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Answer:
From the RenewableUK website FAQ:
"One 1.8 MW wind turbine at a reasonable site would produce over 4,700 000 kWh of electricity each year, enough to meet the annual needs of over 1,000 households." (the average household in the UK, with 2 parents and 2 children, uses approximately 5500 kWh of energy per year. -Strathclyde University statistic)
Specifically:
The energy production of a wind turbine can be calculated using the wind resource, elevation, temperature range, and turbine power curve. The climatological factors vary day by day and season to season, whereas the power curve is product dependent. Wind resources are often expressed in annual average wind speed, but this method doesn't account for seasonal variation, and makes the incorrect assumption that wind speeds are normally distributed about the mean. A more accurate method for analyzing wind energy production is to use calculus and statistics to calculate the sum of the wind energy produced at every instant in the year, using specific resource data for that instant as the year progresses. This is very tedious to do by hand, and so is best done using software. A company called SunWind Solutions has a web-based software program that will calculate wind turbine (and solar panel) output at any site in the US using this method. It allows the comparison of different products to see how they will work at your home, and also does payback period analysis, incentives, etc. The tool can be found at http://www.sunwindsolutions.com.
More general: This depends on the size of the turbine and the wind resource. A single 1MW turbine operating at a 45% production rate will generate about 3.9 milion kW of electricity in a year. This would be enough to meet the needs of about 500 households per year. The world's largest turbines at 5 MW have been constructed at the DEWI-OCC test field in Cuxhaven, Germany
Typically, normal output of wind systems run between 8% and 10% of the rated power. It is not the fault of the system, but average winds. Wind Turbines are rated at between 25 and 28 MPH winds. If the wind goes over 31 MPH, most systems shut down. Power is cubed, so a wind of 14 MPH provides 100KWH from a 1 MWH system. Because of this variance, fossil fuel plants must run at near capacity speeds and producing no output. This makes wind seem to be far greener then they are. Mean time between failure is still very low.
One persons experience is that "eight 1.2 KW generators in a Michigan harbor that I was involved with are able to produce about 2 KW's a day. Almost enough to power a single family home for an hour. Cost: $100K."
Another interesting point with wind systems is that fossil fuel plants normally run on standby to support the wind fluctuations that occur. So, not only do we see only 8 to 10% of a rated power output, but this is offset by the fossil fuel consumed an not delivered to the grid.
"One 1.8 MW wind turbine at a reasonable site would produce over 4,700 000 kWh of electricity each year, enough to meet the annual needs of over 1,000 households." (the average household in the UK, with 2 parents and 2 children, uses approximately 5500 kWh of energy per year. -Strathclyde University statistic)
Specifically:
The energy production of a wind turbine can be calculated using the wind resource, elevation, temperature range, and turbine power curve. The climatological factors vary day by day and season to season, whereas the power curve is product dependent. Wind resources are often expressed in annual average wind speed, but this method doesn't account for seasonal variation, and makes the incorrect assumption that wind speeds are normally distributed about the mean. A more accurate method for analyzing wind energy production is to use calculus and statistics to calculate the sum of the wind energy produced at every instant in the year, using specific resource data for that instant as the year progresses. This is very tedious to do by hand, and so is best done using software. A company called SunWind Solutions has a web-based software program that will calculate wind turbine (and solar panel) output at any site in the US using this method. It allows the comparison of different products to see how they will work at your home, and also does payback period analysis, incentives, etc. The tool can be found at http://www.sunwindsolutions.com.
More general: This depends on the size of the turbine and the wind resource. A single 1MW turbine operating at a 45% production rate will generate about 3.9 milion kW of electricity in a year. This would be enough to meet the needs of about 500 households per year. The world's largest turbines at 5 MW have been constructed at the DEWI-OCC test field in Cuxhaven, Germany
Typically, normal output of wind systems run between 8% and 10% of the rated power. It is not the fault of the system, but average winds. Wind Turbines are rated at between 25 and 28 MPH winds. If the wind goes over 31 MPH, most systems shut down. Power is cubed, so a wind of 14 MPH provides 100KWH from a 1 MWH system. Because of this variance, fossil fuel plants must run at near capacity speeds and producing no output. This makes wind seem to be far greener then they are. Mean time between failure is still very low.
One persons experience is that "eight 1.2 KW generators in a Michigan harbor that I was involved with are able to produce about 2 KW's a day. Almost enough to power a single family home for an hour. Cost: $100K."
Another interesting point with wind systems is that fossil fuel plants normally run on standby to support the wind fluctuations that occur. So, not only do we see only 8 to 10% of a rated power output, but this is offset by the fossil fuel consumed an not delivered to the grid.
Contributor:
N2146X
N2146X
First answer by ID1382997510.
Last edit by Fellanamedlime.
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