Stand-Alone

Wind
Energy
systems
A Buyers Guide

Natural Resources
Canada

Ressources naturelles
Canada

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Stand-Alone Wind Energy Systems: A Buyers Guide

Text prepared by Marbek Resource Consultants and SGA Consulting for the Renewable and
Electrical Energy Division, Energy Resources Branch of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).
The text builds upon an earlier version by Mr. Marc Chappell of MSC Enterprises and
Mr. Raj Rangi of the CANMET Energy Technology Centre.

Important Note
The aim of this publication is to provide guidance to readers who wish to assess the benefits and
risks of buying and installing a small-scale wind energy system. Because the subject is complex, and
the decision to purchase or install a system depends on many variables, this guide alone does not
provide sufficient information to evaluate fully all the aspects of a potential system. The guide is
also not intended to serve as a how to manual for the installation, operation and maintenance
of a system. In all cases, qualified advice and assistance to supplement the information provided
here should be sought.
Prospective buyers should consult local utility and government agencies to ensure that proposed
installations will meet all relevant electrical codes, building and site regulations.
Natural Resources Canada assumes no liability for injury, property damage, or loss from using
information contained in this publication. This guide is distributed for informational purposes
only and does not reflect the views of the Government of Canada nor constitute an endorsement
of any commercial product or person.

Recycled
paper
Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2003
ISBN 0-662-37706-0
Cat. No. M144-50/2004E

Aussi disponible en franais sous le titre de : Les systmes oliens autonomes : Guide de lacheteur.

Table of

Contents

About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1

The Power and Potential of the Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

How m u ch en ergy is in th e win d ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Harn essin g th e Win d s En ergy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Different Types of Wind Energy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Non Grid -Con n ected System s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Grid -Con n ected System s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

System Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Win d Tu rbin es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Towers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Balan ce of System (BOS) Com p on en ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using Wind Energy to Pump Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Mech an ical Water Pu m p in g Win d m ills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Win d -Electric Water Pu m p in g System s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

How to Plan a Simple Stand-Alone Electric System . . . .

Step 1: Assess You r Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Step 2: How m u ch En ergy d o you Req u ire? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Step 3: Size a Win d Tu rbin e an d Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Step 4: Select Balan ce of System (BOS) Eq u ip m en t . . . . . . . .

Hybrid Wind Energy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How m u ch d oes th e system cost? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Com p are th e Altern atives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Usin g Sim p le Payback to Evalu ate a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Other Issues to Consider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Buying a Wind Energy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Exp erts Can Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Selectin g a Su p p lier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

10

Installing, Operating and Maintaining Your System . . .

In stallation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Com m ission in g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Op eration an d Main ten an ce (O&M) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11

Need More Information? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

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Appendices
Ap p en d ix A, Typ ical Power Ratin gs of Ap p lian ces an d Eq u ip m en t . .
Ap p en d ix B, Worksh eet #1. An n u al En ergy Con su m p tion . . . . . . . . .
Ap p en d ix C, Worksh eet #2. Selectin g BOS Eq u ip m en t . . . . . . . . . . .
Ap p en d ix D, Worksh eet #3. Costin g Estim ates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ap p en d ix E, Worksh eet #4. Dealer In form ation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ap p en d ix F, Usin g Net Presen t Valu e (NPV) to Evalu ate a Project an d
Com p arin g Un it Costs of En ergy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Reader Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

About

this Guide

Th is bu yers gu id e to stan d -alon e

win d en ergy system s will h elp
you d ecid e if win d en ergy is
a viable op tion for you . Th e
gu id e will:

give you som e very basic

th eory on h ow win d
en ergy works

give you p oin ters to

d eterm in e h ow m u ch
p ower you n eed

h elp you d o a rou gh assessm en t of wh eth er win d en ergy

will fill th ose p ower n eed s

in trod u ce you to som e of

th e com p on en ts of a win d
en ergy system

ou tlin e h ow to d eterm in e if
win d en ergy m akes econ om ic
sen se for you r circu m stan ces

give you som e p ractical

exam p les of win d en ergy
system s

Th is gu id e is n ot in ten d ed to be
a h ow-to in stall a win d en ergy
system . Nor d oes it p rovid e you
with en ou gh in form ation to fu lly
evalu ate wh eth er win d en ergy
is righ t for you r circu m stan ces.
Th ese system s are com p licated ,
an d req u ire som e exp ertise to
set u p an d m ain tain p rop erly. A
q u alified p erson will be req u ired
to d eterm in e th e feasibility of th e
system , its d esign an d its set u p .
Before you m ake an y bu yin g
d ecision , con su lt you r local
u tility an d govern m en t agen cies
to en su re th at you r p rop osed
in stallation m eets th e req u ired
electrical cod es, bu ild in g regu lation s an d site regu lation s.

1. The Power and Potential of the Wind

A very old power source is
one of the power resources
of the future
How much energy is in the
wind and how to get it out
Win d is a very com p lex
p rocess wh ich can be d escribed
very sim p ly.

Peop le h ave been cap tu rin g th e

en ergy con tain ed in th e win d s
m ovem en t for h u n d red s of years.
Du tch -style win d m ills were first
u sed in th e 12th Cen tu ry, an d by
th e 1700s, h ad becom e a m ajor
sou rce of p ower in Eu rop e. In
North Am erica, farm ers ad op ted
win d m ill tech n ology to p u m p
water abou t a h u n d red years ago.
Tod ay, th e tu rn in g rotors of a
win d en ergy system can still be
u sed to ru n p u m p s, an d to ru n a
gen erator to gen erate electricity.
Th e win d is a ren ewable en ergy
sou rce, con tin u ou sly gen erated
or rep len ish ed by th e forces of
n atu re. Ren ewable en ergy tech n ologies, su ch as win d en ergy
system s an d solar p h otovoltaic
(PV) system s, wh ich u se su n ligh t,
con vert ren ewable resou rces
in to u sable form s of en ergy
th at can com p lem en t or rep lace
con ven tion al en ergy sou rces.

Th e su n h eats th e earth at d ifferen t rates d ep en d in g on wh eth er

an area is below clou d s, in d irect
su n ligh t, or covered with water.
Th e air above th e warm er areas
h eats u p , becom es less d en se, an d
rises. Th e risin g air creates a low
p ressu re area. Cooler air from
ad jacen t h igh er p ressu re areas
m oves to th e low p ressu re areas.
Th is air m ovem en t is win d .

Figure 1. Wind is caused by movement of air.

Can ad a is a large cou n try with

a h u ge win d en ergy p oten tial.
Tap p in g in to th is p oten tial
will h elp d ecrease th e am ou n t
of green h ou se gases em itted by
con ven tion al sou rces of en ergy.
Mod ern large win d en ergy in stallation s are p op p in g u p across
th e Can ad ian lan d scap e. Th ese
win d farm s u se an array of
win d tu rbin es, each gen eratin g
arou n d 600 kilowatts, an d are
h ooked to th e m ain electrical
grid . W h ile th is is a p rom isin g
tech n ology, it wou ld still take
1,500 of th ese large tu rbin es to
m atch th e ou tp u t of on e CANDU
reactor. On th e oth er h an d , if
rep lacin g an oil or coal gen erator,
ju st on e of th ese tu rbin es cou ld
elim in ate over 1,000 ton n es of
carbon em ission s p er year.

Th is gu id e is aim ed at th ose
wh o are con sid erin g a win d
en ergy system to su p p ly en ergy
to th eir h om es, farm s, cottages
or bu sin esses. In m ost cases, su ch
sm all system s h ave cap acities in
th e 100 watt to 25 kilowatt ran ge.
At th e low en d of th is scale,
en ough electricity is gen erated
to run a few ligh ts, a com m un ication s radio or en tertain m en t
equipm en t. At th e h igh er en d,
m an y of th e electrical n eeds of
farm operation s or in stitution al
buildin gs could be m et. Som ewh at
larger system s could also supplem en t m un icipal n eeds an d supply
power to rem ote com m un ities.
W h ile th e tested tech n ology of
d irect m ech an ical work, su ch as
p u m p in g water, will be tou ch ed
u p on in th is gu id e, we will focu s
on electrical gen eration .

Measuring Wind Speed

Wind speed is measured by an instrument called an anemometer (Figure 2) which
turns faster as the wind blows harder on it. A data logger can be used to record
instantaneous observations of wind speed, or to store a long term record for later
analysis. A wind vane indicates the direction of the wind.
Wind speed is generally reported in kilometres per hour (km/h) or in metres
per second (m/s): 1 m/s = 3.6 km/h. Direction is indicated in degrees azimuth
or compass points.

Figure 2. An anemometer.

How much energy

is in the wind?
On e of th e first step s in determ in in g if a win d en ergy system
is feasible is fin din g ou t h ow
m u ch win d en ergy is available.
To do th is, win d sp eeds are
m easu red over a p eriod of tim e,
m akin g n ote of th e am ou n t of
tim e th e win d blows at variou s
sp eeds. From th is, an average
an n u al win d sp eed is calcu lated. A
win d en ergy system u su ally n eeds
an average an n u al win d sp eed of
at least 15 km / h to be p ractical.

m ost often at th e sp eed corresp on din g to th e h igh est p oin t on

th e cu rve. In th e Rayleigh distribu tion , th e m ost freq u en t win d
sp eed is abou t 75 p ercen t of th e
average an n u al win d sp eed.
Featu res on th e grou n d will
im p act th e sp eed of th e win d.
Hills, ridges an d valleys can block
th e win d or create u n desirable tu rbu len ce for a win d en ergy system .
Air m ovem en t is also slowed by
friction close to th e grou n d. As
you m ove h igh er, win d sp eed
in creases. For m ost op en sp aces,
win d sp eed in creases 12 p ercen t
each tim e th e h eigh t is dou bled.
Locatin g a win d en ergy system on
a h ill, an d on a tower will in crease

It is also im p ortan t to kn ow
th e variation in win d sp eed.

A sm all in crease in win d sp eed

leads to a large in crease in th e
am ou n t of en ergy available
(becau se volu m es of air are bein g
m oved, th e en ergy available in th e
win d is p rop ortion al to th e cu be
of th e win d sp eed).

Harnessing the
Winds Energy
A win d en ergy system is sim ply a
m eth od of extractin g th e en ergy
from th e win d an d con vertin g it
in to useful en ergy. Th is con version
can be to m ech an ical en ergy, wh ere

Hours per Year

2 Vave
Vave
.75 Vave

50

75

100

150

200

250

Percentage of Average Wind Speed

As it tu rn s ou t, th e win d is alm ost

n ever calm , an d rarely exceeds
twice th e an n u al average sp eed,
an d th en on ly briefly. If you call
in an exp ert to assess th e am ou n t
of win d en ergy at you r site, on e
assessm en t tool will be in th e
form of a win d sp eed distribu tion
cu rve. Th is is ju st a ch art of th e
n u m ber of h ou rs th e win d blows
at variou s sp eeds. Th e Rayleigh
cu rve rep resen ts a typ ical distribu tion (Figu re 3). Th e win d blows

th e am ou n t of win d en ergy available.

Figure 3. Annual Average Wind Speed (Vave)

The high point of the curve is the speed at which the wind blows most often.
Such a graph is called a wind speed distribution curve the one shown above is
the Rayleigh distribution.

Wind Speed
Conversions
Wind speeds are often measured in
metres per second but, for simplicity,
we will refer to wind speeds in
kilometres per hour.
m/s

km/h

14.4

21.6

28.8

10

36.0

12

43.2

14

50.4

16

57.6

You can n ot rely on th e win d , so

som e ap p lication s will req u ire a
battery system to store electricity,
wh ile som e will be su p p lem en ted
with a d iesel, gas or p rop an e
p owered gen erator wh ich op erates
wh en th e win d is n ot blowin g.

th e win d turn s a rotor wh ich drives

a m ech an ical device such as a gear
or lever system run n in g a water
pum p. Th e con version can also be
to electrical en ergy, wh ere th e rotor
run s a gen erator.

Swept
Area of
Blades

A basic win d en ergy system con sists of a tu rbin e (a p rop eller-like

rotor, a gear box an d a gen erator),
a tower, an d a Balan ce of System
(BOS) p ackage. Com p on en ts of
a BOS p ackage vary, an d will be
d iscu ssed fu rth er in Ch ap ter 3.

Typ ically, win d sp eed s greater

th an 15 km / h are n eed ed before
a win d en ergy system can begin
to gen erate electricity. Th is is
kn own as th e cu t-in sp eed .

Th e cu t-ou t sp eed , u su ally

arou n d 70 km / h , is wh ere th e
system stalls to p rotect itself
from d am age.
Th e p recise am ou n t of en ergy
th at can be extracted from th e
win d d ep en d s on m an y factors,
wh ich are reflected in stan d ard
form u lae. Th e form u lae are
com p licated an d d ep en d on
su ch factors as th e variability
an d d istribu tion of win d sp eed ,
th e h eigh t of th e rotor an d th e
d en sity of th e air.
Th e d iam eter of th e area swep t
by th e rotor is also im p ortan t
(see box below an d Figu re 4).

About Wind Energy Theory

Energy production from the wind depends on several key factors:
The diameter of the area swept by the rotor blades (known as the swept
area). The rotor blades of a wind turbine sweep through a circular area. Because
we are dealing with circular area, increasing the rotor diameter, greatly increases
power output. For example, doubling the rotor diameter quadruples power output.

Rotor
Diameter

The speed of wind. To start with, the length of time the wind is blowing above
the cut-in speed is a critical factor. It is also important to remember that small
increases in wind speed lead to large increases in available power. A 10 percent
increase in wind speed can cause an increase in power of about 30 percent.
The variability of wind speed over time at the site. The total energy produced by a wind energy system over a period of time depends on the distribution
and variability of wind speeds over time. Not surprisingly, the annual average wind
speed at a site is more important than the speed at any given moment.
The density of the air. Wind power is directly related to air density, which
increases as the temperature drops (warm air rises). About 16 percent more
energy could be available at minus 20C than at plus 20C.

Figure 4. The Swept Area is

the area through which the rotor
blades travel.

The Betz Limit

When energy is extracted from the wind, its speed decreases. In theory, if you
took all the energy out of the wind, the wind would stop completely! In reality,
however, you cannot remove all the energy from the wind. The most energy that
an ideal wind energy system can extract is approximately 59 percent. This value
is known as the Betz limit.

2. Different
You need different
types of systems to
fill different needs
Systems range from very
small to grid-connected
Th is guide deals m ain ly with n on
grid-con n ected system s. Th at is,
th e win d en ergy system does n ot
con n ect to th e m ain electrical grid
(such as a m un icipal electrical
system ). Ch an ges in th e way
electrical utilities operate, h owever,
are leadin g to som e in n ovation s
wh ich we will touch on briefly
at th e en d of th is section .

