The use of home scale wind turbines to generate electricity is not new but with the recent interest in renewable energy, it is becoming more commonplace. How much energy these “suburban” turbines will produce, for how long and with what degree of neighbour acceptance remains to be seen. Presently, the Small Wind Turbine industry does not have any set standards for approving or rating products. This lack of standards has led to inconsistent and inflated performance claims from some manufacturers, which in turn has created uncertainty in the marketplace.

This project will help reduce these uncertainties by providing independent verification of home scale turbines using a standardized wind test protocol. In the first phase of the project, the effect of height and design on the performance of three home scale wind turbines installed at the Kortright Centre will be evaluated. The three turbines to be monitored have manufacturer's rated output of 2.4 kW, 10 kW and 5 kW and will be installed on 50, 60 and 100 foot towers, respectively. Data will be collected on wind speed, energy production and other meteorologic parameters. Parallel monitoring of photovoltaic panels as part of another ongoing STEP study will allow for the unit cost of wind turbines to be compared directly with the unit cost of photovoltaic panels. The project will help assess the viability of wind turbines when used in an urban setting to produce renewable energy and provide ‘real world’ data, useful to system designers and prospective users.

A table summarizing the specifications of the towers installed at the site is available for download on the right sidebar.