Chester man installs own windmill (Maine)

[jpak]

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/122796.html

CHESTER, Maine — Joseph Nesin looks forward to 30 years of free electricity.
A 50-year-old veterinarian and ardent environmentalist, Nesin installed a Bergey XL 10-kilowatt windmill to power his office and adjoining farmhouse, sitting the three-blade turbine atop a 140-foot steel tower on his Pea Ridge Road property earlier this month, he said.

“It’s a way of producing electricity cleanly. That was my motivation,” Nesin said Saturday. “My motivation was to get power with the least environmental impact possible.”

His goal won’t come cheaply or immediately. Counting all expenses, the windmill cost Nesin about $60,000 and will take about 10 years to pay back the investment, Nesin said.

But the turbine has a 40-year, maintenance-free life span. As long as he balances his electricity needs against available winds, it should generate enough to power his home and business year-round, even during those wind-free summer days, he said.

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[madokie]

1. If I wasn't so old now I'd be looking to do the same thing

plus my disability would make it hard to pay up front and my age isn't in favor of that also. But damn if I wouldn't like to do that

[panader0]

2. Very cool--I wish I could afford the original outlay

Let's see: 60 grand divided by ten years is 6 grand a year, 500 a month. That's a big electric bill. It must include his veterinarian hospital too.

[jpak]

3. There's a 30% federal tax credit on domestic wind turbines

and a 10 kW turbine on a 140 foot tower can produce a lot of juice in Maine - especially in the winter...

[joshcryer]

4. Would this tax credit cover people building their own?

I have in mind a design for a wind turbine that I want to build myself. I will have to do further research to determine if it's worth it once I buy my land, but I believe I could do it cheaper than a manufacturer (I wouldn't count my own time investment in such a calculation though).

[kristopher]

5. Using a CF of 33%

(very generous) you get 28908kWh per year and presuming it is valued at the average residential retail price of electricity in Maine* of 15.5 cents,** you get $4480.74 per year. Add in the 30% Federal credit, the state programs (that interested parties may look up themselves***) and a turbine with a 40 year lifespan...

and you have a very attractive proposition.

That tower was the expensive part of the package, I'll bet.



* http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_b.html

**From original article "As part of his deal with Bangor Hydro-Electric Co., electricity the windmill generates and he doesn’t use will go back to the utility and be sold on the New England power grid. Bangor Hydro will reimburse him for electricity it gets from his turbine with electricity whenever he requests it, Nesin said."

Nice, eh?
(ETA) The "Nice" refers to the fact that this amounts to a free storage system.

*** http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/index.cfm?EE=1&RE=1&SPV=0&ST=0&technology=Wind&sh=1

[oldhippie]

6. I have a little trouble with .....

.... "But the turbine has a 40-year, maintenance-free life span."

In my 45 or so years of experience with things electro-mechanical, I have never seen such a thing. A mechanical device, sitting on a tower in the weather thru Maine winters, needing no maintenance for 40 years? I don't think so. Even the tower needs maintenance.

[phantom power]

7. That reminds me of a recent article about vendor standards for small wind hardware...

Apparently there is a problem with some vendors making bogus claims about the hardware they are selling.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=207531&mesg_id=207531