Terminology Issues
Wind energy systems that generate
electricity are often referred to as
wind turbine generators (WTGs).
For the purposes of this guide, all
systems that recover and convert
wind energy will be referred to
as wind energy systems.

Non GridConnected
Systems
Sm all, n on grid-con n ected system s
can be stan d-alon e system s, wh ich
provide power solely from th e
win d, or h ybrid system s, wh ich use
a com bin ation of win d an d an oth er
source of en ergy wh en th e win d is
in sufficien t to m eet dem an d.
Stan d-alon e system s can gen erate
electrical or m ech an ical en ergy an d
often h ave a m eth od for storin g
en ergy wh en win d con dition s are
n ot good. A gen erator driven by
a win d en ergy system can produce
electricity wh ich can be stored
in batteries. Batteries are n ot
n ecessary if th e own er is willin g
to live with an un certain supply.

Types

of Wind Energy Systems

Mech an ical system s are relatively

sim ple. Th ey can be used to
aerate pon ds, pum p water for
livestock, irrigation or drain age,
an d to supply water to rem ote
h ouseh olds, farm s an d sm all
com m un ities. You can th in k of a
water tan k as storage in a m ech an ical system . More th an a m illion
m ech an ical system s are said to
be in use today, m ostly on farm s.
Hybrid system s are used in
location s wh ere th e win d m ay
fluctuate or wh ere users m igh t
n ot wan t to be totally depen den t
on th e win d. Hybrid system s can
in clude solar en ergy or diesel
gen eration . Th ese system s can
provide a reliable supply of en ergy
regardless of win d con dition s, but
can also be costly an d com plex.

system m ay also be an option if

th e cost of storage (i.e. batteries)
is h igh due to large loads.
Win d en ergy system s all h ave a
power ratin g kn own as th e rated
output. Th is is th e m axim um
power output of th e system in a
stron g win d un der ideal con dition s.
For p u rp oses of th is gu id e,
we will grou p system s in to
th e followin g categories:

Micro Systems:
100 watts or less
Th ey are u sefu l for:

p ortable system s for ligh tin g

an d com m u n ication s rad ios
at h u n tin g an d fish in g cam p s

sm all ap p lian ces on yach ts,

recreation al veh icles, in
cabin s an d cottages

Hybrid Systems for

Remote Communities

electric fen ces

rem ote area ligh tin g

Many remote communities depend

on diesel generators to provide electricity. If the site has good winds, a
wind turbine can also be installed
to help supply electricity for light
industry, water treatment, municipal
services, and other applications.
Whenever the wind speed is within
the turbine's operating range, the
wind-generated electricity flows to
the users and the diesel generator
has to supply less, reducing the
consumption of expensive fuel.

em ergen cy ligh tin g

trickle ch argin g

p on d aeration

n avigation al beacon s
an d ligh ts

com m u n ication s system s

ed u cation al p rogram s
an d d isp lays

Wind-diesel hybrid systems are operating in several remote Canadian

communities, including Kuujjuaq
(Quebec), Fort Severn (Ontario) and
Cambridge Bay and Igloolik (NWT).

Hybrid system s are especially useful

wh ere an existin g en ergy tech n ology, such as a gen erator, is already in
use an d fuel is expen sive. A h ybrid

Mini Systems:
100 watts to 10 kilowatts
Th ey are u sefu l for

sm all gas or d iesel gen erator

set back-u p

p u m p in g water for cattle

or for irrigation

cottage an d d om estic
water p u m p in g

n avigation al aid s

An oth er force at work is con cern

for th e en viron m en t. Clim ate
ch an ge an d Can adian in tern ation al com m itm en ts to reduce green h ouse gas em ission s h ave brough t
atten tion to th e carbon em ission s
from fossil fuel gen eration . Future
attem pts to reduce th ese em ission s
m ay en courage th e use of green
or n on -pollutin g electricity.
Natural Resources Can ada an d
En viron m en t Can ada are settin g
an exam ple by purch asin g green
power for th eir facilities in Alberta.

Students of Assiniboine College in Manitoba install an 850 watt turbine.

(Photo courtesy of Norwester Energy Systems Ltd.)

telecom m u n ication s system s

area an d em ergen cy ligh tin g

refrigeration an d ice m akin g

for retain in g q u ality of fish
at rem ote location s

water an d waste treatm en t

waste water p u m p in g

trash rack clean ers

(in irrigation system s)

cath od ic p rotection

alarm system s

Small Systems:
10 kilowatts to 50 kilowatts
Th ese are large en ou gh to su p p ly
th e electrical n eed s of a farm
or bu sin ess, an d cou ld serve as
an en ergy su p p ly for rem ote
com m u n ities or cam p s.

Grid-Connected
Systems
Can ad a is en terin g an era of
ch an ge with th e way in wh ich its
u tilities are regu lated an d h ow
th ey obtain or p u rch ase electrical
p ower from oth ers. New regu lation s will m ake electricity m ore
of a trad able com m od ity. Power
m arkets are n ow op en in g u p to
p rivate su p p liers. Th is m ean s
th at win d en ergy will h ave th e
op p ortu n ity to com p ete with
con ven tion al carbon -em ittin g
fossil fu el an d exp en sive n u clear
altern atives. Utilities in variou s
p rovin ces, for exam p le Alberta
an d On tario, are alread y m ovin g
in th is d irection .

Large win d tu rbin es th at feed

electricity d irectly in to th e u tility
grid are com m ercially available in
sizes ran gin g from 300 kilowatts
(kW ) to 1.5 m egawatt (MW ).
Th ese tu rbin es are typ ically
in stalled in arrays kn own as win d
farm s, alth ou gh in stallation s
of sin gle large tu rbin es are n ot
u n com m on . Win d farm s u su ally
becom e econ om ically viable
on ly at th e m egawatt scale.

Standards
The Canadian Standards Association
(CSA) Standard CSA-F418-M91 Wind
energy systems Interconnection to
the Electric Utility deals with these
issues, as well as related topics such
as requirements for installation and
operating specifications.

It is also tech n ically p ossible

to con n ect sm all-scale system s
to a u tility grid . Th is allows for
n et billin g. In m ost cases, h owever, it is u n econ om ical to d o so.
Certain local or p rovin cial u tilities, Hyd ro On e for exam p le, are
n ow workin g to m ake grid con n ection m ore attractive to
own ers of sm aller system s.

A utilitys key requirem en ts for

grid-con n ected win d en ergy
system s are safety an d th e quality
of th e power. Th e utility will
require th at th e system m eets
certain stan dards an d th at it poses
n o risk to th eir person n el or equipm en t. Quality defin es th e n eed
for th e electricity gen erated by
th e win d en ergy system to m atch
th e ch aracteristics of th e grid
electricity. Th is will avoid dam age
to sen sitive electron ic equipm en t.
For sm all grid-con n ected win d
en ergy system s, power quality
problem s are rarely a cause for
real con cern . Oth er issues to
con sider are of a legal an d
con tractual n ature, an d require
specialized atten tion .

Profile of a 25 kW Wenvor-Vergnet wind turbine.

(Photo courtesy of Wenvor Technologies Inc.)

As each u tility h as a d ifferen t

p olicy for grid con n ection s,
th ose in terested sh ou ld con tact
th e cu stom er relation s or bu sin ess
office at th e local u tility for
fu rth er in form ation .

3. System Components
The components you need
depend on the job you
are doing

th e tower eith er h as to com e

down , or th e service tech n ician
h as to go up.

Help in reading technical

specifications

Th e gen eratin g eq u ip m en t in
a VAW T is at grou n d level, bu t
VAW Ts req u ire a lot m ore sp ace
to be cleared for gu y wires.

Wind Turbines

Because an y win d turbin e m ay be

exposed to h igh win ds, rain , sn ow,
sun , ice, an d even salty air, its parts
sh ould be m ade of tough , durable
an d corrosion -resistan t m aterials.
A well-built an d well-m ain tain ed
t u rbin e sh o u ld h ave a life
exp ect an cy of 20 years or m ore.

Th e win d tu rbin e rotor is on e of

th e m ost visible p arts of a win d
en ergy system , bu t th eres m ore
to th e tu rbin e th an ju st th e rotor.
Th e m ost fam iliar turbin e is th e
h orizon tal axis win d turbin e,
kn own as a HAW T. Th e m ain
propeller-like rotor h as an axis
th at is parallel to th e groun d,
an d th erefore h orizon tal to th e
win d. A vertical axis win d turbin e,
VAW T, h as an axis perpen dicular
to th e flow of th e win d.

Rotor
Th e rotor con sists of blades with
specially sh aped, aerodyn am ic surfaces. Wh en th e win d blows over
th e blades, th e rotor turn s, causin g
th e rotation of th e drive train an d
gen erator. Th e blades sh ould be

AC/DC?

Gear
box

Rotor
height
(H)

Rotor

Generator
Hub
height

Tower

Hub
height

Tower
Guy Wire
Gear box

(HAWT)

10

Gen erators an d altern ators p rod u ce electricity from th e rotation

of th e tu rbin e m otor. A gen erator
p rod u ces Direct Cu rren t (DC)
p ower or, as an altern ator, it
p rod u ces Altern atin g Cu rren t
(AC) p ower. Most sm all win d tu rbin es u sed for battery ch argin g
system s u se altern ators gen eratin g
AC p ower wh ich is con verted to
DC for th e batteries.

Rotor
Diameter
(D)

Rotor

Rotor
Diameter
(D)

Th e d iam eter of th e rotor blad es

d eterm in es h ow m u ch p ower is
gen erated by th e system . Th ere
are u su ally two or th ree blad es.
Th ree blad es red u ces th e m ech an ical stresses on th e system , bu t
in creases th e cost of th e rotor.

Generator/Alternator

Tu rbin es con sist of several

su b-com p on en ts (Figu re 5):

HAW Ts are m ost com m on in sm all

application s, an d can be placed
on a tower wh ich does n ot require
a large area. If servicin g h as to
be don e to a HAW T, h owever,

ligh t-weigh t, stron g an d durable

to with stan d th e elem en ts. Th ey
are usually con structed of com posites of fibreglass, rein forced
plastic or wood. Th e turbin e
sh ould also be design ed to preven t
th e rotor from turn in g too fast
durin g stron g win ds.

Generator

(VAWT)

Figure 5. HAWTs and VAWTs: Horizontal and Vertical Axis Wind Turbines.

Direct Current (DC) is a flow of electricity in one direction. Alternating

Current (AC) flows first in one direction, then in the other. Alternating
Current is used in household electricity because of ACs ability to be transmitted over long distances with minimum loss. DC, however, loses energy
the greater the distance transmitted.
You do not need to know the physics,
suffice it to say that the current coming from a battery is DC, while the
current coming from a wall outlet is
AC. Typically, DC-powered appliances
run at lower voltages than AC.

Gearbox
Rotor with
Blades

Generator/Alternator

Optional BOS
(Balance of System)
Equipment

Tailvane
(Yaw Mechanism)

DC to AC Inverter
Nacelle
Battery
Disconnect

Lead/Acid Batteries

Gasoline/Diesel
Generator

Wind Turbine
Disconnect

Tower

Figure 6. Wind energy system components.

Gearbox

Tailvane (Yaw System)

Man y turbin es, particularly th ose

above 10 kW, use a gearbox to
m atch th e rotor speed to th at of
th e gen erator. Most m icro an d
m in i system s h ave th e gen erator/
altern ator rotatin g at th e sam e
speed as th e rotor an d do n ot
n eed a gearbox.

A yaw system align s th e HAW T

with th e win d . Most m icro
an d m in i system s u se a sim p le
tail van e th at d irects th e rotor
in to th e win d . In som e system s,
th e rotor is d own win d of th e
gen erator, so it n atu rally align s
with th e win d . Som e yaw system s
can be offset from th e vertical
axis to regu late rotor p ower an d
sp eed . Sp ecial release m ech an ism s
can u se th e yaw system to tu rn
HAW Ts ou t of d an gerou sly
h igh win d s.

Nacelle
Th is is an en closu re wh ich
p rotects th e gearbox, gen erator
an d oth er com p on en ts from
th e elem en ts. It is rem ovable
to allow for m ain ten an ce.

Control and
Protection Systems
Con trol system s vary from
sim p le switch es, fu ses an d battery
ch arge regu lators to com p u terized
system s for con trol of yaw system s
an d brakes. Th e sop h istication of
th e con trol an d p rotection system
varies dep en din g on th e ap p lication of th e win d tu rbin e an d th e
en ergy system it su p p orts.
It is im p ortan t to kn ow som e key
term s u sed in d escrip tion s an d
sp ecification s of win d tu rbin es.
On a ch art on th e n ext p age, we
h ave ou tlin ed term s for a typ ical
m in i DC gen eratin g tu rbin e
th at m igh t be fou n d in a m an u factu rers literatu re.

11

Specification Sample
Data

Importance

Units

Rated Output

600 W

Maximum power output (usually rated at about

12 to 15 m/s or 4050 km/h), used to size
wiring and controls for maximum current.

Watts or kW

Rated Wind Speed

40 km/h

Speed at which rated output is produced.

kilometres/hour (km/h) or
metres/second (m/s)

Output Voltage

12 or 24
Volts DC

Determines what type of equipment

can be used or operated.

may be AC or DC

Cut-in Speed

11 km/h

Wind speed at which the turbine

starts to generate power.

kilometres/hour (km/h)
or metres/second (m/s)

Cut-out Speed

45 km/h

Wind speed at which the turbine turns away

from the wind or stalls to protect itself from
damage and stops producing power.

kilometres/hour (km/h)
or metres/second (m/s)

Blade Diameter

2.5 m

Overall diameter of rotating blade, one of the

main factors in determining power generated.

metres (m)

Number of Blades

Most common is three, but sometimes

two or four are used.

System Weight

20 kg

Weight of blades and generator/alternator,

to be lifted to top of tower.

kilograms (kg)

Power Curve

n/a

A graph of power output vs. wind speed;

required for an estimate of energy production.

Watts at wind speeds in

metres/second (m/s)

Warranty Period

2 years

Typically one to three years.

year

Towers
Th e tower h olds th e turbin e in th e
path of th e win d an d is th erefore
an in tegral part of a win d en ergy
system . Make sure th e tower is
properly en gin eered to h an dle
th e system . Towers sh ould be able
to with stan d ligh tn in g strikes,
extrem e win ds, h ail an d icin g.
On ly towers ap p roved by tu rbin e
m an u factu rers sh ou ld be u sed .
Oth erwise, th e warran ty on
th e tu rbin e m ay be in valid .
Several typ es of towers are
available:
Gu yed towers are econ om ical
an d very stron g wh en p rop erly
in stalled . Th e gu y wires req u ire
sp ace arou n d th e base of th e
tower so th ey can be p rop erly
12

The Importance
of Tower Height
Because winds increase and become
less turbulent with height above the
ground, and power output increases
substantially with wind speed, increasing tower height from 10 to
50 metres can double the wind
energy available.

an ch ored . Th e towers con crete

fou n d ation m u st h ave its own
secu re an ch or to with stan d th e
m axim u m p u ll on th e wires.
Fou n d ation s sh ou ld be p laced
below th e frost lin e; san d y an d
p oorly d rain ed areas can be a
p roblem . Bu ild in gs, trees, an d
even th e lay of th e lan d m ay
n ot p erm it gu y wires.

