600 WATTS, 600 BUCKS

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Small generators can be mounted on a pole with guy wires. (I don't recommend mounting a wind generator on your roof, regardless of what some manufacturers might suggest. Even with a small generator, noise from vibration is a problem.) Put the generator on a tilt up pole tower to make it easier to install and maintain This allows you to mount the generator and connect the wires on die ground before raising the tower-no climbing needed! Keep voltage lass down to 2% by using large enough wire. Manufacturers will provide charts to help determine the proper wire size for your installation.

Evaluating Wind Generators
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‹Wind generators, Altamount Pass, California

‹ Photos: SCHAFER & HILL/PETER ARNOLD, INC.

About a year ago, I installed an Air 303, made by Southwest Windpower, for supplemental charging in a 24-volt home/ recording studio system. The system consisted of 12 Solec 50-watt solar modules. 18 Exide 6-volt golf cart batteries, a Trace 4024 sinewave inverter and a Trace C-30 charge controller, with fuses and disconnects for safety. The loads in thus system are a Vestfrost refrigerator/freezer a small water pump, efficient lighting and a recording studio. The PV system could have provided ample power for these loads. but the users were unaccustomed to living with a renewable energy system and neglected to turn off loads when they weren't using them. After a couple of years of operating under a perpetually low- state of charge, the hatter. bank was suffering

Several home owners in the arc.: had already added an Air 303 to their PV systems. This hit the market in '95 am quickly became popular. It was inexpensive, sell regulating and maintenance free. My client decided this the best solution to supplemental charging of her batteries.

Since this installation, the Air 303 has been supplanted by an upgraded model, the Air 403, because there were some problems with regulation. This new, improved model boasts the same benefits as the 303, but in a more reliable and sturdier machine. It gives the batteries a trickle charge at as little as 15 mph of wind. It maxes out at about 35 mph, putting 600 watts of charge into the battery bank With an average wind speed of 25 mph. which is common at this location, it would require the addition of 15 to 20 more Solec nodules to equal the energy output of this machine. With a price tag of about $300 per solar module. and about $600 on the Air 403 Coot in pole and installation), it's easy to see why the addition of a small wind generator can he a very attractive option for someone living with a good wind resource.

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