The car rounded a curve on the southwestern Ontario highway when I saw something that reminded me of a trilogy I once read. In the books, gigantic white tripod robots were taking over the world. The huge white 3-bladed machines that seemed to advance over the horizon in the hundreds as we drove, their rotors turning gently in the wind, certainly looked like an invading army of artificial intelligence.

As it turns out, what we drove through was the 143-turbine Melancthon Wind Project from Canadian Hydro Developers Inc., a company dedicated to sustainable sources of energy. Each turbine can supply enough energy to power 500 homes.

We also saw a large number of individual homes with their own wind turbines, some of which had no outside power lines at all. It's a windy area with lots of farmland and few trees or tall hills to interfere with the wind speed and create turbulence.

The first thing to consider when installing a wind turbine is, obviously, the wind. Is it fast enough and constant enough to make wind energy a realistic option for you?

Here are some other, less obvious, factors to consider.

On Or Off-Grid

In most of North America you can connect a small wind turbine to the power grid and either sell or store the excess energy. With the right conservation measures this can drastically reduce your electricity bill. To store excess energy from the turbine in batteries, rather than in the grid, an inverter is required to convert the DC power that charges the batteries to AC power that your appliances can use. Generally you'll pay more for an independent system since you have to take into account some form of backup power like a generator, and batteries are sold separately. It also requires more monitoring and general expertise.

Cost

A turbine including installation costs between $3 300 and $6 400 Canadian dollars per kilowatt (they range from 0.3 to 300 kilowatts), and there are, of course, extra costs such as a concrete foundation, batteries for off-grid power storage, or disconnect switches for on-grid safety. It's a large initial investment but maintenance costs are generally quite low and, and of course, it pays for itself in the money you are no longer spending on electricity. Most will balance themselves out in less than 15 years, depending on which system you buy (larger ones cost more but pay back faster), and whether or not you are offered government incentives such as rebates (California and Illinois are two regions currently offering incentives).

Property Size

You need at least half an acre of land. The University of Toronto has installed one of the first small urban wind turbines, across from the Art Gallery of Ontario in downtown Toronto. It will be used to study how wind can be harnessed on a small scale in a city, where there tends to be more turbulence and variability in wind speed, and less space to build big turbines. For now, small wind turbines tend to be anything but small. To harness the most wind energy, most sources recommend a tower at least 80 feet (24.4 metres) tall, and it needs to be installed one to two times its height from a property line— so in most cases, to get zoning approval, you need one acre or more.

Neighbors and the Law

Your neighbors need to approve the idea. Otherwise they can call for a public hearing or even put a stop to your wind project. Discussion is a necessary first step, and it helps to write a few formal letters. Be prepared to talk about the aesthetics of a turbine as well as the noise it generates (most small turbines make about as much noise in decibels as a refrigerator but depending on how close it is to neighboring property, it could be annoying). You also need to find out what the zoning by-laws are in your region, to make sure that it's actually legal to construct a wind turbine— in some places it is not.

Birds & Bats

There is some concern over the impact wind turbines can have on bird and bat mortality. Studies show that glass windows and tall buildings are over 50 times more likely to kill birds than wind turbines are, but turbines can still be a problem. Try to take into account surrounding habitat that is used for nesting and/or migration, and situate the turbine accordingly (your neighbors may also bring this up).

The idea of going off-grid, at least partially, is a great one that everyone should consider. When you are installing your first wind turbine, just keep the above factors in mind and you'll be helping the environment and saving money in no time.

Sources

Canadian Wind Energy Association
www.smallwindenergy.ca/en/SmallWind.html

Bergey WindPower Co.
www.bergey.com

The Beautiful Bruce Peninsula (brochure)

Ferndale Wind Turbine Expansion
www.brucepeninsula.org

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources wind resource atlas
www.ontariowindatlas.ca/en

Hydro Ottawa
www.hydroottawa.com

Toronto Hydro
www.torontohydro.com

Melancthon Wind Project
www.mgwindpower.info

U.S. Energy Information Administration
www.eia.doe.gov