Tilt up towers are often used for

sm aller system s because th ey provide for safe m ain ten an ce of th e
turbin e. Tilt up towers allow assem bly of th e win d turbin e wh ile th e
system lies on th e groun d. Th e
tower is th en erected by a win ch or
h eavy veh icle. Tilt up towers can be
lowered for m ain ten an ce (Figure 7).
Self su p p ortin g towers ten d to
be m ore exp en sive becau se of
th e h eavier m aterials n ecessary in
th eir con stru ction . Th ey d o n ot
h ave gu y wires, so th e fou n d ation
n eed s to be m ore su bstan tial.
Certain m icro system tu rbin es,
su ch as th ose for recreation al
p u rp oses an d cottages, can be
m ou n ted on a sim p le rigid p ole.

batteries h ave low-voltage cu t-offs

to p reven t a excessive DOD.
Th ere are m an y kin ds of suitable
batteries for win d en ergy system s.
Deep disch arge lead acid batteries
are usually th e m ost econ om ical for
win d en ergy system s. Car batteries
(lead acid SLI startin g, ligh tin g
an d ign ition batteries) do n ot
h ave a h igh DOD an d will fail prem aturely if used in a win d system .
For su itable batteries, ch eck
th e box below.
Figure 7. Tilt-up towers tilt down to ground level, where the wind generator
can be easily installed and serviced.

Balance of
System (BOS)
Components
Dep en d in g on you r ap p lication ,
you will n eed ad d ition al eq u ip m en t an d m aterials to p rovid e
electricity at th e req u ired voltage
an d cu rren t. Th is eq u ip m en t
is referred to as th e Balan ce of
System (BOS). Th e m ajor BOS
com p on en ts are batteries, th e
in verter an d , if you are u sin g
on e, a fossil fu el gen erator
(see Figu re 6 on p age 11).
Oth er BOS eq u ip m en t an d
m aterials in clu d e cables, switch es,
circu it breakers, m etres an d oth er
ap p aratu s n ot n ecessarily su p p lied
by th e m an u factu rer. You sh ou ld
h ave easy access to th e BOS
eq u ip m en t to d o battery m ain ten an ce, rep airs an d to collect d ata
su ch as th e n u m ber of kilowatt
h ou rs gen erated . You m ay wan t
to d ed icate an area in a worksh op , sh ed or h om e to h ou se
all th e BOS eq u ip m en t.

Batteries
Man y win d en ergy system s u se
batteries to su p p ly electricity
wh en th e win d is n ot ad eq u ate.
A system with ou t batteries
will on ly p rovid e p ower wh en
su fficien t win d is blowin g to
m eet th e d em an d .
Not all batteries are created equal,
an d term in ology for batteries can be
con fusin g. On e of th e m ost im portan t specification s for win d en ergy
system s is Depth of Disch arge
(DOD). Th is is th e am oun t of power
you can drain from a battery an d
still h ave it ch arge up again .
If you d rain 100 p ercen t of a
batterys p ower, you will rad ically
sh orten th e life of you r battery,
bu t batteries u sed for win d en ergy
system s are d esign ed to h ave
a fairly d eep d isch arge an d
still allow rech argin g. Usu ally
a 50 p ercen t d isch arge is u sed ,
alth ou gh som e batteries offer u p
to 80 p ercen t DOD. Th is m ean s
you can safely d isch arge 80 p ercen t of th e batterys p ower with ou t sh orten in g battery life. Man y

Deep Discharge
Batteries for Wind
Energy Systems
Flooded cells are the most common type of battery; they have
removable caps for adding distilled
water, are low cost, have long life,
and will withstand overcharging.
Sealed flooded cells are maintenance-free; they do not require
water; they can be damaged by
overcharging.
Recombinant flooded cells do
not require water; they are more
expensive, and can be damaged by
overcharging, but will not spill acid.
Gelled electrolyte cells do not
require water, are more expensive,
can be damaged by overcharging,
can be mounted in various positions, and will not spill acid.

Th e size of your battery system is

also im portan t. It m ay be tem ptin g to buy a sm all battery capacity
to save m on ey, but th is will likely
lead to a deep disch arge an d early
battery replacem en t. If batteries
are sized correctly for th e system ,
th ey sh ould last th ree to five years.
Som e very h igh quality large cells
can last up to 15 years.

13

It is recom m en d ed th at batteries
be con n ected in series. Con n ection s in p arallel m ay cau se
d am age becau se of d ifferen t
states of ch arge am on g th e
in d ivid u al battery cells.
Typ ical sp ecification s on batteries
are exp lain ed in th e ch art below.

Inverters
En ergy stored in batteries is
available as DC p ower. Som e
ap p lian ces an d eq u ip m en t are
d esign ed an d bu ilt to ru n on
DC p ower. Cam p in g, boatin g
an d recreation al veh icle eq u ip m en t an d ligh ts are u su ally
d esign ed to be ru n from DC
p ower, becau se th ey are d esign ed
to be ru n from a battery.
An y electrical applian ce in your
h om e, h owever, m ust use AC power.
An in verter con verts th e DC
p ower in th e battery to AC p ower.
In th e con version p rocess, abou t
10 p ercen t of en ergy is lost.

Watt?
You do not have to know the definitions of the electrical units used in the text,
nor do you need to know how they relate to each other mathematically, but
it is helpful to know what each represents:
Amp: A short form for ampere. It is a measure of electrical current. Think
of it as speed, i.e. the rate of electrical flow. Wiring is rated according to how
many amps it can carry.
Volt: If an ampere is speed, a volt can be thought of as pressure. Electricity can
not move through a wire without something pushing it. That push is measured
in volts.
Watt: When you are looking at how much capacity you need for your wind
energy system, this is the number that is really important. Wattage is power.
The three measurements are related, and if you need to know the math, the
number of Watts available in a circuit can be found by multiplying the Volts by
the Amps. For example, a typical household circuit may be 15 Amps. Since your
house is supplied at 115 Volts, the circuit has a little more than 1,700 Watts of
power available. If you plug in appliances that draw more than 1,700 Watts,
youll blow a fuse or trip the circuit breaker.

Th ere are d ifferen t kin d s o f

in vert ers. Ligh t d u t y in vert ers
(100 1,000 wat t s) are t yp ically
p o wered by 12 vo lt s DC an d
are su it able fo r ligh t s an d
sm all ap p lian ces su ch as

t elevisio n s, rad io s an d sm all

h an d t o o ls. Heavy d u t y in vert ers
(400 10,000 wat t s) can be
p o wered by a ran ge o f vo lt ages,
12, 24 o r 48 vo lt s DC, an d
can be u sed t o ru n ju st abo u t

Specification Sample

Importance

Cell Type

flooded

Specifies the operating characteristics,

charging voltages, and maintenance requirements.

Voltage

12 VDC
(Volts DC)

Specifies how many batteries in series are

needed to reach system voltage.

Volts DC (usually 2,
6, 12, 24 or 48)

Capacity

115 Ah
(20 hr rate)

Indicates how much energy is contained in the

battery, usually for a specific rated temperature
and an 8 or 20 hour discharge period; determines
how long the load can be maintained.

Amp-hours.
The number of amps load
multiplied by the number
of hours the load is applied.
(See explanation of Amps,
Volts, Watts, top of page)

Cycle Life

750 @
50% DOD

Specifies the number of battery cycles

(i.e. discharged, then recharged) before
capacity becomes inadequate.

Size

0.3 x 0.175
x 0.200

Indicates storage space required.

Length, width and height

(m3)

Weight
(including acid)

24 kg

A strong floor or sturdy racks will be necessary

for multiple batteries; weight determines if
one or two people can move the battery.

kg

14

Description

an yt h in g fo u n d in a h o m e
o r sm all bu sin ess.
Th ere is also th e q u estion of th e
q u ality of p ower com in g ou t of
th e in verter. If in verter literatu re
starts talkin g abou t tru e sin e
wave or m od ified sin e wave, it
m ean s th e p ower is h igh q u ality,
an d able to safely p ower sen sitive
electron ic eq u ip m en t su ch as
com p u ters an d laser p rin ters.
In verters are sop h isticated p ieces
of eq u ip m en t an d often p rovid e
a ran ge of oth er featu res beyon d
ju st con vertin g DC to AC. Man y,
for exam p le, featu re an au tom atic
starter for a gas or d iesel back
u p gen erator.

Generator Set (Genset)

for Hybrid Systems
Du rin g exten d ed p eriod s of low
win d , a back-u p gen erator is
req u ired if con tin u ou s p ower
is n eed ed . Th is gen erator m ay
be fu elled with gasolin e, d iesel
oil or p rop an e. Th e electricity
gen erated is u sed d irectly wh ere
req u ired , or in d irectly after first
ch argin g th e batteries.
An u n in terru p ted su p p ly of
p ower m ay req u ire a rem ote
start gen erator wh ich will kick
in au tom atically before battery
p ower is exh au sted . Th e start
sign al is typ ically p rovid ed by
th e system in verter. Not all
gen erators can be rem otely
started , an d n ot all in verters
su p p ort rem ote start.

Other BOS Components

The following components may be used with a wind energy system to fulfill
requirements for safety and specialized functions.

Battery Charger
Certain generators can be used to charge lead acid batteries. If the generator
does not have a battery charging output, a special battery charger is required.
Some inverters can act as battery chargers.

Rectifier
A rectifier converts AC power to DC power. Rectifiers are often used for battery
back ups in wind energy systems which have AC generators. The AC power the
generator produces has to be converted to DC power to charge the back up
batteries in times of strong winds.

Disconnect Switch
Disconnect switches, circuit breakers, fuses and other protective equipment
as recommended by the manufacturer and required by the electrical code are
important for the safe operation of the system. They electrically isolate the wind
turbine from the batteries and the batteries from the inverter and load. They
can also protect the system from damage caused by any number of things. A
disconnect switch allows maintenance or system modifications to be made safely.

Monitoring Equipment
Even the most basic BOS should include a method for monitoring the equipments operation. Standard monitoring equipment usually includes a voltmeter
for measuring battery voltage and depth of discharge, and an ammeter to
monitor energy production or use. More sophisticated monitoring equipment
includes alarms for system problems such as low or high voltage conditions.

Gen erators req u ire n ot on ly u p

fron t cap ital exp en d itu re, th ey
also req u ire fu el, p eriod ic m ain ten an ce, rebu ild in g an d even
rep lacem en t. W h ile th ey can be
an im p ortan t sou rce of p ower,
gen erators are also n oisy, create
p ollu tion an d req u ire storage
of flam m able fu els.

15

4. Using Wind Energy to Pump

Wind
Electric

Win d en ergy was used to pum p

water lon g before th e discovery
of electricity. Man y differen t
approach es to win d en ergy water
pum pin g are still in use aroun d th e
world today. Large win d powered
pum ps can provide sign ifican t
quan tities of water for irrigation
an d th e waterin g of livestock.
Much sm aller system s are adequate
to supply h ouseh old water.

Mechanical
Water Pumping
Windmills
Trad ition al water p u m p in g win d m ills u se a cran k m ou n ted on th e
rotor sh aft. Th ey typ ically h ave
m an y blad es on a relatively slow
tu rn in g rotor. Th e eq u ip m en t
ch an ges th e cran ks rotary m otion
to an u p -an d -d own m otion wh ich
d rives a p iston p u m p m ou n ted in
a well or p on d at th e base of th e
win d m ill. Th is series of action s
lifts th e water.
Mech an ical water p u m p in g win d m ills h ave th eir ad van tages an d
d isad van tages. Th ey ten d to be
reliable, easy to m ain tain (th ey
req u ire n o BOS com p on en ts) an d
reason ably p riced . Bu t th ey m ay
be lim ited in th eir ap p lication s
becau se th ey m u st be located
d irectly above th e well or p on d ,
even if th e water m ay be req u ired
som e d istan ce away.

16

Wind
Mechanical
Nacelle
Rotor

Powerhead

Tower
Pump Rod
Transmission
Line
Controller and Pump
Intake
Water
Source

Sucker Rod
Well Casing
Pump Cylinder

Two tech n ologies u sed for p u m p in g water are m ech an ical water
p u m p in g win d m ills an d win d electric water p u m p ers. Both
are u sed m ostly in ru ral or
agricu ltu ral ap p lication s.

Tail Vane

Figure 8. Mechanical and Wind-Electric Water Pumping Wind Energy Systems.

Courtesy of CANWEA.

Wind-Electric
Water Pumping
Systems
Un like a m ech an ical system , a
win d-electric system does n ot h ave
to be located n ear th e source of
th e water. A win d en ergy system
powers an electric pum p, wh ich
m oves water from its source (a
well or pon d) to wh ere it is n eeded
(a livestock waterin g trough , pon d
or irrigation system ). Th e power
con sum ed by th e electric pum p
can be m atch ed to th e power
output of th e turbin e so th e
win d en ergy is used efficien tly.
Elect ric wat er p u m p in g syst em s
d o n o t req u ire elabo rat e BO S
co m p o n en t s, m ain ly becau se
bat t eries are n o t req u ired .
A reservo ir t an k fo r t h e wat er
serves as t h e en ergy st o rage
d evice.

An age-old technology
is simple and effective

Water

Mechanical water pumping

system.

5. How to Plan a Simple Stand-Alone Electric System

Once you have completed

the steps, you can move
to the next phase a
preliminary system design

Step 1: Assess
Your Site
You will n eed win d . A m eth od ical
an d well-reason ed assessm en t
of th e am ou n t of win d p ower
available is extrem ely im p ortan t.
Over- or u n d er-estim atin g th e
win d resou rces at a site can be
costly. Th ere are several ways
to go abou t estim atin g h ow
m u ch en ergy is available.
In gen eral, an an n u al average
win d sp eed greater th an 15 km / h
is n eed ed to con sid er a win d
en ergy system . Sp eed s h igh er
th an th at are d esirable.
Th e Atm osp h eric En viron m en t
Service (AES) of En viron m en t
Can ad a h as m easu red win d
sp eed s for h u n d red s of location s
in Can ad a. From th ese m easu rem en ts (always taken at 10 m etres
above th e grou n d ), th ey h ave
calcu lated th e an n u al average

win d sp eed for each site an d

p rod u ced a win d m ap of
Can ad a (Figu re 10).
From th e m ap , it is ap p aren t th at
th e win d iest areas in Can ad a are
alon g th e east an d west coasts,
som e p arts of th e far North an d
th e sou th ern Prairies.
AES h as also p u blish ed a set of
win d d ata rep orts for Can ad a.
Th ese rep orts con tain exten sive
in form ation on sp eed d irection
an d variation of win d s for six
d ifferen t region s. A local weath er
station can p rovid e in form ation
abou t a n arrower area an d m ay
even h ave d etailed region al
win d m ap s.
Th ese resources are a good place
to start your assessm en t, but you
will n eed m ore in form ation . For
exam ple, by con ven tion , win d
speeds are taken at 10 m etres
above th e groun d. Th e AES data
does n ot tell you about speeds
above 10 m etres. It also does
n ot tell you about th e m icrocon dition s th at m ay occur at th e
specific location you h ave in m in d.
In gen eral, win d tu rbin es sh ou ld
be in stalled in u n obstru cted , op en
areas with clear exp osu re to p revailin g win d s. If p ossible, fin d a

How Much Wind is Enough?

