Dick Habegger from Phelan, CA sent in a great production chart that he created in Microsoft Excel that he wanted to share with everyone. Dick asked us to post it on the site for download, so for anyone looking for a document to easily keep track of your kWh production and monthly kWh usage from your local utility just click the link below. After you download the file just replace the current utility meter readings with your own and the chart will automatically calculate the kWh produced.

Thanks again Dick for sharing this with everyone. We appreciate it.

- Download Production Chart -

        

By Kevin Denke 07/17/2008 Photo Kevin Denke Brad Groff and his wife, Mindy Passmore, call watching their wind turbines spin, “cheap energy” and “cheap entertainment.” The TBG Service Co. station on Denver Avenue in Fort Lupton is a popular stop these days. They always have their share of visitors whether it is folks filling up on gas, in need of welding supplies, looking to pick up a towed car or just wanting a cold drink.

But now, it is the whirling blades of their own personal wind farm peaking out from behind the quaint service station that piques the curiosity of a passerby.

“I drove by yesterday and all three of them things were spinning,” one customer tells owners Brad Groff and his wife, Mindy Passmore. “I drove back by on the way home and only one was spinning.”

“I don’t know, man,” Groff replies. “You tell me what the wind does.”

Yep, the turbine towers have been the talk of the town since they were installed July 2.

“Tons of people,” Groff says of folks drawn to the windmills (respectively 45- and 33-feet tall). “The interest is phenomenal.”



Why didn’t we think of this?

The couple, who have run TBG since 1996, first stumbled on to the idea of using wind turbines as an energy source as they thought ahead to their retirement in Oklahoma.

“We were trying to think of ways that we could cut all of our bills after we retire and don’t have much of an income,” Groff says.

The idea of wind energy to counter those monthly utility bills stuck with the pair so much that they not only invested in three turbines in April but decided they would market them to others as well.

“We got to thinking about it and thought, ‘there’s a need for these things,” Groff says.

He spent a week at Arizona-based Southwest Wind Power where he learned everything about the turbines from installation to the company history to dealing with permitting and zoning issues.

The last piece of education came in kind of handy.

Wind power isn’t free Groff says he found the price was steep when he went to the city to get a permit for installing his turbines.

Absent anything in its code dealing specifically with alternative energy devices, city staff said it would need to charge a special use permit at a cost of about $900.

Groff balked at the high cost.

City Administrator Mike Konefal said they have no specific ordinance related to alternative energy implements such as solar panels or wind turbines but that the special use permit application is the standard process for residents seeking exceptions to municipal code.

“We have a mechanism in place rather than doing a full code change,” he said.

Konefal said Groff presented data showing a loophole in city municipal code. He pointed out that public utilities are allowed by right. City staff conversely argued that private utilities are not permitted by right and subject to a special use permit. It turned out both sides were half right.

“He was going to be using the wind generators as a private utility for his own personal purpose,” Konefal said. “He was also going to be connecting it to the public utility grid.”

The city eventually cut the cost of the special use permit fee to $450.

“We thought it would be appropriate to cut the fee in half as a compromise.”

Groff paid the $450 along with an $800 building permit fee. While he says he has no problem with the latter charge, he is still vexed by the special use permit fee. Groff said it goes against the intent of the Renewable Energy Incentives Act which says those who use renewable energy devices should be rewarded or given a break.

“We didn’t want to pay it,” Groff said. “We still think we should be refunded that money because of what we’re trying to do.”

Konefal said city council has given staff a six-month timeframe to draft a special ordinance dealing with alternative energy issues.

“The time is right to do it, to put together an ordinance,” he said. “It’s not that difficult of an ordinance to write.”

But as Groff moves from simply benefiting from the use of wind turbines to encouraging others to do the same, he worries customers will be deterred by the cost of additional fees. The cost and installation of the wind turbines he is selling can run close to $12,000.

Looking at the same thing

Dan Brennan operates Highway 85 Self Storage on Weld County Road 27 ½ and became interested after Groff made his pitch on the benefits of wind energy.

“Brad was talking about it and I said I’d be interested because wind blows all the time,” Brennan says. “I haven’t quite decided if it’s efficient enough. I’m just trying to cheapen my electric bills.”

But Brennan’s property is in Weld County and he’s weary of going through the county’s permitting process.

According to Weld County Planning Director Thomas Honn, the county has a general building permit for traditional windmills – the kind found on farm land above the water trough. They must be less than 70 feet high, produce less than 50 kilovolts of power and be related to an agricultural use.

Anyone else must go through a use by special permit review – a four-month process that includes a $2,500 application fee to cover research, public comments and public hearing preparation.

Brennan said the fee wasn’t the biggest factor for him. Instead, he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of the permit process that would include a review of his entire existing lot.

“I just don’t want to redraw everything,” Brennan said.

Honn said the county is trying to catch up with sudden upturn in demand for items like personal wind generators.

“When the code was written it didn’t address the rush we’re beginning to see for personal-scale wind generators,” he said.

County staffers and commissioners are planning a work session as soon as next month to discuss the latest research and get direction on a possible code change.

