The consumer guide to small-scale wind electricity production! Maybe you're not T. Boone Pickens, but you can build your own home-sized wind-power empire right in your back yard. Wind Power For Dummies supplies all the guidance you need to install and maintain a sustainable, cost-effective wind generator to power your home for decades to come. This authoritative, plain-English guide walks you through every step of the process, from assessing your site and available wind sources to deciding whether wind power is the solution for you, from understanding the mechanics of wind power and locating a contractor to install your system to producing your own affordable and sustainable electricity. Guides you step by step through process of selecting, installing, and operating a small-scale wind generator to power your home Demystifies system configurations, terminology, and wind energy principles to help you speak the language of the pros Helps assess and reduce your energy needs and decide whether wind power is right for you Explains the mechanics of home-based wind power Shows you how to tie into the grid and sell energy back to the power company Offers advice on evaluating all of the costs of and financing for your project Provides tips on working with contractors and complying with local zoning laws Yes, you can do it, with a little help from Wind Power For Dummies.

The consumer guide to small-scale wind electricity production! Maybe you're not T. Boone Pickens, but you can build your own home-sized wind-power empire right in your back yard. Wind Power For Dummies supplies all the guidance you need to install and maintain a sustainable, cost-effective wind generator to power your home for decades to come. This authoritative, plain-English guide walks you through every step of the process, from assessing your site and available wind sources to deciding whether wind power is the solution for you, from understanding the mechanics of wind power and locating a contractor to install your system to producing your own affordable and sustainable electricity. Guides you step by step through process of selecting, installing, and operating a small-scale wind generator to power your home Demystifies system configurations, terminology, and wind energy principles to help you speak the language of the pros Helps assess and reduce your energy needs and decide whether wind power is right for you Explains the mechanics of home-based wind power Shows you how to tie into the grid and sell energy back to the power company Offers advice on evaluating all of the costs of and financing for your project Provides tips on working with contractors and complying with local zoning laws Yes, you can do it, with a little help from Wind Power For Dummies.

The availability of clean, renewable power is without question going to be the defining challenge and goal of the 21st century, and wind will lead the way. Internationally acclaimed wind energy expert Paul Gipe is as soberly critical of past energy mistakes as he is convincingly optimistic about the future. The overwhelming challenge of transforming our world from one of fossil carbon to one of clean power seems daunting at best—and paralyzingly impractical at worst. Wind Energy Basics offers a solution. Wind power can realistically not only replace the lion’s share of oil-, coal-, and naturalgas– fired electrical plants in the U.S., but also can add enough extra power capacity to allow for most of the cars in the nation to run on electricity. Gipe explains why such a startlingly straightforward solution is eminently doable and can be accomplished much sooner than previously thought—and will have the capacity to resuscitate small and regional economies. Wind Energy Basics offers a how-to for home-based wind applications, with advice on which wind turbines to choose and which to avoid. He guides wind-energy installers through considerations such as renewable investment strategies and gives cautionary tales of wind applications gone wrong. And for the activist, he suggests methods of prodding federal, state, and provincial governments to promote energy independence.

This textbook is intended to provide an introduction to the cross-disciplinary field of wind engineering. It includes end-of-chapter tutorial sections (solutions manual available) and combines both academic and industrial experience.

An illustrated guide to building and installing a wind turbine and understanding how the energy in moving air is transformed into electricity.

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO BUILDING A SMALL WIND POWER SYSTEM FROM THE GROUND UP Written by renewable energy experts, this hands-on resource provides the technical information and easy-to-follow instructions you need to harness the wind and generate clean, safe, and reliable energy for on-site use. Build Your Own Small Wind Power System shows you how to install a grid-connected or off-grid residential-scale setup. Get tips for evaluating your site for wind power potential, obtaining permits, financing your project, selecting components, and assembling and maintaining your system. Pictures, diagrams, charts, and graphs illustrate each step along the way. You'll also find out how you can help promote wind-friendly public policies locally. Save money and reduce your carbon footprint with help from this practical guide. COVERAGE INCLUDES: Challenges and impacts of small wind energy Electricity, energy, and wind science Determining if wind power is right for you Site assessment Financing small wind power Permits and zoning Wind turbine fundamentals Choosing the right wind turbine for the job Balance of system: batteries, inverters, and controllers Installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting Future developments in wind power

Wind energy’s bestselling textbook- fully revised. This must-have second edition includes up-to-date data, diagrams, illustrations and thorough new material on: the fundamentals of wind turbine aerodynamics; wind turbine testing and modelling; wind turbine design standards; offshore wind energy; special purpose applications, such as energy storage and fuel production. Fifty additional homework problems and a new appendix on data processing make this comprehensive edition perfect for engineering students. This book offers a complete examination of one of the most promising sources of renewable energy and is a great introduction to this cross-disciplinary field for practising engineers. “provides a wealth of information and is an excellent reference book for people interested in the subject of wind energy.” (IEEE Power & Energy Magazine, November/December 2003) “deserves a place in the library of every university and college where renewable energy is taught.” (The International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education, Vol.41, No.2 April 2004) “a very comprehensive and well-organized treatment of the current status of wind power.” (Choice, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2002)