A wind energy system needs an average annual wind speed of at least 4 metres
per second (m/s) to be able to operate with any degree of efficiency.
Average Wind Speed

Wind Regime

Up to 4 m/s (about 15 km/h)

No good

5 m/s (18 km/h)

Poor

6 m/s (22 km/h)

Moderate

7 m/s (25 km/h)

Good

8 m/s (29 km/h)

Excellent

Following straightforward
steps, determine if it is
feasible to proceed with
a wind energy system

Figure 9. A small 25kW WenvorVergnet wind energy system in

Collingwood, Ontario, supplies
electricity to a rural residence.
(Photo courtesy of Wenvor
Technologies Inc.)

site n ear th e top of a h ill or rid ge,

becau se win d sp eed s in crease with
h eigh t above th e grou n d . Sitin g a
win d en ergy system on th e win d y
sid e of a h ill will p rovid e better
access to p revailin g win d s th an
sitin g it on th e sh eltered sid e of
th e sam e h ill (Figu re 11).
Con sid er m ore th an ju st th e
win d wh en con sid erin g a site.
For exam p le, th e d istan ce of th e
tu rbin e from wh ere th e electricity
will be u sed is im p ortan t. Th e
farth er you h ave to tran sm it th e
electricity, th e m ore exp en sive
th e system will becom e.

17

10

Mean Wind speed

15

20

15 20
10

km/h
Period 1967-1976
Elevation 10m

10

10
15
20
25
30

10

20

15

30

20
25
20

10

15

30
5

2025

20
20

25
20
15

10
15

20

10
20

The analysis is not valid at higher

elevations in mountainous areas

10

15
20
25

15

Figure 10. Annual average wind speed map of Canada. Courtesy of Environment Canada.

Wind Energy
Resource Maps
for Canada
Copies of the Environment Canada
report Wind Energy Resource Maps
for Canada (ARD-92-003-E) are
available from:
Gary Beaney
Climate Service Specialist
Canadian Climate Centre
4905 Dufferin Avenue
Downsview, Ontario
M3H 5T4
Telephone (416) 739-4328
Fax (416) 739-4446

18

25

On ce you h ave a ten tative site,

m on itor win d sp eed for several
m on th s. Th is is esp ecially im p ortan t if you r p relim in ary in form ation sh ows an n u al average
win d sp eed s n ear th e m in im u m
15 km / h . On -site m on itorin g
will p rovid e in form ation abou t
p eriod s of calm an d low win d .
Mon th ly or even sp ot read in gs
can be com p ared with th e
m on th ly d ata from AES.

Win d m on itorin g is worth th e

effort. It will h elp you d eterm in e
th e size of tu rbin e an d th e
am ou n t of battery storage
cap acity you ll n eed for you r
en ergy req u irem en ts.

10 m

100 m

Figure 11. Siting a wind energy system.

To review, an swer th ese q u estion s:

1. W h at is th e an n u al average
win d sp eed for you r site at a
set h eigh t above th e grou n d ?
2. How d oes th e average win d
sp eed vary with h eigh t?
3. W h at is th e freq u en cy an d
d u ration of win d sp eed s,
p articu larly th ose p eriod s
below cu t-in sp eed an d
above cu t-ou t sp eed ?
4. Is it worth p roceed in g?

Note:
This step is a go no-go
decision point.

Step 2:
How much
Energy do
You Require?
W h en you d eterm in e h ow m u ch
en ergy you req u ire, you are really
askin g two q u estion s. First, h ow
m u ch total en ergy d o you req u ire
over a year to op erate all th e
ap p lian ces an d eq u ip m en t you r
system will ru n ? Secon d , wh at
is th e p eak p ower req u irem en t?
W h at is it you wan t to ru n ?
You h ave to d eterm in e wh at it is
you exp ect to ru n with th e electricity gen erated by you r sm allscale win d en ergy system . Som e
h ou seh old ap p lian ces su ch as
water h eaters, cloth es d ryers,
stoves an d electric h eaters can
d raw a large am ou n t of p ower,
bu t d o so on ly in term itten tly.
Oth er ap p lian ces, su ch as refrigerators an d freezers d raw a large
am ou n t of electricity, an d th e
su p p ly m u st be reliable.

Ligh tin g, on th e oth er h an d, does

n ot require th at m uch power,
an d th e draw is fairly con sisten t.
Even so, it is best to look for th e
m ost efficien t lam ps an d fixtures.
Rem em ber th at fluorescen t lam ps
use far less electricity th an in can descen ts, last ten tim es lon ger, an d
give th e sam e am oun t of ligh t.
Screw-in com pact fluorescen t are
widely available. DC fluorescen t
are also available.
Rem em ber always th at savin g
a kW of en ergy is m ore costeffective th an p rod u cin g on e.
If you p lan to u se win d en ergy
to ru n system s on a farm ,
rem em ber to d istin gu ish between
eq u ip m en t req u ired to op erate
th e farm , an d th e en ergy req u irem en ts of th e h om e. Power n eed s
for farm in g eq u ip m en t vary
wid ely, esp ecially wh en it com es
to livestock waterin g, an d sh ou ld
be accou n ted for sep arately.

19

A Note About
Energy Efficiency

Worksheet #1.
Annual Energy Consumption (sample)

The more power you need, the

larger and more expensive the system will have to be. Try to minimize
power requirements as much as possible, because saving a kW usually
proves more cost-effective than
producing one. Where possible, use
the most energy efficient appliances
available. Natural Resources Canada
manages the Energuide appliance
labelling program that collects
energy consumption ratings for
major home appliances available
in Canada. To obtain information
on Energuide please contact
Canada Communications Group
at 1-800-387-2000.

Appliance/
Equipment

AC

4 24 watt
fluorescent
lamps

Estimating Annual
Electrical Energy
Requirements
You will n eed two p ieces of in form ation for th is estim ate. First,
you n eed to kn ow h ow lon g, in
h ou rs, each of you r ap p lian ces
will ru n . Secon d , you n eed to
kn ow h ow m u ch p ower each
ap p lian ce d raws.
Power is m easu red in watts. We
are all fam iliar with wattage of
ligh t bu lbs, bu t every p iece of
electron ic eq u ip m en t will h ave
an in d ication of h ow m u ch p ower
it d raws. Look on th e back of
you r television set, for exam p le,
an d you will fin d sp ecification s
in scribed on a p late at th e back.
A typ ical p ower d raw m igh t
be 90 watts.
If you h ave th e television
set on for two h ou rs a d ay,
every d ay of th e year, th ats
(365 d ays x 2 h ou rs) 730 h ou rs.

20

Rated
Wattage
(W)

Hours
per day

Hours
per
year

Annual Wh

yes

96

1825

175,200

water pump

yes

400

365

146,000

colour
television (14")

yes

90

730

65,700

250

1,095

273,750

high efficiency
refrigerator

DC

yes

Total Annual
Energy Consumption

Th e TV d raws 90 watts of p ower

for 730 h ou rs for a total an n u al
en ergy con su m p tion of (90 watts
x 730 h ou rs) 65,700 watt h ou rs.
In th e stan d ard m easu rem en t of
kilowatt h ou rs, th is is 65.7 kW h .
In th e back of th is gu id e,
Appendix A, Typical Power Ratings
of Appliances and Equipment, will
be h elp fu l in estim atin g an n u al
electrical en ergy req u irem en ts.
Th ere is also a sam p le worksh eet
at th e top of th is p age.

660,650 Wh
(661 kWh)

Look to th e fu tu re an d ch an gin g
en ergy req u irem en ts wh en d oin g
you r estim ate as well. Will you r
h ou seh old be exp an d in g or
sh rin kin g in size? How will
th is affect en ergy con su m p tion ?
(Keep in m in d th at you can take
you r win d en ergy system with
you if you relocate!)

Peak Power Consumption for a Home

Wind Energy System an Example
Appliance/Equipment

Power (watts)

4 x 24 watt lamps

96 W

small colour TV

90 W

portable phone

6W

clock

3W

iron

1,100 W

water pump (automatic)

350 W

high efficiency refrigerator

150 W

Total

1,795 W

Ch eck Appendix A, Typical Power

Ratings of Appliances and Equipment, at th e en d of th is gu id e
to n ote th e m ost p ower h u n gry
ap p lian ces wh ich m ay be op eratin g sim u ltan eou sly. Ad d u p th e
wattage to obtain th e p eak load .

Portable Remote Power system,

Canada Olympic Park, Alberta.
While not all systems are this
portable, you can take your
system with you when you
move. (Photo courtesy of
Norwester Energy Systems Ltd.)

Estimating Peak
Power Requirements
To en su re you h ave th e righ t size
of win d en ergy system , you n eed
to kn ow m ore th an ju st an n u al
electrical en ergy con su m p tion .
Man y ap p lian ces, su ch as refrigerators, d o n ot ru n con stan tly,
bu t cycle on an d off. Sim ilarly,
ligh tin g is n ot in con stan t u se,
n or is an electric iron , electric
sp ace h eater or m an y oth er
p ieces of eq u ip m en t.
To p rop erly size you r system ,
you m u st estim ate p eak p ower
con su m p tion . Even th ou gh it
is u n likely all you r eq u ip m en t
an d ap p lian ces will be tu rn ed on
at on ce, a p eak p ower estim ate
sh ou ld be an extrem e exam p le.
Con sid er, for exam p le, th at you
m igh t be watch in g television
with th e ligh ts on wh ile you d o
a few m in u tes of iron in g an d
th at you r water p u m p an d h igh
efficien cy refrigerator also tu rn
on au tom atically. Th is cou ld be
you r p eak load . An exam p le of
th is scen ario is given in th e table
on th e p reviou s p age.

Step 3:
Size a Wind
Turbine
and Tower
You sh ou ld n ow h ave an estim ate
of th e win d en ergy available at
you r site, an d an estim ate of h ow
m u ch en ergy you n eed . Sizin g
th e tu rbin e is a m atter of tryin g
to m atch th e two.

Helpful Hints
To obtain smooth airflow, the
tower should position the turbine
of a mini or a small system at 100
metres horizontally from the nearest
obstacle at turbine height (such
as larger trees or buildings), and
10 metres above any obstructions
which are closer.
Look at the manufacturers specifications for turbines to get an idea of
approximately how much energy
will be available given your sites
average annual wind speed. A
more precise estimate will depend
on the variability of the wind
speed over time.

Th is is also th e tim e to th in k
abou t towers. A h igh er tower
will be m ore exp en sive, bu t cou ld
give you r tu rbin e access to greater
win d en ergy. A sh orter tower
will req u ire a larger tu rbin e to
gen erate th e sam e am ou n t of
en ergy as a h igh er tower with a
sm aller, less exp en sive tu rbin e.

Th e typ e of tower you n eed will

d ep en d on you r site. Is th ere
room for th e tower gu y wire
an ch ors? Is a stan d -alon e tower
a m ore viable op tion ? Does th e
tower h eigh t allow th e tu rbin e
to op erate 10 m etres above
n earby obstru ction s?

Step 4: Select
Balance of
System (BOS)
Equipment
BOS eq u ip m en t d ep en d s en tirely
on th e an swer to th e earlier
q u estion , W h at is it you wan t to
ru n ? Will it req u ire p ower every
d ay, on d em an d ? Will it req u ire
AC power? Is th e power absolutely
req u ired 24 h ou rs p er d ay, every
d ay, all year? Let u s look at each
of th ese q u estion s in tu rn :
Do you need power
every day on demand?
If yes, yo u will req u ire bat t eries. Yo u will n eed t o kn o w wh at
size o f bat t ery best fit s yo u r syst em . Yo u sh o u ld h ave an exp erien ced win d eq u ip m en t d ealer
h elp yo u calcu lat e t h e am o u n t
o f bat t ery st o rage yo u n eed
becau se t h e est im at e is based
o n several fact o rs.
For exam ple, wh at is th e lon gest
period you can expect to be with out adequate win d? You will n eed
en ough battery capacity to run
your applian ces durin g th is period.
An exam ple of th is calculation is
sh own in th e box on th e n ext page.
Rem em ber also th at wh en th e
win d is blowin g, you r win d en ergy system m u st n ot on ly ru n you r
ap p lian ce an d eq u ip m en t, it m u st
gen erate en ou gh excess p ower
to rech arge you r batteries.
21

You also sh ou ld d eterm in e h ow

m u ch tim e you wan t to sp en d
m ain tain in g th e batteries. If
m ain ten an ce will be regu lar,
flood ed cell batteries are ap p rop riate. If n ot, a m ain ten an ce-free
battery wou ld be a better ch oice.
If th e an swer to th e q u estion is
n o, you r BOS req u irem en ts
will be m in or becau se th e tu rbin e
will p rovid e th e req u ired p ower.
Will AC power be required?
An y h om e, bu sin ess or factory
h ooked to th e electrical grid
n eed s AC p ower. However, DC
ap p lian ces, eq u ip m en t an d ligh tin g are read ily available, d esign ed
for u se in cottages, recreation al
veh icles, an d boats. Cottages,
for exam p le, cou ld h ave both AC
an d DC p ower, with DC ru n n in g
th e ligh ts an d a sm all water
p u m p . In th ese cases, th e system
will h ave sep arate DC an d AC
wirin g circu its an d fu ses or
circu it breakers.
If, h owever, th e win d en ergy
system will be ru n n in g eq u ip m en t or ap p lian ces d esign ed
to take AC p ower, you will n eed
an in verter. An in verter con verts
stored DC p ower (from a battery)
in to AC. Man y system s actu ally
u se two id en tical in verters to
in crease reliability an d im p rove
op eratin g efficien cy.
If you will n ot req u ire AC p ower,
you will n ot n eed an in verter.

