Wind Power for Home & Business: Renewable Energy for the 1990s and Beyond (Real Goods Independent Living Book)
Wind works. It's reliable. It's economical. It makes  environmental sense. And it's here now. Wind machines are not  tomorrow's technology. Whether it's on a giant wind farm in California,  in a small village in Morocco, or in the backyard of a Kansas wheat  farmer, wind energy works today in a variety of applications around the  world. You too can put this renewable resource to work. The following  chapters explain how to go about doing just that: how to select and  install the small wind power systems on the market today.Wind  technology has come a long way since the mid-1970s when the only wind  turbines available were 1930s-era machines salvaged from ranchers on  the Great Plains. During the past decade wind technology has come of  age with the development of advanced small wind turbines. These rugged  yet extremely simple designs have greatly improved the reliability and  performance of small wind machines. But as you'll see in the chapters  ahead, wind machines are not for everyone.To use the wind  successfully you must have a good site, have enough wind, and select  the right machine. You also need something else. Using wind energy  takes courage. Wind machines are not cheap, and whether you install it  yourself or contract a dealer to do it, the installation of a wind  machine is an undertaking fraught with risk and uncertainty. At some  point, after considering all the pros and cons, a decision must be made  that only you can make. You must weigh the options, then act. The  people who use wind energy are prudent, but they're doers.People  use wind machines for many reasons: economic, environmental, and  philosophical. The knowledge that you're saving money--in some cases  earning it--is often sufficient reward for plunging into wind energy.  Yet for many there's more to it than that. Windmills have fascinated us  for centuries and will continue to do so. Like campfires or falling  water, they're mesmerizing, indeed, entrancing. People respond almost  instinctively. Few escape the excitement created by a sleek turbine  whirring in the wind.Working with the wind is more than just a  means to cheap electricity. It becomes a way of life, a way of living  in closer harmony with the world around us. Harnessing the wind for  energy enables us to regain some sense of responsibility for meeting  our own needs, and for reducing our impact on the environment. By  generating our own electricity cleanly and with a renewable resource we  can reduce the need for distant power plants and their attendant ills.