Urban energy generation: Influence of micro-wind turbine output on electricity consumption in buildings
Urban energy generation: Influence of micro-wind turbine output on electricity consumption in buildings
Small scale wind turbines installed within the built environment is classified as microgeneration technology. Such turbines may soon become a commercial reality in the UK as a result of both advancements in technology and new financial incentives provided by the government. In addition, microgeneration technologies, especially those with appreciable resource, have the potential to reduce built environment related CO2 emissions coupled with reductions in consumers’ electricity costs. In many cases payback on capital investment is within the lifetime of the device. Micro-wind turbines installed in certain areas in the UK will fit within such criteria. The work presented here addresses modelling of such installations around the UK and presents a methodology to assess the suitability and the economic viability of micro-wind turbines for domestic dwellings. A modelling tool “?-Wind” has been developed specifically for studying both energy yields and the payback periods for micro-wind turbines. ?-Wind predicts wind turbine performance prior to installation according to specific power curves either defined by turbine manufacturers or the user. Numerical consideration of wind speed data at specific UK sites was used to estimate energy yields and the results are projected to real electricity demand data from monitored dwellings in the UK. The results show that it is possible to predict with a good degree of accuracy the expected financial payback period for a typical domestic dwelling. Furthermore, the paper postulates that micro-wind technology could have the potential to make a significant impact upon domestic electricity generation when located at the windiest sites in the UK. The likelihood of a proliferation of these turbines in the urban or suburban environment is low but at coastal or inland high elevation sites the technology appears to have a promising future
micro-wind, domestic, microgeneration
154-165
Bahaj, A.S.
a64074cc-2b6e-43df-adac-a8437e7f1b37
Myers, L.E.
b0462700-3740-4f03-a336-dc5dd1969228
James, P.A.B.
da0be14a-aa63-46a7-8646-a37f9a02a71b
2007
Bahaj, A.S.
a64074cc-2b6e-43df-adac-a8437e7f1b37
Myers, L.E.
b0462700-3740-4f03-a336-dc5dd1969228
James, P.A.B.
da0be14a-aa63-46a7-8646-a37f9a02a71b
Bahaj, A.S., Myers, L.E. and James, P.A.B.
(2007)
Urban energy generation: Influence of micro-wind turbine output on electricity consumption in buildings.
Energy and Buildings, 39 (2), .
(doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2006.06.001).
Abstract
Small scale wind turbines installed within the built environment is classified as microgeneration technology. Such turbines may soon become a commercial reality in the UK as a result of both advancements in technology and new financial incentives provided by the government. In addition, microgeneration technologies, especially those with appreciable resource, have the potential to reduce built environment related CO2 emissions coupled with reductions in consumers’ electricity costs. In many cases payback on capital investment is within the lifetime of the device. Micro-wind turbines installed in certain areas in the UK will fit within such criteria. The work presented here addresses modelling of such installations around the UK and presents a methodology to assess the suitability and the economic viability of micro-wind turbines for domestic dwellings. A modelling tool “?-Wind” has been developed specifically for studying both energy yields and the payback periods for micro-wind turbines. ?-Wind predicts wind turbine performance prior to installation according to specific power curves either defined by turbine manufacturers or the user. Numerical consideration of wind speed data at specific UK sites was used to estimate energy yields and the results are projected to real electricity demand data from monitored dwellings in the UK. The results show that it is possible to predict with a good degree of accuracy the expected financial payback period for a typical domestic dwelling. Furthermore, the paper postulates that micro-wind technology could have the potential to make a significant impact upon domestic electricity generation when located at the windiest sites in the UK. The likelihood of a proliferation of these turbines in the urban or suburban environment is low but at coastal or inland high elevation sites the technology appears to have a promising future
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More information
Published date: 2007
Keywords:
micro-wind, domestic, microgeneration
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 39495
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/39495
ISSN: 0378-7788
PURE UUID: 2eeb3fc5-c967-40d7-bb8c-d323e62bb334
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Date deposited: 28 Jun 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:24
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