Reply #7: Residential WECS [View All]

[izquierdista]

I'll still say that residential subdivisions and wind turbines don't mix. The proximity of a bunch of irregularly shaped buildings and trees for landscaping is going to reduce their efficiency greatly.

Now that I realize that you are talking about the .5-2KW units on a tall pole, I would suppose that the same aesthetics apply as for ham radio antennas i.e., short enough not to fall on your neighbor. And is it really forward looking to plan for a future where everyone has a turbine on an 80 ft. pole? That sounds worse than the days when everyone had an 8 to 12 ft. television antenna on their roof. Plus, you get that many "whisper" turbines going at once and it's going to be like the 17 year cicada every time the wind comes up.

With the efficiency of scale in wind turbines, it would be a better use of your efforts to develop a community owned wind installation on a favorable location nearby and enjoy your suburban quality of life sans WECS.