22

Calculating Battery Storage Capacity

Battery capacity is measured in amp hours. Here is how you calculate how
many amp hours of battery capacity you will need.
From your earlier calculations on electrical requirements, you should have
an estimate, likely in watt hours, of how much energy you require each day.
Let us say it is 1,300 watt hours (1.3 kWh). Assume three days is the maximum
amount of time without adequate wind. You will require (1,300 watt hours x 3)
3,900 watt hours.
A typical battery supply would provide 24 volts. The battery specifications tell
you that this battery supply will allow for a 50 percent depth of discharge
(DOD). That means only one-half the total capacity is available without draining
the battery too far.
To find the number of amp hours needed, simply divide the watt hours
by the voltage. In this case, 3,900 watt-hours divided by 24 volts gives us
162.5 amp hours.
But remember, your battery capacity has to be twice this because you do
not want to draw more than 50% of the total capacity (i.e. the DOD is 50%).
Therefore, you need a battery supply rated at a minimum of 325 amp hours
(162.5 x 2) capacity. In fact, it is best to round this number up, say to
400 amp hours.

Is power absolutely required

24 hours per day, every day,
all year?
If th e an swer is yes, you sh ould
be plan n in g a h ybrid system wh ich
h as a back-up, fossil-fuelled gen erator. Fin d out m ore about h ybrid
system s in th e n ext ch apter.
Th e gen erator cou ld be started
m an u ally by th e op erator, or, if
u n in terru p ted p ower is req u ired ,
a rem ote start gen erator wou ld
be n ecessary. Th is works au tom atically wh en th e battery
voltage reach es a p re-set lower
lim it. Rem ote start gen erator
system s are m ore exp en sive.

If th e an swer is n o, th e com bin ation of win d tu rbin e an d back

u p batteries will be su fficien t.
We h ave in clu d ed Worksh eet #2.
Selectin g BOS Eq u ip m en t (at th e
back of th e gu id e) to h elp you
ch eck off th e BOS eq u ip m en t for
a p rop osed system . (If n ecessary,
refer to Ch ap ter 3 for d escrip tion s
of th e com p on en ts.)

Wind Energy in Use

A small stand-alone system installed in southern Alberta allows a farm
to operate independently of the grid. The farm had been connected
to the grid, but the owner wished to have autonomous power and
to reduce the environmental impact of his farm and home energy
use. The farms wind energy system supplies power to a residence
for a family of four, a machine shop, a water well and yard lights.
The peak load is about 5 kW. The wind map of Canada shows that
the region has a 18 km/h (5 m/s) annual average wind speed at
10 metres height.

Power is generated by a 10 kW wind turbine on an extra-tall

33 metre tower. Power from the turbine is rectified (i.e. converted
from AC to DC power) to 48 volts DC for storage in high quality
low maintenance gelled electrolyte cell deep discharge batteries
of 1000 Ah capacity. A 5 kW inverter then supplies 120 and
240 volts AC to the farm and house. To reduce peak loads and
electricity consumption, major energy consuming appliances the
stove, clothes dryer, furnace and water heater are fuelled by natural
gas. Additional equipment required to control the power safely
includes a transfer switch, battery charging controls, system monitor
and circuit protection. If the wind turbine has charged the batteries
and is still producing power, a dump load controller dumps (or
shunts) excess power to pre-heat water for the water heater.

A small stand-alone wind energy system can

supply power to both the farm and residence.
(Information and photo courtesy of Norwester
Energy Systems Ltd.)

This system is larger than a non-farming home would require as it provides power for both the home and farm.
The installed cost of the wind turbine, the tower, premium batteries and other BOS equipment was $60,000 (1997).
The farm is now free of utility cost increases and the power being consumed has little environmental impact.

23

6. Hybrid Wind Energy Systems

Hybrid systems provide a
reliable source of electricity
Some pointers to help you
assess whether a hybrid system might be your answer
If th e p relim in ary assessm en t in
th e last ch ap ter sh ows th at you
n eed reliable p ower 24 h ou rs a
d ay every d ay, a h ybrid system
sh ou ld be con sid ered . Hybrid system s d raw on m ore th an a sin gle
sou rce of en ergy, resu ltin g in a
reliable su p p ly of electricity. A
n u m ber of p ower sou rces can be
u sed in com bin ation with win d
en ergy: solar, gas or d iesel gen erators, an d even h yd ro p ower.

m en t (su ch as at a rem ote h om estead or for telecom m u n ication s

sites), to sm all ap p lication s (su ch
as for rem ote com m u n ity grid s).
It is likely n ot p ossible to bu y an
off-th e-sh elf h ybrid system th at
is righ t for you r ap p lication , an d ,
ju st as with stan d -alon e system s,
a carefu l assessm en t of req u irem en ts sh ou ld be m ad e before
you start sh op p in g.
Th e ru les for assessm en t of a
h ybrid system are sim ilar to
th ose for stan d -alon e system s,
bu t con sid er th e cost an d availability of th e oth er sou rce of
en ergy th at m akes u p th e h ybrid :

This remote radio repeater in

Kananaskis, Alberta uses solar
energy to produce electricity in
addition to wind. (Photo courtesy
of Norwester Energy Systems Ltd.)

Hybrid system s are far m ore com plex th an stan d-alon e system s
an d en tail m ore elaborate design
features. But, depen din g on your
situation , a h ybrid system can be an
attractive option . Th ey are depen dable, m ore en viron m en tally frien dly
th an fossil-fuelled gen erators an d,
often , are m ore econ om ical.
Hybrid system s are as varied as
th e n eed s of win d u sers, from
m icro an d m in i ap p lication s,
wh ere d ep en d ability is a req u ire24

you still h ave to kn ow th e

availability of win d en ergy at
you r site, ju st as with a stan d alon e system . For a h ybrid ,
you sh ou ld also look at th e
availability of oth er ren ewable
resou rces, su ch as solar.
con sid er th e cost of fossil fu el
to p ower th e gen erator; h ow
d ep en d able is th e su p p ly of
fossil fu el, an d h ow d ifficu lt
is it to get th e fu el to th e site?
you still h ave to kn ow wh at
your power requirem en ts are.
Use th e sam e guidelin es as
were set out in th e stan d-alon e
assessm en t in th e last ch apter
look at occurren ce of peak
loads, daily dem an d, th e
requirem en t for depen dable
power. Keep in m in d as well
th e quality of power required.
Soph isticated equipm en t, such
as com puters or telecom m un ication s equipm en t, requires
h igh quality electricity wh ich
does n ot fluctuate.

Here is wh ere th e assessm en t

becom es m ore difficult th an for

stan d-alon e system s. Hybrid system s sh ould be design ed for tech n ical reliability an d cost effectiven ess.
If th e gen erator is to start itself
wh en win d en ergy p rod u ction
d rop s below a certain p oin t, for
exam p le, sop h isticated con trol
system s will h ave to be in stalled .
Even with th ese con trols, th e
gen erator m ay n ot start th e
in stan t it is n eed ed . If th e gen erator is ru n n in g below its d esign
cap acity, it m ay n ot be very efficien t, d rivin g u p op eratin g costs.
Batteries m ay still be d esired
to accom m od ate excess p ower
d u rin g p eriod s of h igh win d ,
bu t if th e system is p rovid in g a
large am ou n t of p ower, th e cost
of battery storage will be h igh .
To recap , som e of th e d ifficu lties
in p lan n in g a h ybrid system are:

Th e variable n atu re of th e
win d an d th e load m ake it
d ifficu lt to p red ict h ow to
m atch th ese reliably.

Large gen erator sets u sed for

back-u p d o n ot always start
th e in stan t th ey are n eed ed .

Ru n n in g a gen erator set

below its d esign cap acity
is very in efficien t.

Battery storage can be u sed

to p rovid e con tin u ou s p ower
in th e face of win d variation s
an d th e stop -start op eration
of gen erator sets, bu t batteries
are exp en sive, esp ecially for
large load s.

To en su re th at you r h ybrid system

p rovid es d ep en d able p ower an d
is cost effective, you sh ou ld seek
p rofession al h elp to assist with
th e req u ired an alysis an d to
con sid er th e d esign op tion s.

7. Economics
Compare costs over the
long term to determine
the real value of a wind
energy system
A win d en ergy system is a
seriou s in vestm en t, an d sh ou ld
be assessed like an in vestm en t. It
is likely win d en ergy will be cost
com p etitive, an d m ay even be less
exp en sive over th e lon g term . Bu t
th ere is also a ch an ce th at a win d
system is ju st n ot econ om ically
righ t for you r ap p lication . Th is
section will p rovid e you with
an overview of som e of th e key
issu es in d eterm in in g wh eth er
a win d en ergy system is a viable
econ om ic op tion .

How much does

the system cost?
Th ere are two costs to con sid er:
in itial costs an d an n u al costs.
In itial costs are th ose th at occu r
at th e begin n in g of th e p roject
before an y electricity is gen erated .
An n u al costs, or op eratin g an d
m ain ten an ce (O & M) costs, recu r
on a regu lar basis to keep th e
win d en ergy system in ru n n in g
ord er. Gen erally, win d en ergy
system s h ave h igh in itial costs,
bu t relatively low an n u al costs
com p ared to, say, a gen erator
set wh ich req u ires re-fu ellin g.

Initial Costs
If you h ave d on e th e assessm en t
in Ch ap ter 5, you sh ou ld h ave an
id ea of th e basic con figu ration for
you r system . It is p ossible n ow to
obtain a com p lete system p rice
for th e in stallation . Altern atively,
you cou ld list th e com p on en ts
an d obtain a q u ote by callin g
eq u ip m en t su p p liers an d ch eckin g
catalogu es an d p rice lists.

Helpful Hints
Suppliers should indicate what spare
parts are important for a system so
they can be purchased right away.
The after-purchase price will often
be significantly higher.

Rem em ber to in clu d e th e costs

for BOS com p on en ts su ch as
batteries an d in verters, an d
oth er associated costs su ch as
tower fou n d ation s, bu ild in gs
for con trols or battery storage,
electrical d istribu tion an d con n ection eq u ip m en t an d th e
costs of in stallin g all of th at.
On ce you h ave ad d ed u p all th is,
you still d o n ot h ave th e in itial
cost of th e system . Th ere are
also soft costs to con sid er an d ,
d ep en d in g on th e size an d com p lexity of th e p roject, th ey can
ad d con sid erably to in itial costs.
Here are som e exam p les:
Prefeasibility Study: Ju st goin g
th rou gh th e q u ick assessm en t
gu id elin e in Ch ap ter 5 will n ot
be su fficien t for larger system s or
h ybrid system s. You m ay wan t to
call in an exp ert to take a q u ick
look at p oten tial, before m ovin g
to h igh er cost en gin eerin g d esign s
an d feasibility stu d ies. A p refeasibility stu d y m ay be com p leted
with ou t a site visit, u sin g resou rce
an d d em an d estim ates from oth er
sou rces. (Calcu late u p to 2 p ercen t of th e total in itial costs).
NRCan h as d evelop ed a p refeasibility software tool called
RETScreen to assist you .
RETScreen is a stan d ard ized
ren ewable en ergy p roject an alysis
software th at cou ld h elp you
d eterm in e wh eth er a win d en ergy
system is a good in vestm en t for
you . Please refer to Ch ap ter11,

Need More In form ation ? to

fin d ou t h ow to get you r cop y
of RETScreen .
Feasibility Study: Th is is th e d esign
p h ase, an d th e an alysis of th e
d esign . It is u sefu l for sm all an d
som e m icro an d m in i system s.
Costs will vary d ep en d in g on
access to th e site an d th e availability of win d d ata. For a sm all
h ybrid win d en ergy system , a
win d resou rce assessm en t will
be req u ired if n o th ere is n o d ata.
Th is will in volve at least on e year
of read in gs from a tower-m ou n ted
an em om eter. A site in vestigation
will be req u ired for all feasibility
stu d ies. Th is will try to m atch th e
site with an ap p rop riate d esign .
An en viron m en tal assessm en t
of th e p roject m ay be req u ired ,
esp ecially if access road s to th e
site are n eed ed or th ere is a p ossibility of visu al im p act from a
tall tower. (Calcu late u p to 7 p ercen t of th e total in itial costs).
Project Development: For sm all
win d en ergy system s an d system s
wh ich m ay be com m u n ity-based ,
p roject d evelop m en t often req u ires tim e an d exp en se. Th ese
costs m ay in clu d e p erm its an d
ap p rovals for con stru ction , lan d
righ ts an d su rveys, p roject fin an cin g, legal an d accou n tin g costs,
an d p roject m an agem en t. (Costs
vary d ep en d in g on th e p roject).
Engineering: All bu t th e sm allest
m icro system s will req u ire
m ech an ical, electrical or civil
en gin eerin g services. Th ese
req u irem en ts in crease as th e
system s in crease in size an d
com p lexity. (Calcu late u p to
7 p ercen t of total in itial costs).
Transportation: Th is is often overlooked, but th e cost of tran sportin g
25

equipm en t to th e site can be sign ifican t, particularly for rem ote location s. (Costs vary depen din g on
th e location an d application ).
Access Road Construction: For
sm all system s, th is is n ot an issu e,
bu t for larger com m u n ity- based
system s, year-rou n d access by
road m ay be im p ortan t, an d road s
m ay h ave to be bu ilt for d rain age
an d sn ow clearan ce. (Costs vary
d ep en d in g on th e location an d
ap p lication ).
Erection and Installation: Th e
eq u ip m en t su p p lier m ay in stall
th e system an d erect th e tower,
oth erwise, ou tsid e services m ay be
req u ired . For larger system s esp ecially, sp ecial eq u ip m en t su ch as
cran es or h eavy veh icles, win ch es
or gin p oles m ay be req u ired .
Th ese can be ren ted , bu t m igh t be
costly. Skilled labou r m ay also be
req u ired for m ech an ical an d electrical work. (Costs vary d ep en d in g
on th e ap p lication ).

Annual Costs
Th e m ost im p ortan t an n u al
costs are p arts an d labou r for
system m ain ten an ce, bu t,
d ep en d in g on you r sp ecific
ap p lication , th ey m ay also
in clu d e lan d leasin g, p rop erty
taxes an d in su ran ce p rem iu m s.

O&M Costs

overh au led after two or th ree

years of con tin u ou s u se.

The annual Operating and

Maintenance cost for a wind turbine
may be estimated as a percent of the
initial capital cost of the installed
equipment. Values typically range
around 3 percent for a well-designed
and well-built wind turbine.

We h ave su m m arized som e

of th ese exp en ses in th e ch art
below an d th ere is a worksh eet
in th e Appendix D.

Compare the
alternatives

m ain ten an ce costs ru n in th e

ran ge of 3 p ercen t of th e in itial
cap ital cost p er year. As with
all m ech an ical an d electrical
eq u ip m en t, m ain ten an ce costs
are low wh en th e u n it is n ew,
an d in crease over tim e. A good
q u ality, p rop erly m ain tain ed
win d tu rbin e can be exp ected
to last u p to 20 years.

