In many areas in the US, the average wind speed is around 10 mph. Here in Florida many areas are averaging 5-7 mph speed and coastling 10-12. What that means is free energy for you! Given that the goverment has “sweetened the pot” with a 30% tax credit OR 30% cash rebate towards the purchase price, it is more affordable than ever. Still need more? There are also grants available to persons that qualify!
Electrical generation by wind is all about the math. The theoretical maximum efficiency occurs when the wind is slowed down to 2/3 its initial speed, which would give around 59.3% efficiency. Old-style farm windmills have around 30% efficiency. This means that one should expect to capture around 1.5 watts of the wind’s power for each square foot of a windmill-type design.
Therefore, a 10-foot diameter farm-style windmill can realistically be expected to be capable of creating about a constant 60 watts of usable electricity.
