Wind power

Micro wind turbines enjoyed a surge of interest when various DIY retailers starting promoting them, but actual performance has been disappointing often due to inappropriate siting of the devices and unrealistic claims.

In theory, micro wind units can deliver a useful amount of supplementary electricity into a building, but this should only be regarded as minimal ‘top up’ supply. There have been claims that this technology can provide as much as 30% of a household electricity needs, but this is not a common return and normally assumes that the property is positioned at a high altitude in an area of constant wind – 10% is more realistic.

The most convenient approach plugs the turbine directly into the ring main of the building to reduce the amount of electricity extracted from the grid. However, payback periods are lengthy due to the relatively high installation costs and permission from the local authority planning department is required.

Wind power has a greater role to play in large-scale electricity generation from offshore wind farms where it will clearly make a big contribution to future national energy supplies rather than in individual buildings.

Issues to consider:

Wind power is only relevant for a minority of properties and, generally, most effective at very large scale on the coast or offshore.

Long payback periods.

Planning permission is still an issue for urban sites as they are the subject of strong community objections.