All th is in form ation on th e cost

of you r win d en ergy system over
tim e tells you n oth in g u n less
you look at th e cost of oth er
m eth od s of gen eratin g electricity.
A th orou gh an alysis is likely n ot
n ecessary for som e m in i an d
m ost m icro system s, bu t as th e
system s get larger, a fu ll econ om ic
an alysis is valu able.

If you are m akin g a total cost

calcu lation of a win d system ,
u se 15 or 20 years for th e life
of th e p roject.

Dep en d in g on th e size an d cost

of th e system , you m ay wan t to
call in an exp erien ced p rofession al to d o th is an alysis. It m ay
in volve su ch sp ecialized issu es
as tax savin gs, th e tim e valu e
of m on ey an d life cycle costin g.

Oth er eq u ip m en t m ay h ave to
be rep laced d u rin g th e lifetim e of
th e win d tu rbin e. In clu d e in you r
estim ate th e cost of rep lacin g batteries every five to ten years. For a
h ybrid system , a sm all gen erator
wou ld n eed to be rep laced or

Life cycle costin g is all th e costs

in cu rred over th e lifetim e of
th e p roject. From th e p reviou s
section , we h ave determ in ed th e

Annual Maintenance Cost Components

of a Wind Energy System

Win d tu rbin es req u ire m ain ten an ce on ce or twice a year.

Mech an ically-in clin ed own ers
m ay ch oose to d o th eir own
m ain ten an ce, an d th at will be
ch eap er th an p ayin g a tech n ician
to travel to th e site an d ch eck
th e tu rbin e.

Component

Operation Costs

Replacement
Schedule (Approx.)

Wind turbine

Monitoring, routine lubrication

and adjustments; snow,
ice and dirt removal

20 years

Batteries

Monitoring for failure and low state

of charge after recharge, hydrogen
build-up, water levels; terminal cleaning

5 to 10 years

Main ten an ce costs for m ost win d

tu rbin es are well-establish ed an d
sh ou ld be available from th e
m an u factu rer. Typ ically, an n u al

Gasoline/diesel
generator

Lubrication and servicing; fuel

2 to 15 years

Distribution
lines

Tree clearing and damaged

parts replacement.

As required

26

ap p roxim ate cost of a win d en ergy

system over 15 or 20 years. Now,
we m u st com p are th at to th e cost
of altern ate m eth ods of gen eratin g
electricity. For exam p le, if th e
altern ative is a diesel gen erator,
you will h ave to determ in e th e

costs of ru n n in g a diesel gen erator

with th e sam e p ower cap acity
over 15 or 20 years. Th is will
in clu de th e cost of th e gen erator,
th e cost of rep lacin g or overh au lin g th e gen erator (sin ce it is
n ot likely to last as lon g as th e

win d tu rbin e), an d, of cou rse,

th e cost of fu el n eeded to ru n
th e gen erator.
Th e table below gives an exam p le
of life cycle costin g com p arison s.

Table 1. Cost Streams

500 W Wind Energy
System with Batteries

Year

1 kW Diesel Genset
with Batteries

Initial Cost

Ongoing and Annual Costs Initial Cost

Equipment
Material &
Services

5 Year
Battery
Replacement

Annual
O&M (3% of
system cost

$7480

Equipment
Material &
Services

Ongoing and Annual Costs

3 year
Generator
Replacement

5 Year
Battery
Replacement

Annual
O&M (3% of
system cost)

Annual
Fuel
and Oil

$2280

$194

$68

$380

$200

$70

$391

$206

$874

$73

$403

$212

$75

$415

$580

$219

$580

$77

$428

$225

$955

$79

$441

$232

$82

$454

$239

$84

$467

$246

$1044

$87

$481

10

$672

$254

$672

$89

$496

11

$261

$92

$511

12

$269

$1141

$95

$526

13

$277

$98

$542

14

$285

$100

$558

15

$779

$294

$1246

$779

$103

$575

16

$303

$107

$592

17

$312

$110

$610

18

$321

$1362

$113

$628

19

$331

$116

$647

20

$341

$120

$666

27

Using Simple
Payback to
Evaluate a
Project
In sm aller system s, wh ere th e
recu rrin g an n u al costs are relatively low, you can d eterm in e
if a p roject is viable by u sin g a
sim p le p ayback ap p roach . Sim p le
p ayback is a straigh tforward
m easu re of th e n u m ber of years
it wou ld take to h ave you r an n u al
en ergy savin gs p ay for th e in itial
an d an n u al costs of op eratin g th e
win d en ergy system . Th is m eth od
d oes n ot accou n t for in flation or
h ow th e valu e of m on ey m ay
ch an ge over tim e.
W h ile th is ap p roach can be u sefu l
u n d er certain circu m stan ces, it is
n ot su itable if th e an n u al costs or
th e an n u al savin gs are large or if
th ey occu r in irregu lar am ou n ts.
Th e form u la for calcu latin g
sim p le p ayback is:
sim p le p ayback (in years) = n et
in stalled cost/ n et an n u al savin gs
An exam p le is sh own in th e
box below.

28

Simple Payback
Energy requirements in a remote cabin are about 2kWh per day. A 500 W wind
turbine with a 20 metre tower and 220 Ah of batteries will cost about $7,500.
Operation and Maintenance (annual costs) and battery replacement every five
years will amount to about 5 percent of the capital costs or ($7,500 x 5%) $375.
The alternative is a small diesel generator which will cost about
$2,500 and $1.56/kWh to run, including fuel and maintenance.
The net installed cost is the initial cost of the wind energy system,
less the original cost of the generator: $7,500 $2,500 = $5,000
The net annual savings are the annual cost of the generator:
$1.56 per kWh x 2 kWh/day x 365 days = $1,139
minus the annual cost of operating the wind energy system
(which we said was $375):
$1,139 $375 = $764
Simple Payback = $5,000 764 = 6.54, or about 6-1/2 years.

More in-depth
economic analysis
Th ere are oth er ways to com p are
m ore accu rately th e cost of
variou s en ergy altern atives over
tim e. Som e of th ese are fairly
com p lex. If you are in terested
in th is an alysis see Appendix F,
Using Net Present Value (NPV) to
Evaluate a Project and Comparing
Unit Costs of Energy.

8. Other

Issues

You may have your own

reasons for choosing
renewable wind energy,
and these are just as important to consider as cost

to consider
Environment. Wind energy is non polluting, reduces the demand on the grid,
and reduces the use of fossil fuels, the construction of hydroelectric dams or
nuclear generators. Buyers of wind energy equipment need to decide whether
and how to put a price on the environmental advantages of wind power use,
and what role the environment should play in the decision-making process.

Ch an ces are you h ad several

good reason s to con sider win d
en ergy th at h ad n oth in g to
do with econ om ics. Th ere are
also oth er con sideration s to
th in k about th at h ave n oth in g
to do with tech n ical issues.
Most of th ese are difficult to
quan tify, but th is does n ot
m ean th at th ey do n ot
h ave tech n ical or econ om ic
im plication s, or th at th ey are
less im portan t th an th ose
wh ich can be costed out.

Safety. In cold regions, ice can accumulate on wind turbine blades. This can
cause severe vibrations; the ice may be thrown great distances. Hydrogen venting
from batteries is another potential safety issue. Climbing of towers by the owner
or maintenance persons is a potential liability. Special safety precautions are
required if children have access to the system.

Th ere are also oth er issu es

wh ich can n ot be q u an tified ,
bu t wh ich m igh t im p act
you r win d en ergy system .

Noise. With a hybrid system, generator noise may be a problem. It would

be a good idea to listen to the generator to see how much noise it makes
when operating. The turbines themselves are relatively quiet.

Th e ch art below lists a n u m ber

of issu es to con sid er wh en
d ecid in g if win d en ergy is
righ t for you r situ ation .

Extreme weather. In some parts of the country, the environment is very hard
on equipment and can cause operational and durability problems for the wind
energy system and batteries.
Neighbours. The proximity of a wind turbine to a neighbour's property should
be discussed with the neighbour before proceeding with a wind energy system
purchase. Neighbours could be concerned about the size of the system and the
noise a systems generator might make.
Aesthetics. The wind energy system can affect a view, or that of your
neighbours, and it might block or change an historic landscape.

Corrosion. Corrosion of system parts at locations close to the ocean can be

a problem.
Zoning restrictions and other potential legal obstacles. Local municipal
offices should have information about restrictions on elements such as noise
and permissible tower height.
Local bird life. Birds can be injured or killed if they collide with the blades or
the tower; and their breeding, nesting and feeding habits could be disturbed.
To minimize these potential problems, avoid siting a wind energy system on
a migration route or where many birds nest and feed. The system should be
designed to reduce perching and nesting opportunities. This is typically not
a problem with smaller systems.
Electromagnetic interference. Systems sometimes produce electromagnetic
interference that can affect television or radio reception. The interference can
usually be traced to the generator, alternator, or metal blades. This problem
can be avoided if the parts are shielded, filtered or made of wood, plastic or
fibreglass.
Technical know-how. Some small wind energy system can be maintained
by the owner. This may require basic technical skills. It will save money, but
will require time and the inclination to do what is necessary.
Access. The existence of an access road for remote systems will simplify
construction, maintenance and fuel delivery, and will likely bring with it
associated cost benefits.
Insurance, construction standards, private property deed restrictions
should also be considered.

29

9. Buying a Wind Energy System

This chapter provide you
with a guide to shopping
for wind energy system

Experts
Can Help
Finding an expert
To find an expert, contact one of
the organizations or associations
identified in Chapter 11 Need
More Information?

Even if you h ave d iligen tly followed every step in th is gu id e, it

is very im p ortan t to con su lt an
in d ep en d en t exp ert or a su p p lier
or m an u factu rer to en su re th at
an y system you bu y an d in stall is
as efficien t, cost effective an d safe
as p ossible. Before ap p roach in g
an exp ert, you sh ou ld h ave th e
d etails of you r p relim in ary assessm en t, an d som e id eas abou t
you r basic d esign . Even if you
are a d o-it-you rselfer, you sh ou ld
d iscu ss you r p roject with an
exp ert before com m ittin g to
a p articu lar system .
Som e areas wh ere exp erts can
be of assistan ce:
Preliminary assessment: Th ey can
review your prelim in ary assessm en t an d con firm th e accuracy
of th e en ergy an d win d resource
estim ates, an d give you som e
advice on your prelim in ary design .
Detailed assessment: Th ey can
visit th e site, id en tify ap p rop riate
ap p lication s an d d o a m ore
d etailed resou rce assessm en t, an d
an in -d ep th econ om ic assessm en t.

30

System design: Th ey will h elp you

d eterm in e th e op tim al cap acity
of th e win d en ergy system , an d
th e size an d con figu ration of th e
system com p on en ts, based on
th e resu lts of th e assessm en ts.
Exp ert assistan ce becom es m ore
im p ortan t as a system becom es
m ore com p lex.
Equipment selection and costing:
Based on th eir exp erien ce, th ey
can fin d th e best eq u ip m en t for
you r system d esign .
Cost estimates and financing
arrangements: Th e econ om ic
assessm en t an d th e cost of th e
fin al d esign will lead to accu rate
cost estim ates th en you will
kn ow if you n eed fin an cin g
an d if so, h ow m u ch .
Installation, servicing, routine
maintenance: For larger an d
m ore com p lex system s, ou tsid e
exp ertise in th ese areas becom es
m ore im p ortan t.

Selecting
a supplier
Man u factu rers or d ealers in win d
en ergy system s can be a valu able
resou rce for in form ation .
Differen t su p p liers sp ecialize
in d ifferen t typ es of system s.
A su p p lier sh ou ld h ave p roven
exp erien ce in d esign an d in stallation of th e typ e of system
you req u ire. Su p p liers d iffer
in term s of th e level of service
th ey p rovid e. Som e offer tu rn key
(i.e. read y-to-op erate) in stallation .
Oth ers offer th e op tion of d irect
p u rch ase from th e factory for
self-in stallation .
Req u est an d review eq u ip m en t
catalogu es an d p rice lists. Man y

Dealers vs.
Manufacturers
Local dealers may be more familiar
with local conditions, and are in a
better position to provide service
than a more remote manufacturer.
Also, dealers may have access to
a choice of systems from a variety
of manufacturers.

catalogu es offer u sefu l in form ation abou t system d esign .

Do n ot h esitate abou t askin g
su p p liers to see eq u ip m en t m an u als for BOS or win d tu rbin es
you are esp ecially in terested in .
Man u factu rers typ ically ch arge
for th e m an u al, bu t th e p rice
can u su ally be ap p lied toward
th e p u rch ase p rice of th e u n it
sh ou ld a p u rch ase be m ad e.
Th e m an u al sh ou ld d escribe,
in clearly u n d erstood term s,
th e assem bly an d in stallation
p roced u re for th e u n it an d
th e su bseq u en t op eration an d
m ain ten an ce req u irem en ts.
Do n ot bu y from a m an u factu rer
wh o d oes n ot p rovid e th e
req u ired p rod u ct literatu re.
Read all th e m an u als carefu lly
an d look for d etails th at will
an swer th ese q u estion s:

W h at typ e of eq u ip m en t
is th e in verter cap able of
op eratin g?

W h at q u ality of AC p ower
d oes th e in verter p rod u ce?

Does th e gen erator h ave

rem ote start cap ability?

W h at is in clu d ed in th e
BOS p ackage?

Are th e wirin g an d sm aller

p arts su p p lied ?

Reading Equipment
Manuals

Important Questions
when Choosing a Dealer:

Standard items to review

in the literature provided
by the manufacturer:

Years in business?

Background or qualifications?

Familiarity with local electrical requirements, codes, zoning regulations?

Technical and pricing details available?

Installation and operating

instructions

Maintenance requirements

List of customers available for reference?

Warranty details

Copy of installation and maintenance manual available?

CSA verification

Independent test reports of equipment available?

Other certifications,
e.g. ISO 9000

Operational experience satisfactory? Able to service systems

in remote locations? Under various, possibly harsh, conditions?

Services offered? Installation? Warranty support? Maintenance?

Price and payment options? Purchase the system outright or

lease on a term arrangement? Performance contracting?

Member of the Canadian Wind Energy Association?

31

10. Installing, Operating and Maintaining Your System

Considerations when
installing your wind
energy system
Commissioning procedures
Regular maintenance
Som e m icro system s are relatively
sim p le an d easy to in stall an d
m ain tain , bu t, as system s in crease
in size, m ore exp ertise is req u ired .
In stallation an d m ain ten an ce
of a h ybrid system of virtu ally
an y size req u ires a fair d egree
of kn owled ge.
Even if you are a d o-it-you rselfer,
ch an ces are you sh ou ld be lookin g for som e exp ert h elp in both
th e p lan n in g an d in stallation
of th e system .
If you are in volved in th e in stallation , h owever, ch an ces are
you will h ave a m u ch better
u n d erstan d in g of h ow th e
system works, an d m ay be
able to d o m ain ten an ce wh en
it is n ot p ossible to reach a
service rep resen tative.

