Micro wind turbines

Micro wind turbines (below 1 KW) are used for small home needs, recreational vehicles and other specific applications, namely whenever connection to a utility grid is impossible.

Below 100W to 1 KW turbines

Micro or mini wind systems - typically based on turbines with a power ranging from 100 W up to 1 kW - shouldn’t be confused with typical home wind electricity systems, involving small but substantially larger turbines (see: Turbines Power and Size).

These systems are mostly off-grid and include turbines based on a varied set of technologies and designs.

Uses

Micro wind systems applications include:

- battery charging and small electric applications for remote homes and places.
- recreational vehicles, namely sailboats
- electric fencing and water pumping;
- telecommunication dishes, measurement instruments, radar and telecomm devices, security and electronic systems.

Micro turbines are often associated with diesel generators, batteries or photovoltaic systems. A new kind of systems includes the urban micro-wind generators, a rather untested type of wind systems.

Designs and tower height

The designs of micro-wind turbines vary a lot, but the most common are three-bladed up-wind horizontal axis units. Towers are usually an inexpensive pipe of 2” diameter or less.

There are many roof-top mounted micro-turbines for power generation, but they are particularly inneficient.

Cost and manufacturers

Micro-wind systems are relatively cheap systems, and are sold in retail stores and on-line sites. There are thousands of small manufacturers of micro wind applications.

Warranties and lifetime

Warranties of micro-wind systems are usually short - 5 years of less – and their quality if often questionable. There are many unrealistic claims about them.

Typical lifetime of under 500 watts units is usually shorter (10 to 15 years) than that of larger units (500-1000 watts). As expected, in extreme weather and high corrosion conditions, turbines have much shorter lifetimes.

Maintenance & repairs

Maintenance requirements are usually minimal, mainly in the smaller range (below 100-500 watts). Larger units (500-1000 watts) may require occasional on-site repairs, involving blade damages, controller failures, etc.