Wind Power ~ Wind Turbine?

[SeanPhuket]

Hello folks.

Does anybody on here have any idea where to get wind power/wind turbines from. Of course not the huge things you see in the North Sea but something suitable for your average house .... ?

Thank you in advance.

Sean-

[saneroad]

My Thai father-in-law got one brought down from Bangkok recently. I'll try to dig up the contacts and send to you asap.

[neverdie]

I would be very interested in learning about whats on offer, as well.

[SeanPhuket]

My Thai father-in-law got one brought down from Bangkok recently. I'll try to dig up the contacts and send to you asap.

Thank you Saneroad

Your kind help is much appreciated

Sean-

[fiddlehead]

YOu can learn a lot and educate yourself on what things could cost if you just do a search on ebay for "wind turbine"

Looks like if you have the generator (motor), you could build the rest yourself fairly easy. Then you would need a battery system and inverter to convert the low voltage power so it's useful in your home of course.

Also, i would think the Yachties would know although everything pertaining to a yacht is usually much more expensive than necessary.

I see they are planning on putting another big one up on Big Buddha hill.

[SeanPhuket]

YOu can learn a lot and educate yourself on what things could cost if you just do a search on ebay for "wind turbine"

Looks like if you have the generator (motor), you could build the rest yourself fairly easy. Then you would need a battery system and inverter to convert the low voltage power so it's useful in your home of course.

Also, i would think the Yachties would know although everything pertaining to a yacht is usually much more expensive than necessary.

I see they are planning on putting another big one up on Big Buddha hill.

Fiddlehead

Uhmm, you may be onto something there ...

Thanks for your input

Sean-

[Kimera]

Hello folks.

Does anybody on here have any idea where to get wind power/wind turbines from. Of course not the huge things you see in the North Sea but something suitable for your average house .... ?

Thank you in advance.

Sean-

The wind turbine is an expensive way of generating electricitiy, I have experience of using them in Scotland. With the price of electric in Thailand there is no reason you would want to use one , unless you have money, and want to be Green

[markg]

Phuket isnt really that windy. Depends where you live of course. I live in a moo baan and a wind turbine at home would be all but useless i feel. Unobstructed height above sea level is the way to go.

However, solar power might be worth investigating, esp if you have a south facing roof or area.

Again, speak to yachties. You can get ones you can tilt to maximise their angle to the sun.

Check out also http://www.homemadeenergy.org/?hop=e14050912

From a price point of view, as Kimera said, in Thailand, it's not really a financially sensible option.

Which begs the question. If we are all supposed to be going greeen, (and we should be) then is the relatively low cost of fuel stopping us doing so?

Let us know how you get on. Quite honestly, Thailand is crying out for a government initiative to have solar panels fitted as standard to all new builds. The government should be subsidising this. I know on recent holidays to Greece, just about every house had solar panels on it. India too. Thailand, and Phuket in particular should be covered in solar panels! (one of the big things in the UK was that the government forced the electricity companies to buy back any EXTRA electricity you generated yourself. This is a good move. There are people in the UK who save more than 100% of their previous electricity bill. I'm not sure if Thailand currently has a law like this in place. Maybe it should)

Edited March 12, 2009 by markg

[JRinger]

Hello folks.

Does anybody on here have any idea where to get wind power/wind turbines from. Of course not the huge things you see in the North Sea but something suitable for your average house .... ?

Thank you in advance.

Sean-

If you want to build your own:

http://www.fuellesspower.com/32_Windmills.htm

by the way, the plans are very detailed and easy to digest. Hopefully I'll have it up & running soon.

[fiddlehead]

I agree that Phuket is probably more suitable for solar rather than wind power. Unless you live on a hill next to the sea perhaps.

I have friends who live in Tucson, AZ (very hot and lots of sun) Who installed 24 solar panels on their roof and they now pay for 95% of his electric bill which used to be average $100.00 a month.

With the money it cost to put in, they estimate it will take 15 years to pay off.

But are happy do be doing something clean and green while increasing the value of their home.

Good luck with whichever route you choose.

[londonthai]

unless you are in a remote (and windy) location or if you need an independent from the grid source of electricity, than there is not much point investing in a wind turbine. Same, as there is no benefit to go solar

[fiddlehead]

unless you are in a remote (and windy) location or if you need an independent from the grid source of electricity, than there is not much point investing in a wind turbine. Same, as there is no benefit to go solar

No benefit to what? The earth? The electric company? The atmosphere? Your kids health? Your health? Reliable voltage? Constant power? Pollution?

