A Personal Wind Turbine For $500: The Air-X

just remember, for small wind turbines like this on, the mast that it sets atop costs about twice as much as the turbine.
that said...GO WIND POWER...

They say that it needs a battery in order to function. Anyone know why it can't be set up directly to the home electricity/grid? Are all wind turbines made this way?

thanks

Jankcd, you can technically use the thing to power things directly, but the energy levels would be very inconsistant, which isn't so good for most electric things. The battery acts as a storage device as well as regulating the flow of electricity.

great site

some turbine models are made for charging batteries (like this one). others allow grid tie-in. i'm still not sure why some work one way and some work the other way. when you are tied into the grid, you don't need batteries and you power is not inconsistent because you are still tied to the grid. and if your state allows it, you can sell any excess power back to the power company. your meter actually spins backwards!

From what I have read itd depends on how it is hooked up. The turbine doesn't matter, if hooked to a battery, the excces energy is sent to the battery. If hooked to an grid the excces energy is sent to the grid. It deends on the rest of the system equipment setup you have.

I am looking for information. I have many questions. In looking toward the future I would like to consider having a windmill to provide energy for my future house. It says that this Air X will provide 400 kw of power (at its optimum performance). Would that be enough to power a 3000 sq ft house? How much land is needed to be able to purchase a windmill? Can it be used in conjuction with solar power? How much does it cost? What kind of permits would I need? Can I tie it directly into my house or do I need power company lines? I live in Mississippi, would it be worth having one? In undeveloped land I would have to dig my own well, would it be able to power that as well? If you have a brochure or link with any of this info I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

I am looking for a wind turbine to supply power to a electric pump for my pool. it runs on 230v AC and it has a 20 amp fuse. My property is rural and I wold estimate the wind to average about 10 mph. I have no mature tress yet to break the wind. Can anyone give me some ideas?

The reason that most municipalities do not allow personal wind turbines to be tied into the grid is because the power generated from a spinning motor (generator) is highly inductive. Inductance adds many negative effects to a power grid, and the province or state has to spend money in order to correct the power factor of the system (ie reduce the inductance). However, correcting the power factor of the energy produced by your wind turbine is relatively easy. The easiest and cheapest way is to connect the correct size of capacitor in parallel with the generator, however, you're local system operators dont seem to take this fact into account. Does any one know if the Air-X's new microcontroller offers power factor correction of any kind?

can i command this product to romania .
haw much costed tax to the transport to destination ?
haw many days the product received to destination ?
shory to my english
the number cont bank is ?
my frend go to Caraibe island to march 28 , is posible to comand products end give me the wind turbine

Hi , I'm looking for a small wind turbine 1000 watt and 2000 watt to be Palestine , could you please send me the price for a full set , looking to buy quantity , for resale

Could this be mounted on an unused TV antennae tower?

I have a cottage up north and it has a very high tower to support a TV aerial - which we don't use.

Looking to supply my fifthwheel. 2 A/C with heat pumps, Electric fireplace, furnance,reffer, satillite,washer /dryer and 50AMP service.
Need price of complete system I should be able to do most are all of the setup. Solar or Wind live in Texas lots of sun and wind.

The Air X & the new smaller (250W) Air "Breeze are both made for OFF grid or battery based systems.... they are not grid tie. I suppose you could if you wanted, but you're wasting time & money for 4-500Watts peak power. The SkyStream made by the same company, Southwest Windpower (www.windenergy.com) is a better choice. You'll drop $6,000 on the turbine but take a consistent "dent" out of your electric bill. It has an inverter IN the turbine head, so all you need is the turbine & to feed it into the grid (with permission). Do-it-yourselfers cannot do grid tie systems, unless you work for the utility company. The towers (and guyed wires) for the most turbines can be an equal cost to the turbine itself, unless you have an existing tower that can support the weight. (such as a old water windmill tower, or yes an old TV antenna) But the AirX fits atop any 1 7/8" pipe. The basic rule for wind is a 12mph average or better, clearing the tree line by 20 feet, for a 250 ft radius. The Air X is perfect for cabins, boats, or taking a room or two in your house off grid. Forget about heating your home electric heat with an AirX, baseboard heaters consume 250W per foot, so you'll need 2 of these for EVERY baseboard section in your house..... or 3 for your 1 Paul Harvey Eden Pure heater. see why I reccommend the SkyStream 1.8 kW

I have had an Air X Marine for around 18 months. It worked for around four weeks in that time. On getting it back from Southwest Windpower after warranty repairs it worked really well for a couple of weeks. The first reasonable amount of wind we had ( around 60 mph) the thing disintegrated. The braking mechanism failed, it cooked, and flew off the mast , leaving the holding brackets and slip rings behind. Since then I can't get Southwest to respond to mails.

What I would like to know about, is the danger factor, regarding wind turbine generators. I know that years ago, a lot of the design of the turbines included devices to furl the tail, (or it was done manually), and centrifugal weight mechanisms to turn the blades out of the wind. What prevents a turbine from taking off and flying off the tower, or destroying itself? Is it a disc brake set-up, or some other device? I read one comment where an Air-X turbine destoyed itself in a 60 mph wind. Was this installer error, or defective parts? I guess whatI'd like to know is are they safe for the neighborhood, or will the folks get a scare from a flying blade or other parts? Thanks in advance for the info. Don

An Air-x turbine can be grid-tied if you have the right equipment. All you need are two good 12 volt batteries, a 24-volt Air-x and a small grid-tie inverter. Go to http://enviro-techs.com and look for their 200 watt grid-tie inverter. I have a 12 volt air-x, 2 batteries, and the same inverter. What I have to do is hook the turbine up to the batteries in parallel to charge them. Then I leave the turbine hooked up to one battery, hook up the inverter to the two batteries wired in series, and plug the inverter into the wall. The inverter requires an input of 17-28 volts and at least 30 watts. It was built to be directly connected to 12 volt solar panels.

For the people asking about why you can't just plug this in and run things off of it here in the U.S. we have a 60hz grid and this little turbine would have to be able to rotate fast enough to make 60hz a sec so they use a converter system with batteries or capaciters. The voltage is rectified (ac-dc) and charges batteries/capaciters to whatever rating is needed then released (inverter) in positive/negative fashion to create a sine wave to get 60hz. Depending on the number of poles will give you an idea of the rpms needed to achieve 60hz.

Most of the questions and comments I read here can be answered by reading the Information provided by the manufacturer. Go to SouthWest wind powers website and do your homework. "Product Info". There are somethings that you just can't change. The unit is designed for Battery charging and that is what it should be used for. That will be its most efficent use. The thing will only give you 10 to 20 watts on average what the heck are you going to do with that much power. Light one security light in the driveway? But if your experimenting with wind great go ahead.
When it comes to towers, the City dwellers have a problem. The American Wind Energy Ass. has already set itself up as the authority and set guidelines for installation of home turbines. When City Councils or Zoning planning Depts. ( Who don't know anything) look at the request for the first time they go to the AWEA for guidelines. 1/2 acre 60ft towers, no guy line near property line ecetra.. Your screwed. But no one I mean NO ONE will believe you when you notice that there is a MICRO WIND in your yard or roof top or what ever that blows consistantly and you want to tap into that energy. Where the Air X or Air Breeze will work great.....

PS. How do you know the amout of energy your selling back to the Power Company. Does the Meter count unit for unit or do they change the amount you sell like maybe 1.5 watts back but pay you for only one. Who's watching the power Company or do you trust them? Do you pay INCOME TAX on the Money you make by sellling it back or is it Barter??