Safety...
Safety...Safety
This cannot be emphasized enough
when working in the field, and wind
turbine installations are no exception. Many potential hazards can
injure you when you are installing
a wind turbine: you can fall off a
tower, you can get struck by falling
tools or parts, you can get struck by
a blade, you can get electrocuted...
the list goes on and on. The only
sure way to avoid getting hurt, or
worse, is to recognize the potential
hazards, and avoid them.

32

Doin g it you rself can also save

you m on ey. However, it becom es
you r resp on sibility to en su re
th at you h ave all th e req u ired
bu ild in g an d electrical p erm its
an d ap p rovals, an d th at you follow all th e n ecessary electrical
cod es. Read an d follow all in stru ction s carefu lly to en su re safety.
W h en in d ou bt, ask for ad vice!

Installation
In stallation req u ires excellen t
m ech an ical an d electrical skills as
well as exp erien ce workin g with
h eavy objects an d h igh voltages.
Th is in form ation is n ot in ten d ed
to serve as a h ow to, it is m erely to set ou t som e very basic ru les
abou t in stallation .
Sp ecifics of in stallin g a win d
tu rbin e vary accord in g to th e
size, d esign an d ap p lication .
If you are lookin g for m ore
d etailed in form ation , ch eck th e
tu rbin es m an u al, con su lt th e
Can ad ian Stan d ard s Association
Stan d ard CAN/ CSA-F429-M90,
Recommended Practice for the
Installation of Wind Energy
Conversion Systems, an d ask
abou t p u blication s available
from th e Can ad ian Win d En ergy
Association . We h ave also listed
oth er resou rces in Ch ap ter 11
of th is gu id e.

The basic
installation rules

If you d o n ot h ave th e
exp erien ce or con fid en ce
to d o it you rself, u se an
exp erien ced su bcon tractor.

Make su re p rop er clim bin g

an d tool secu rin g eq u ip m en t
is u sed wh en workin g with
th e tower.

Helpful Hints
Discussing the requirements of
the application with the electrical
inspector and the electrical contractor before you commence the installation will prove to be a valuable
investment in time and dollars.

En su re n obod y stan d s below

th e tower sin ce fallin g objects
can cau se severe in ju ry.

If th e system is u sin g m ore

th an 24 volts, u se a q u alified
electrician , an d seek th e local
u tilitys ap p roval for h ook-u p .

Plan n in g is key to su ccessfu l

an d in exp en sive in stallation .
Realizin g th at you forgot to
p ick u p th e cable clip s wh en
you were in town yesterd ay
is an exp en sive exercise if
you h ave a cran e h old in g
th e tower in p lace!

Tower fou n d ation req u irem en ts are goin g to d ep en d on

tu rbin e d esign , tower d esign
an d size an d soil con d ition s at
th e site. Before you start, con su lt a local en gin eer or con tractor to d eterm in e wh eth er
th e soil at th e site req u ires
sp ecial con sid eration for th e
fou n d ation typ e p rop osed
by th e m an u factu rer.

An in stallation m u st con form

to local electrical cod es an d
regu lation s. For m in i an d
sm all system s in th e m u lti
kilowatt p ower ran ge, voltages
an d cu rren t are h igh en ou gh
to cau se p roblem s if th ey are
n ot h an d led correctly. Hire
an electrician .

Make su re you h ave en ou gh

sp ace to assem ble th e tu rbin e.
Make su re you u n d erstan d
each step in th e in stallation
an d h ave th e righ t tools at
th e righ t tim e.
For m icro u n its, tu rbin e erection can be d on e by h an d .
Sm all u n its m ay n eed a tower
m ou n ted gin p ole an d , if th e
tu rbin e is larger th an abou t
10 kilowatts, you m ay n eed a
cran e or base m ou n ted gin
p ole. A sm all m istake
d u rin g th e erection p h ase
can d estroy you r tu rbin e or
case in ju ry. Fu lly u n d erstan d
all th e load s an d d istan ces
in volved in th is step .

Commissioning
On ce th e win d tu rbin e is erected ,
it m u st be com m ission ed . Th is
m ean s th at tests are p erform ed
on th e u n it to en su re each of its
system s an d su bsystem s p erform s
as th ey are su p p osed to. Th e com m ission in g p rocess will ch eck, for
exam p le, th at n ot on ly d oes th e
brake work, bu t it will reliably
en gage d u rin g an em ergen cy
con d ition , su ch as h igh win d s.
On ce again , th e com m ission in g
p roced u re becom es m ore com p lex
as th e win d en ergy system
becom es m ore com p lex.
Th e com m ission in g p roced u re
sh ou ld be fu lly ou tlin ed in th e
own ers m an u al. If th e tu rbin e
is n ot com m ission ed p rop erly,
th e m an u factu rer m ay n ot
h on ou r warran ty claim s if
p roblem s arise later. It m ay
also be n ecessary to h ave a
m an u factu rers rep resen tative
p resen t d u rin g each step of
th e com m ission in g p roced u re,

d ep en d in g on th e size of
th e p roject.

Helpful Hints

You h ave to be carefu l d u rin g

com m ission in g, an d each step
in th e p roced u re sh ou ld be
well d ocu m en ted (with n otes
d escribin g tests con d u cted
an d resu lts obtain ed in clu d in g,
wh ere p ractical, p h otos).

Batteries should be kept at the

proper operating temperature;
freezing will damage the cells.

Operation and
Maintenance
(O&M)
Most win d en ergy system s th at
are com m ercially available req u ire
little own er in terven tion d u rin g
op eration . For sim p ler tu rbin es,
su ch as th ose u sed as battery
ch argers or water p u m p ers,
th e con trol system s to en su re
safe an d reliable op eration s
are q u ite sim p le.

Charge and discharge rates should

not be exceeded.
Special switches, fuses and circuit
breakers will help ensure the safe
operation of battery systems.
Lead-acid batteries that are not
sealed require regular maintenance,
topping up of water and verifying
state of charge.
Unsealed batteries may give off
hydrogen and should be housed
in ventilated enclosures.

More com p lex d esign s m ay

ch an ge m ain ten an ce d em an d s.
Man y m an u factu rers offer m ain ten an ce service for th e win d
tu rbin es th ey in stall. Th e m an u factu rer sh ou ld at least h ave
d etailed in form ation on m ain ten an ce p roced u res an d wh en
th ey sh ou ld be carried ou t.
Most tu rbin es can op erate for
lon g p eriod s of tim e with ou t
trou blesh ootin g or rep air. Min or
m ain ten an ce is u su ally d on e on
a q u arterly basis or twice a year.
More com p reh en sive m ain ten an ce is req u ired an n u ally.
Main ten an ce can ran ge from
sim p le ch eckin g of oil levels,
wh ich ju st abou t an yon e can
d o, to in tricate ch eckin g of
gear backlash or blad e p itch
settin gs, wh ich m ay req u ire
a h igh d egree of exp ertise.

33

11. Need More

Natu ral Resou rces Can ad a
Ren ewable an d Electrical
En ergy Division
En ergy Resou rces Bran ch
580 Booth Street, 17th Floor
Ottawa, On tario
K1A 0E4
Fax.: (613) 995-0087
Web Site:
h ttp://www.n rcan .gc.ca/redi
CANMET En ergy Tech n ology
Cen tre
Natu ral Resou rces Can ad a
580 Booth Street, 13th Floor
Ottawa, On tario
K1A 0E4
Fax.: (613) 996-9418
Web Site:
h ttp :/ / www.n rcan .gc.ca/ es/ etb
Th e Can ad ian Win d Atlas
Web Site:
h ttp :/ / www.win d atlas.ca
Can ad ian Win d En ergy
Association (CANW EA)
100, 3553 - 31 St., NW
Calgary, Alberta
T2L 2K7
Toll Free: 1-800-9-CANW EA
Ou tsid e of Can ad a: 403-289-7713
Fax.: (403) 282-1238
Web Site: h ttp :/ / www.can wea.ca
To read m ore on win d en ergy
tech n ologies or oth er typ es of
ren ewable en ergy tech n ologies,
visit th e Web site of NRCan s
Can ad ian Ren ewable En ergy
Network (Can REN) at
h ttp :/ / www.can ren .gc.ca.

34

Information?
Free software
available to assist
you in your decision.
Ren ewable en ergy tech n ologies,
such as a win d en ergy system ,
can be a sm art in vestm en t.
RETScreen just m ade it easier.
RETScreen is a stan dardized
ren ewable en ergy project an alysis
software th at will h elp you determ in e wh eth er a win d en ergy
system is a good in vestm en t
for you. Th e software uses
Microsoft Excel spreadsh eets,
an d a com preh en sive user
m an ual an d supportin g databases
to h elp your evaluation .
Th e RETScreen software an d
u ser m an u al can be d own load ed
Free from th e followin g web site
at: h ttp :/ / retscreen .gc.ca or by
con tactin g NRCan by p h on e
at 1-450-652-4621 or by fax
at 1-450-652-5177.

Appendix A
Typical Power
Ratings of Appliances
and Equipment
Typ ical an n u al en ergy con su m p tion levels in th e followin g ch arts
are ap p roxim ate valu es, based on
an estim ated n u m ber of h ou rs u se
p er sm all h ou seh old . In d ivid u al
h abits an d th e n u m ber of fam ily
m em bers will h ave a large im p act
on overall en ergy u sage. You can
estim ate you r h ou seh old h ou rs

of television viewin g, vacu u m in g,

tool u sage, an d oth er activities to
d eterm in e you r an n u al electricity
con su m p tion . Ch eck th e reverse
sid e an d n am ep lates of you r
ap p lian ces for watts en ergy
con su m p tion , an d u se th ose
valu es if th ey are d ifferen t from
th e in form ation in th e table.

Large ap p lian ce en ergy con su m p tion is based on En ergu id e d ata

for th e stan d ard m ajor ap p lian ces
listed . Man u factu rer d ata was
u sed for th e h igh efficien cy
ap p lian ces.
Electric h ot water h eaters an d
fu rn aces are n ot listed becau se
it is gen erally n ot econ om ical
to u se win d en ergy for th ese
en ergy h u n gry load s.

Typical Daily Energy Consumption of Appliances

(annual kWh includes automatic on/off cycling)
115 VAC Loads
Appliance/Equipment

Power Rating (watts)

Annual kWh

Refrigerator:
450 litres (16 ft3) standard

440

450 litres (16 ft ) hi efficiency

200

113 litres (4 ft ) standard

350

113 litres (4 ft3) high efficiency

60

Freezer:
540 litres (19 ft3) standard

500

540 litres (19 ft ) high efficiency

440

113 litres (4 ft3) standard

250

113 litres (4 ft3) high efficiency

120

Dishwasher, excluding hot water

1300

292

Clothes Dryer

4000

500

Stove

800

Block Heater

500

180

18

Wringer

300

75

Automatic

500

100

900

100

200

200

Laptop

15

16

Printer

10-300

2-100

Clock
Clothes Washer: excl. hot water

Coffee Maker
Computer:
Portable desk top

Typical Daily Energy Consumption of Appliances

(annual kWh includes automatic on/off cycling)
115 VAC Loads
Appliance/Equipment

Power Rating (watts)

Annual kWh

Drill

300

Fan, portable

120

70

Furnace fan

350

1100

Hair dryer

1000

20

Iron

1000

140

60 watt incandescent bulb

60

110

24 watt compact fluorescent

(75 watt incandescent equiv.)

24

44

17

1000

100

10

400 1000

12

50

100

12

30

22

Telephone, portable

26

Telephone, answering machine

52

14" b&w

40

29

14" colour

90

65

1100

40

800

40

30

10

400

150

Lighting:

fluorescent 15 cm single ended

Oven, microwave
Radio, transistor
Saw, circular
Radiotelephone: idle
Radiotelephone: transmitting
Single side band radio (idle)
Stereo, portable

Television:

Toaster
Vacuum cleaner, portable
VCR
Water Pump
DC Livestock pumps:

36

250 litre/hour @ 6 m head

15

400 litre/hour @ 25 m head

60

180 litre/hour @ 70 m head

72

Typical Daily Energy Consumption of Appliances

12 VDC Loads
Appliance/Equipment

Power Rating (watts)

Annual kWh

60

Auto Stereo

Clock, digital

44

144

25 watt incandescent bulb

25

46

25 watt equivalent fluorescent

25

46

200 1000

b&w (2 hr/day)

20

15

colour (2 hr/day)

60

45

1100

40

24

13 l/min automatic demand

90

70

11.6 l/min

36

26

7.5 l/min

18

13

Air Compressor

Drill

Circular saw
Television:

Toaster
Ventilation Fan (15 cm blade)
Water Pump:

37

Appendix B
Worksheet #1. Annual Energy Consumption
Appliance/Equipment

AC

Total Annual Energy Consumption

38

DC

Rated
Wattage
(W)

Hours
per
day

Hours
per
year

Annual Wh

Wh
(kWh)

Appendix C
Worksheet #2. Selecting BOS Equipment
BOS Component

Description

Specification

Required
(yes/no)

Batteries

DC to AC Inverter with:
Remote Start Signal
true sine wave

Back-up Generator Set:

Manual Start
Remote Start

Other BOS Equipment:

Battery Charger
Disconnect Switch

Yes

Monitoring Equipment
Wiring, Miscellaneous

Yes

Other Equipment (e.g. rectifier)

39

Appendix D
Worksheet #3. Costing Estimates
Initial Costs

No. of Units

Cost/Unit

Total Cost

Annual Costs

Frequency (yrs)

Total Replace
Cost

Total Annual
Cost

O&M WTG

annual

O&M Batteries

annual

O&M Generator set (including rebuild)

annual

Generator Fuel and Lubricant

annual

Equipment and Materials

Wind Turbine
Tower
Tower Foundation
Batteries
Inverter
Disconnect Switch
Transfer Switch
Distribution Box
Control Building
System Monitor
Circuit Protection
Wiring, Conduit, Misc
Scheduled Spare Parts
Generator Set
Total Equipment/Material Cost
Planning Service Costs (for larger mini and small systems)
Prefeasibility Study
Feasibility Study
Project Development
Engineering
Transportation
Access Road Construction
Erection and Installation
Contingency
Total Planning/Installation Service Cost
Total Initial Costs

Battery Replacement
Gen-Set Replacement
Other Part Replacement
Miscellaneous
Total Annual Costs

40

Appendix E
Worksheet #4. Dealer Information
Dealer 1

Dealer 2

Dealer 3

Dealer Name:
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Contact:
Years in Business
Qualifications/Background
Familiar with local electrical requirements, etc.
Technical/pricing details available?
References
System manual available?
Test reports of equipment available?
Experience satisfactory?
Services offered:
Installation?
Warranty support?
Maintenance?
Price
Payment options
Member of CanWEA
General comments/
Observations

41

Appendix F
Using Net Present Value
(NPV) to Evaluate a
Project and Comparing
Unit Costs of Energy
Th is section on Net Presen t Valu e
an d th e on e followin g on Un it
Costs of En ergy are n ot in ten d ed
to serve as a h ow-to, th ey are
in ten d ed on ly to give you an
in d ication of wh at a p rofession al
will con sid er wh en d oin g a fu ll
econ om ic an alysis.

