Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Wind energy sector - Wind power costs

People as always when starting new energy projects, regardless whether they are renewable or not want to know the actual costs of these projects before deciding on them. What I need to say first is that wind energy costs are in reality a significant attraction to homeowners, especially when they discover how cheaply they can build their own wind turbines with commonly available materials.

Wind energy is used on large scale in some countries for generating electricity such as Germany and Denmark. The consequence of this was huge drop in costs of wind energy in the last two decades by an incredible 80 percent. Wind power cost has decreased from 30 cents per kilowatt-hour to around 5 cents per kilowatt-hour today, and wind energy is something that definitely deserves to be more exploited.

Wind power cost has decreased. Click on picture for full size.

Many would be probably asking themselves what were the reasons behind this huge decrease in wind power costs. This can be mostly attributed to the development of better wind energy systems that are being utilized to capture the energy of wind with far more efficiency compared to past wind energy projects.

Wind energy systems relatively low costs have also helped in decreasing our dependence on the traditional fossil fuels. Use of wind power plants is environmentally friendly, and helps to keep the general environment clean with constantly present supply of clean, inexpensive energy, that can be transmitted to many homes across not only United States, but world in general.

Wind energy cost reductions are achievable with the help of smart financing methods. The cost of wind power falls significantly if it is a sponsor owned plant. If it is owned by an individual investor, the cost per kilowatt-hour will obviously be significantly bigger but the residential home owner shouldn't be too worried about this since today small wind generators (enough to supply electricity to household needs) can be built very cost effectively.

If you look for the price of large wind energy units you should be aware that their prices are in range from 1 to 2 million dollars. But you should also have in mind the capacity of these large wind energy units since they are capable of powering approximately 150-250 homes which could in the end turn out to be very profitable project after only several years of using it.

Costs are not everything you should be looking at when thinking about building your personal win energy project. You should make sure to estimate your energy requirements before you select a wind turbine to build.

If you are a homeowner, a wind turbine is available in the price range of $20,000 to $40,000. However, building your own wind generator will seem to many as much better option, especially since you can now find much info about it if you Google the web, or consult with people that have already done these projects

In the end, I would definitely advise you if you plan to go for wind turbine to try to build your own wind turbine. As some calculations suggested you can save two thirds of the money by buying parts and assembling them yourself compared to buying finished project. So much saved money definitely deserves to give more thought to it.

Wind energy sector:
1. Wind energy development
2. How does the wind energy generate electricity? (previous)
3. Wind power costs (current)
4. Conclusion (next)

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