| By :
Roger Brown
Global Wind Power day is June 15th of every year and the theme is to lower wind turbine cost. Here are a few interesting facts about wind energy you might not know: • Wind turbine cost is coming down - in large part, the price decline is being catalyzed by incentives provided from the manufacturer and federal and local governments. • Wind energy creates zero pollution. • 3 factors influence how much electricity a windmill can produce: "swept area", or rotor path, wind speed, and air density (the thickness of the air is a factor of where and how high up the windmill is located) What incentives are available to help defray wind turbine cost? Most of these incentives and rebates can be found online at DSIRE, Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency funded by the U.S. Department of Energy\'s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). In order to find out what programs are out there for you, you need to check out the specific programs available in your state. But, in general, here are the forms the incentives take at present: 1. Wind Tax Credit (30%)
2. Property Tax Reductions and Exemptions
3. Special Utility Tariffs
4. Feed In Tariffs
5. Special Utility Rebates
6. Manufacturers Rebates
7. State and Local Income Tax Credits
8. Sales and Use Tax Reduction
9. Priority Permitting for Green Buildings
10. Loans It is difficult for an average sized home (2,400 square feet) to get completely off the grid and have a less than 5 year payback on the investment required to do so. The 2-3 kilowatts of energy that the average home will require can be supplied by a single wind turbine, but you have to be in an area of the country with a constant wind in order to make that work - unless of course your power requirement is not continual, or you have enough excess wind to charge batteries for later discharge. Wind turbine generators that will power a home that size will cost approximately $15,000 installed, but you can get the same thing in kit form for less than a few thousand dollars if you have the ability (and desire) to do it yourself. As incentives increase, prices of manufactured units will of course continue to come down and designs will continue to improve in efficiency. While the dream of everyone having a small wind turbine generator on their roof may be elusive at the moment, that day will likely come as the wind turbine cost drops.
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