mechanical or sound form, energy remains a very vital part of human life. Considering its use in heating applications, transportation systems, lighting systems, electric drive vehicles and many others, electrical energy is the most popular form of energy. It is cleaner, more efficient and the fact it can be controlled with the flip of a switch or simply plugged into a power outlet is well, awesome.

Electrical Energy Generation

Coal, natural gas, hydro, nuclear, solar, and wind are some of the common ways of generating electricity. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, your electricity generation likely comes heavily from coal or natural gas, but wind and solar energy are rapidly increasing as their prices drop. While each method has its pros and cons, some make more sense in terms of cost, efficiency, and maintenance. If you are looking to provide electricity for your home or office completely off grid, or if you are looking to supplement the existing electricity you receive on the gird, wind and solar are quickly becoming excellent sources.

Wind Power and its Advantages

Simply put, wind power is a means of generating electricity through the blowing of the wind. A wind turbine generator is a device that transforms kinetic energy from the wind into electrical energy. As the wind blows the wind turbine's blades rotate in a clockwise manner, which in turn spins a generator, producing electricity. This electricity can then be harnessed by directly flowing to your off grid system or by charging a battery. If you are looking to supplement your on grid electricity use with wind then you will need a grid tie inverter. An inverter is needed to transform Direct Current (DC) power produced by the wind turbine into Alternating Current (AC) power suitable for the electric grid. 

You might be wondering why you will ever need any electric system, let alone a wind electric system. Here are some of the advantages of using a wind turbine generator for your electricty.

Wind power has zero fuels costs. Wind is a natural resource. Since technically your "fuel source" is coming from the wind, it is free, clean and unlimited. The up front costs of a wind turbine may seem expensive, but due to the fact your fuel source is free, this investment will quickly pay for itself in energy savings. Also, the running and maintenance costs are reasonable and rarely needed. A good wind turbine generator will likely last 15+ years and have the durability to withstand winds in excess of 100 MPH.

Another advantage is a good wind source is available in most places. Though as a result of weather and climate change, some seasons can be windier than others. This is why adding battery storage and a solar powered supplement is greatly recommended. However, despite the variability in the wind you can still expect to receive a great amount of energy, which in the long run equals savings.

Wind is a renewable resource – meaning we will never run out of wind!

Most common forms of energy generation methods create environmental pollution. Coal energy in its extraction and in electricity production produce harmful planet warming greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane as well as other toxic emissions such as mercury, carbon monoxide, and soot. These emissions contain high levels of heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, and can have adverse health impacts on the general population. The burning of coal has been tied to an increase of asthma, lung and heart disease, neurological issues, and even cancer. For wind power, you don't have to worry about any of these, as wind electricity is produced in a clean and eco-friendly manner.

In a society where sustainable energy generation is being focused on, wind energy can be a major player in this transition. As the demand for cleaner energy sources and sustainability increases, you can expect the prices for wind and other renewable sources to continue to fall.

Benefits of Off the Grid Systems

Off the grid systems serve as an alternative to public utility services. In a location where it is impossible to connect to the grid, likely due to distance or cost, they are found very useful. They also serve as a good backup in situations where supply from power utility is not always reliable. They can be powered by gasoline/diesel generators, or by renewable resources like hydro, solar and wind. Specific applications of off-grid systems include vacation homes, remote farms, recreational vehicles (RVs), sailboats, and dedicated power units for applications such as traffic lights, pumping machines, and electric fences.

To have that feeling of being on a vacation, we would rather make our vacation homes “home away from home.” Even though one’s stay might be short, an electric power supply is required. A wind power system is suitable in such cases.

Having the facilities of a regular home, recreational vehicles find their use during picnics, camping or vacations. They could also be used as mobile offices, where one would like to carry out the normal activities in a regular office. Electricity could be supplied to these vehicles through wind power. Did we mention there is little or no noise in using wind turbines, compared to gasoline generators? 

On remote farms and ranches, one of the major needs for electricity is to power pumping machines. For obvious reasons, one might not be able to get power directly from the grid. In such a case as this, an off the grid system will serve you well. With the choice of a wind power system, one can have a dedicated power unit for your pumping machine.

Whether living in a rural area or even in the city, wind energy can certainly be an obtainable option. We hope you found this information useful, and remember that by switching to cleaner energy systems we can ensure a high standard of living for generations to come. To get a better understanding of the costs associated with wind power, we recommend you check out our large selection of high quality wind turbine generators for your off grid or on the grid needs.