Chapter 7:
The Problem:
We worked through, as a class, a calculation of the total energy that we might generate from a particular wind turbine during a particular month. Because this is a complex yet meaningful calculation I want you to show me that you can do it on your own. You use your own format to do this if you want or you can use the worksheet linked at the end of this page.
You will be considering the wind rose for the month of April in Redmond OR (that's us!). As usual you must first determine the number of hours the wind blows at different speeds. Be careful about the scales on the wind rose.
Then you need to consult the power generation curve for the Aeolus 500W residential turbine on page 3 of this manual. From that you should be able to determine the total energy generated in kWh for this particular month.
Finally you need to calculate a payback time for this turbine assuming that the cost of the system is $1000.00 and power is worth $0.12 for each kWh. for this discussion you should assume that all months of the year are like April which they probably aren't but who's worrying:)
