grid tied whisper 500 turbine?

2 Posts
Jan 5, 2010 01:46 pm
grid tied whisper 500 turbine?

Hi. I've been recently looking to purchase a medium sized (3KW) residential wind turbine to help reduce our electric consumption from the grid. Our geographical location is perfect for a wind turbine and the whisper 500 series of turbines at first glance seem to be the perfect fit for our plans. However, after a little research I've gotten confused and was hoping someone could answer me a couple of questions before I set our plans into action.

1: Is the whisper series suitable for grid tied application, and if so which model; 24/48/220v system?

2: Other than a tower, what "extras" would be needed to get said turbine grid tied?

Thanks in advance!
« Last Edit: Jan 5, 2010 01:47 pm by Tim Redgewell »
 
8 Posts
Jan 13, 2010 10:45 am
Re: grid tied whisper 500 turbine?

Hello Tim,

The Whisper 500 wind turbine may not be the right answer for you if your goal is to connect to the grid.  Like a lot of wind turbines, this one is made to send the power it produces to a battery bank, not directly to the utility grid.  Even the 220V "wild" AC version needs to be used in conjunction with a battery bank because its output is not consistently in the narrow range that the utility grid needs for code compliant connectivity.

This leads directly to your second question about what else would be needed to connect the wind turbine to the grid.  In addition to the turbine and controller, tower and battery bank, you would need a grid-tied with battery back up inverter, appropriately sized AC and DC disconnects, suitable wiring, and a lightning arrestor wouldn't hurt either.  That should cover most of the primary and secondary components.

There is another option from the same manufacturer, Southwest Wind Power.  It is called the Skystream 3.7, and that wind turbine is made to connect directly to the utility grid, through the included inverter that carefully manages the turbine's output.  You can learn more about it by clicking on the link below:

http://www.windenergy.com/products/products.htm

I hope that helps!

Eric Pedersen
AltE Staff
877-878-4060 x141
eric @ altEstore.com
 
2 Posts
Jan 13, 2010 12:25 pm
Re: grid tied whisper 500 turbine?

Eric,

Yes, that's a huge help and I appreciate the advice about the skystream.

THANK YOU!
 

Disclaimer and Disclosure

The Alternative Energy Store, Inc reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse or delete any posting or portion thereof, or terminate or block the access to this forum.

The opinions and statements posted on this forum are the opinions and statements of the person posting same, and do not constitute the opinion or act of the Alternative Energy Store, Inc (AltE). The Alternative Energy Store, Inc does not endorse or subscribe to any particular posting. No posting shall be construed as the act or opinion of the Alternative Energy Store, Inc.

Click here for BBB Business Review

McAfee SECURE sites help keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams
Desktop Website | Mobile Website

Share

Click on an icon to share! If you don't see the method you want, hover over the orange "+".

Feedback

What can we do to help you?

Please enter a summary
Sorry, the copyright must be in the template.
Please notify this forum's administrator that this site is using an ILLEGAL copy of SMF!
Copyright removed!!