Using Net
Present Value
(NPV) to
Evaluate
a Project
Larger, m ore costly p rojects
req u ire a very accu rate an alysis to
see it th ey m ake econ om ic sen se.
Th is is d on e u sin g a calcu lation
kn own as Net Presen t Valu e.
Net Presen t Valu e d eterm in es h ow
m u ch m on ey you wou ld h ave to
p u t asid e tod ay to p ay for th e
start u p an d op eratin g costs of th e
p roject over its lifetim e keep in g
in m in d th at if you p u t m on ey
asid e tod ay, it wou ld earn in terest
over th e cou rse of th e p roject.
For exam p le, a Net Presen t Valu e
calcu lation can tell you h ow
m u ch m on ey you wou ld h ave to
p u t in th e ban k tod ay in ord er
to h ave $1,000 in th e ban k five
years from n ow at an in terest
rate of 5 p ercen t.
For p u rp oses of th e Net Presen t
Valu e calcu lation , th e rate of
in terest is referred to as th e
d iscou n t rate. Tod ays d ollars
will also be worth m ore in th e
fu tu re becau se of in flation .

42

Most com p u ter sp read sh eet

program s h ave a fun ction to fin d
Net Presen t Valu e, if you wan t
to try th e calcu lation you rself.
By com p arin g th e costs of
d ifferen t en ergy op tion s
in tod ays d ollars, th e tru e
econ om ic valu e of an y on e
op tion can easily be seen .
Table 2 sh ows h ow Net Presen t
Value h as been applied to four
possible en ergy altern atives: a win d
en ergy system with batteries; a
ph oto-voltaic system with batteries;
an exten sion to th e grid; an d, a
diesel gen erator set with batteries.
Th e calculation sh ows th at despite
th e fact th e win d en ergy system
does n ot h ave th e lowest in itial
cost, over tim e, its cost is th e
lowest of th e four option s.
It m akes a n u m ber of assu m p tion s wh ich are d etailed in th e
table cap tion .

Comparing Unit
Costs of Energy
W h en altern ate ap p roach es p rod u ce d ifferen t am ou n ts of en ergy,
often th e best way to m ake a
com p arison is by calcu latin g th e
u n it cost of th e en ergy, u su ally
exp ressed in d ollars p er kilowatt
h ou r ($/ kW h ). In th ese situ ation s,
it is im p ortan t to com p are p rojects based on th e p resen t valu e
of th eir u n it costs of en ergy, to
m ake su re th ey are bein g evalu ated based on a com m on variable.
Let u s con sid er th e exam p le
of a win d en ergy system as an
altern ative to exten d in g a lin e
to th e grid . In ou r exam p le,
we will con sid er establish in g
a 2 kilom etre lin e from th e

grid , as com p ared to a 500 W

win d en ergy system .
In th e win d en ergy system , d esign
con sid eration s d o n ot p erm it an
in crease in th e am ou n t of en ergy
th e system can p rovid e. Th e grid ,
on th e oth er h an d , can accom m od ate an alm ost u n lim ited growth
in d em an d . To com p are th em
fairly, we h ave to look at th e u n it
cost of en ergy gen erated by th e
win d en ergy system over its lifetim e with th e u n it cost of th e
en ergy gen erated by th e grid .
It is also best to com p are th e
n et p resen t valu e of th e cost
of a kilowatt h ou r of en ergy.
We set ou t th e sam p le
calcu lation s on p age 44.
In th is case, th e win d en ergy
op tion is n ot th e p referred ch oice.
Exten d in g a lin e to th e grid
will cost $1.71 p er kilowatt
h ou r wh ile win d gen eration
will cost $1.82 p er kilowatt h ou r,
in tod ays d ollars.

Table 2. An Economic Comparison of Costs

500 W Wind
Energy System
with Batteries

Year

Initial
Cost and
5 yr. battery
repl.

Annual
O&M Cost
(3% of
system cost)

750 W PV System
with Batteries
Initial
Cost and
5 yr. battery
replacement

Annual
O&M Cost
(1% of
system cost)

Initial Cost
(2 km grid
extension)

Annual
O&M Cost
($16/month
+ $0.08/kWh)

Initial
Cost and 5 yr.
battery repl.
3 yr. gen-set
repl.

Annual Fuel,
Oil and
O&M Cost
(3% of
system cost)

$7480

$194

$100

$225

$448

$200

$103

$233

$462

$206

$106

$241

$874

$476

$212

$109

$249

$490

$580

$219

$580

$113

$258

$580

$505

$225

$116

$267

$955

$520

$232

$119

$276

$535

$239

$123

$286

$551

$246

$127

$296

$1044

$568

10

$672

$254

$672

$130

$306

$672

$585

11

$261

$134

$317

$603

12

$269

$138

$328

$1141

$621

13

$277

$143

$340

$639

14

$285

$147

$352

$658

15

$779

$294

$779

$151

$365

$2025

$678

16

$303

$156

$378

$699

17

$312

$160

$392

$720

18

$321

$165

$406

$1362

$741

19

$331

$170

$421

$763

20

$341

$175

$436

$786

$8613

$2831

$11228

$1456

$3416

$7003

$6529

Total
$11444
(Initial, Equipment Replacement and Annual Costs)

$10000

1 kW Diesel
Genset
with Batteries

NPV

$10095

2 km Extension
to the Grid

$12684

$10000

$2280

$13416

$13532

43

Comparing the Costs of a Unit of Energy

500 W Wind Energy System
with Batteries

2 km Extension to the Grid

Energy Supply

Energy supply remains constant at

1.5 kWh/day, 548 kWh/year over
the 20-year life of the system

Energy supply increases by

3 percent each year for 20 years,
starting at 548 kWh in the first year,
based on 1.5 kWh/day for that year

Total energy supplied after 20 years

6,280 kWh (with no load growth

and after NPV calculation)

7,980 kWh (with 3 percent load

growth and after NPV calculation)

Total NPV of the system

costs after 20 years

$11,445

$13,629 (includes 3 percent increase

in total annual cost of electricity due
to increased load)

Present Value of unit cost of electricity

$1.82/kWh

$1.71/kWh

Assumptions for Table 2

For system s with batteries: Th e

equipm en t an d m aterial costs
in clude th e in itial h ardware
costs plus th e cost of replacin g
batteries every five years.

For th e diesel gen set system :

Th e equipm en t an d m aterial
costs in clude th e cost of replacin g
th e gen set every th ree years.

For th e grid exten sion project: Th e

cost for th e exten sion to th e grid is
$5,000 per kilom etre; O&M costs
are $0; th e an n ual costs assum e
a 6% an n ual in crease in th e grid
kWh ch arge; a $16/m on th service
ch arge to con n ect to th e grid;
an d a cost of $0.08/kWh ch arged
by th e utility for electricity.

For all system s: Th e an n ual in flation rate for m ain ten an ce, battery
costs, an d h ydro con n ect fee is 3%;
th e discoun t rate for th e calculation of NPV is 6%.

44

Glossary
Terminology

Amp (A) is a m easu re of electric

cu rren t; on e A of cu rren t rep resen ts on e cou lom b of electrical
ch arge m ovin g p ast a sp ecific
p oin t in on e secon d (1 C/ s = 1 A).
Amp-hours (Ah) is u sed to
exp ress th e storage cap acity of a
battery (th at is, 100 Ah battery
can p rovid e 1 A over a p eriod
of 100 h ou rs or 100 A over
a p eriod of 1 h ou r).
Anemometer is a d evice u sed
to m easu re win d sp eed .
Annual average wind speed
(AWS) is th e average of all
in stan tan eou s win d sp eed s for a
location over th e cou rse of a year.
Annual energy output (AEO)
is th e total en ergy p rod u ced
by a win d tu rbin e over th e
cou rse of a year.
BOS is th e Balan ce of System
or th e eq u ip m en t beyon d th e
stan d ard win d tu rbin e an d tower
req u ired to in stall a com p lete
win d system .
Commissioning is th e p roced u re of in sp ection , in stallin g
an d m on itorin g of a n ew win d
en ergy system to con firm p rop er
op eration at startu p .
Control system is a su b-system
th at receives in form ation abou t
th e con d ition of th e win d tu rbin e
an d / or its en viron m en t, an d
ad ju sts th e tu rbin e to m ain tain
op eration with in p rescribed
lim its.
Current is th e rate at wh ich
electricity flows th rou gh
a con d u ctor; m easu red
in am p s (A).

Cut-in wind speed is th e

lowest win d sp eed (at h u b h eigh t)
at wh ich th e tu rbin e starts to
p rod u ce p ower.
Cut-out wind speed is th e
m axim u m win d sp eed (at
h u b h eigh t) at wh ich th e
win d tu rbin e is d esign ed
to stop p rod u cin g p ower.
Discount Rate is th e assu m ed
in terest rate th at is ap p lied to calcu late th e tim e valu e of a fu tu re
cash flow. It sh ou ld accou n t for
th e p rin cip al an d in terest th at
cou ld h ave been earn ed h ad th e
m on ey u sed for th e system been
in vested in som e oth er way.
Downwind wind energy
system is a tu rbin e wh ose
rotor op erates d own win d of
th e tower, th at is, in th e m ain
win d d irection .
Energy is th at wh ich can
accom p lish work; u su ally
m easu red in Watt-h ou rs (W h )
or kilowatt- h ou rs (kW h ).
Free standing tower is a
tower th at d oes n ot u se extern al
su p p orts, su ch as gu y wires.
Generator set (genset) a
m ach in e u sin g an in tern al
com bu stion en gin e (gasolin e
or d iesel) an d gen erator to
p rod u ce AC or DC electricity.
Guy anchor is a fou n d ation
d esign ed for gu y wire con n ection .
Guy cable is a cable or wire u sed
as a ten sion su p p ort between a
gu y an ch or an d a tower.

Hub is th e fixtu re for attach in g

th e blad es or blad e assem bly of
a HAW T to th e rotor sh aft.
Hub height is th e h eigh t of th e
cen tre of th e win d tu rbin e rotor
above th e grou n d . For a vertical
axis win d tu rbin e th e h u b h eigh t
is th e m id -h eigh t of th e rotor.
Maximum power (win d
tu rbin es) is th e h igh est su stain ed
level of n et electrical p ower
d elivered by a win d tu rbin e in
n orm al op eration (ap p roxim ately
th e sam e as Rated Power).
Mean wind speed is th e statistical m ean of th e in stan tan eou s
valu e of th e win d sp eed averaged
over a given tim e p eriod wh ich
can vary from a few secon d s to
m an y years.
Nacelle is th e h ou sin g wh ich
con tain s th e d rive-train an d oth er
elem en ts on top of a h orizon tal
axis win d tu rbin e tower.
Net present value (NPV) is
th e valu e of a system s lifecycle
costs in tod ays d ollars.
Photovoltaics (PV) is th e
d irect con version of su n ligh t
in to electricity.
Power is th e exp ression of
th e rate of d oin g work. It is
u su ally m easu red in watts (W )
or kilowatts (kW ).
Power curve is a grap h th at
d ep icts th e p ower ou tp u t of a
win d tu rbin e as a fu n ction of
win d sp eed .

Guyed tower is a tower th at

u ses extern al gu y su p p orts.

Power output is th e am ou n t
of p ower p rod u ced by a win d
tu rbin e at a given sp eed .

Horizontal axis wind turbine

(HAWT) is a win d tu rbin e wh ose
rotor axis is h orizon tal or p arallel
to th e grou n d .

Rated power is th e p ower p rod u ced by a win d tu rbin e at th e

rated win d sp eed (ap p roxim ately
th e sam e as Maxim u m Power).
45

Rated wind speed is th e sp ecified win d sp eed at wh ich a win d

tu rbin e's rated p ower is ach ieved .
Rayleigh wind speed distribution is a statistical cu rve wh ose
sh ap e ap p roxim ates th e actu al
sh ap e of a win d sp eed d istribu tion cu rve. It is u sed as a stan d ard ized d istribu tion cu rve to
estim ate th e en ergy p rod u ction
p erform an ce of a win d tu rbin e.

Voltage is a m easu re of th e
electric p oten tial d ifferen ce
between two p oin ts; u su ally
exp ressed as volts (V).
Watts is th e u n it to m easu re
th e rate at wh ich work is d on e
(p ower) or en ergy is con su m ed ;
u su ally exp ressed as Watts (W )
or kilowatts (kW ). Note th at
W = V x A.

Rotor is th e set of blad es of th e

win d tu rbin e in clu d in g th e h u b.

Yaw is th e rotation of a HAW T

abou t its vertical axis to align it
with th e win d .

Rotor speed is th e rate of

rotation of a win d tu rbin e rotor
abou t its axis.

AC

altern ate cu rren t

rotor d iam eter

(for HAW TS) m

DC

d irect cu rren t

DOD

Dep th of d isch arge

kW

kilowatt

kW h

kilowatt h ou rs

PV

Ph otovoltaic

Watt

Simple payback is th e len gth

of tim e req u ired to recover th e
cost of an in vestm en t from th e
cash flow p rod u ced by th e in vestm en t. It d oes n ot accou n t for
th e d iscou n t rate.
Swept area is th e area th rou gh
wh ich th e rotor blad es rotate.
It is th e area of th e d isk form ed
by th e blad e rotation .
Tower is th e stru ctu re of a win d
en ergy system th at su p p orts th e
rotor an d p ower train , etc., above
th e grou n d .
Upwind wind energy system
h as a rotor wh ich op erates u p win d of th e tower. Th ese system s
u se yaw m ech an ism s to keep
th em p oin ted in to th e win d .
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
(VAWT) is a win d turbin e wh ose
rotor axis is vertical to th e groun d.
Th ese turbin es do n ot h ave to be
yawed in to th e win d. Th ey will
accept win d from an y direction .

46

Symbols

Reader

Survey

Th an k you for you r in terest in NRCan s Stand-Alone Wind Energy Systems: A Buyers Guide.
To im p rove th is gu id e we wou ld like to ask you to take a few m om en ts to an swer som e q u estion s.
W h ere d id you receive you r cop y of th e Bu yers Gu id e?
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Please feel free to ad d an y com m en ts or su ggestion s.

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Fax: (613) 995-0087

47

Notes

48