If you only think in terms of money, and only think short term, you may be right.

But many people think differently.

Solar panels have gotten much more efficient in the last 10 years. The more they get used, the better the technology will become. Same with wind turbines, hydro-turbines (I have friends off the grid that run a washing machine, refrigerator, and all their lights from a small stream fed by a spring on their land)

I don't think it's unrealistic to see everyone in a sunny area using solar panels (or wind turbines in windy areas) for their household electric use 20 years from now.

All it takes is some tax credits, some leaders to push legislation in the right direction, and improved technology to see it more and more widespread.

[Kimera]

unless you are in a remote (and windy) location or if you need an independent from the grid source of electricity, than there is not much point investing in a wind turbine. Same, as there is no benefit to go solar

No benefit to what? The earth? The electric company? The atmosphere? Your kids health? Your health? Reliable voltage? Constant power? Pollution?

If you only think in terms of money, and only think short term, you may be right.

But many people think differently.

Solar panels have gotten much more efficient in the last 10 years. The more they get used, the better the technology will become. Same with wind turbines, hydro-turbines (I have friends off the grid that run a washing machine, refrigerator, and all their lights from a small stream fed by a spring on their land)

I don't think it's unrealistic to see everyone in a sunny area using solar panels (or wind turbines in windy areas) for their household electric use 20 years from now.

All it takes is some tax credits, some leaders to push legislation in the right direction, and improved technology to see it more and more widespread.

Improved technology, thats the key !! however it will be a long time if ever, before you can generate enough to power a 6kw shower in real time, with maybe the exception of water power. You can only ever get energy from a source that which it contains

[londonthai]

solar panels are more expensive in thailand than in the west. Installing them in arizona, in some remote location, might be sensible, but installing them in phuket, close to the grid, is not.

neighter wind electricity nor solar panels are green technologies.

wind turbins cause noise pollution and they need lead or cadmium batteries (pretty poisoneus metals).

solar panels contain selenium (as I remember), a pretty rare metal. They are high technology - need a lot or resources, including energy, to make them. Hence price.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Here are some good facts and info on solar systems.

http://www.solarbuzz.com/Consumer/FastFacts.htm

[mads]

I don't know if this site is any good but it's worth a check.

http://www.free-homemade-energy.com

[Beachbunny]

Company in Thailand for solar/wind energy/etc.

Siam Green Power International

Beachbunny

[saneroad]

Since my original posting, my father-in-law has gone to Bangkok and not able to reach by phone.....set to return this week. I'll keep you posted!

[SeanPhuket]

Thanks for the kind input

[TexasRanger]

I use them at work sometimes in remote areas and they are OK for charging a bank of batteries but for house power etc. you would need something monstrous, we really only use it to supplement a solar array and we are in windy areas anyway.

[H2oDunc]

As a way of working I avoid ANY company which has GREEN in it. It tends to be used to jump on the GREEN con that perpetuates the world at the moment!

[saneroad]

Finally, got the contacts.

windgen.net

Tel 02 2951000 ext 1206

The one my father-in-law bought was about 30,000 bt. Haven't got it up and running properly yet, so can't make any comment on it's effectiveness.

[neverdie]

saneroad,

Would luv to know what you end up thinking of the product after you have it up and running for a while.

Great stuff & good on people for having a go at this stuff

[saneroad]

Update on the wind turbine.

It broke.

There was a fairly heavy storm a few weeks ago and one of the blades just snapped off!

So much for that...

However, I see now that a shop opposite Kajonkiat school on Chaofa West Road has a wind turbine out front. Think the shop is called Thai Solar or something, beside a furniture shop. Might be worth checking out.

Not sure what we'll do with the busted one; I'm leaving that up to my father-in-law. For now, it's a very large lawn ornament!

Edited May 14, 2009 by saneroad

[fiddlehead]

Do you feel it was shoddy workmanship or just too much wind.

I know the bigger ones have automatic braking systems that stop at a certain wind speed. (50 mph in CA for the big ones)

It does get crazy with wind here sometimes and i would think you need to have some kind of automatic stop when things get crazy.

If it's shoddy workmanship (wouldn't surprise me) you could still try to ebay just for blades i would think.

[canopy]

This is a disappointing thread. To summarize: one person was finally able to track down a source, try it apparently in a windy location (duh), and the blades immediately broke off making a useless piece of junk. Before closing the book on wind power in Thailand, are there any success stories or quality offerings? I wish to generate 10KwH/day off grid. Solar is out of the question, costing millions for such a modest setup.

Edited December 11, 2009 by canopy