Honn said there are a variety of factors that must be weighed in a code change especially regarding wind turbines. Chief among those issues are tower heights, permissible property sizes for the equipment, possible noise issues and whether neighborhood notification is necessary.

Honn said the county is not trying to be heavy-handed or discourage use of alternative energies. He said the direction he has received from the commissioners is very much the opposite.

“The county has every interest in trying to facilitate things like this that do make sense and certainly is not looking at being punitive,” he said. “And, the commissioners, more specifically, have said ‘lets find a way to get these in as simple and inexpensive as possible for people.’”

Brennan said he believes the county is working towards a reasonable solution. While he waits, he is using the time to evaluate whether wind energy is the best option.

For Groff and Passmore, who have invested more than $30,000, in starting the business, changes in county policy can’t come soon enough.

“It’s a big gamble and the county’s actually hurting us a little bit right now because we’d like to start recouping some of that money,” Groff says. “Loan payments are due.”

“We’ve got six or seven people that would put one up today if we can get past that stupid $2,500,” Passmore adds.



Concerns monitored at state, environmental level

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has championed a “new energy economy” since first taking office.

Jeff Lyng, the renewable energy program coordinator in the governor’s energy office, has seen the effort to make homegrown energy a reality take often small, but meaningful steps forward. One of the bigger successes of the past legislative session, he says, was limiting the power of homeowner’s associations to prevent residents from installing energy efficient and renewable energy devices at their homes. Ritter also signed into law a net metering bill this spring that credits alternative-energy users who tap back into the public grid with their own home-produced energy.

But Lyng admits there is much work to be done. To that end, the office is developing a tool kit to help with the issues surrounding the emergence of new energy processes.

“What seems to be happening in terms of the existing barriers is that we are reinventing the wheel over and over and over in local communities,” Lyng said. “High-permitting fees for wind generators is something we recognize is still very much a barrier.”

Lyng said much of this year’s past legislation was geared toward solar energy. He is hopeful that future bills will give wind power its place next to the sun.

Keith Hay, clean energy advocate for Environment Colorado – a citizen-based environmental advocacy group – said it isn’t unreasonable for cities and counties to recover permitting costs.

“Those permitting costs shouldn’t and can’t be a burden to homeowners and small business owners who want to make that kind of investment,” he said. “Cities and counties definitely need to be looking at their building codes and permitting fees to make sure those are reasonable costs for the technology and reasonable costs for the people wanting to use that technology.”



Selling itself

Groff believes once some of the obstacles in harnessing renewable energy are gone for everyday citizens, his job will be pretty easy.

“I don’t think we’re really going to have sell these things,” he says. “Once the policies all get in place, I think they’ll sell themselves.

“Anybody that’s against renewable energy is a fool,” he adds. “It’s clean, free energy.”

The TBG turbines stand atop a sandy, gravelly lot ringed by a security fence and old, towed cars.

Groff dreams that one day selling the turbines will generate enough income so he could shut down the gas island and make this area behind the service station a grassy park.

He’ll take breaking even on their monthly utility bill for now.

Sometimes when the nightly Rockies game has lost its lure and the breeze gently begins to ruffle the trees, Groff and Passmore will retreat to a pair of waiting lawn chairs.

And they will sit side by side, watching the uniquely-shaped blades whirl.
“Cheap energy, cheap entertainment,” Groff says.

When they aren’t doing that, he admits they are watching in awe as their power meter spins backward.
For now, they believe they are on the cusp of what is about to become a very lucrative investment.
And it all starts with someone who can’t help but stop and ask about those windmills.
Passmore motions her husband over to the service window.
Yep, another person with questions about the windmills.
“Well, what do you want to know?” Groff asks gleefully.

www.windenergycolorado.us

        

Here are some photos sent in by Brad in Fort Lupton, CO of three skystreams they installed. 

        

Here are some cool photos sent in by Doug Jones. They had to build a deck under the skystream in order to brace it when it was down and in order to work on it and attach the blades.

        

This skystream was installed by AgraSharp Southwest, 12 miles southwest of Silver City, New Mexico. The pump house sub-panel(100 amp)  is 300+ feet from main panel(200 amp) and the skystream is another 70 ft. from pump-house.
They have a 400ft. well pump and a booster pump at the sub-panel plus lighting etc and there has been no problem with load switching.  The unit just keeps turning in the foothills of the Burro Mountains and is located in a good stream of air.

Looks great Jeffery, can't wait to hear what kind of production you get in your area.

For more information on the Skystream contact AgraSharp at the numbers below.

AgraSharp
(509)-628-7141 
P.O. Box 7118
Kennewick, Washington 99336
www.AgraSharp.com


AgraSharp Southwest
owner/operator: Jeffery Scott Sharp
(575)-574-7200
 37 Kathleen Dr.
Silver City, New Mexico 88061
www.AgraSharp.com
agrasharp@hotmail.com

        

   
Copyright Joshua Janes 2008

        

Post your Skystream's kWh production for June of 2008.
Just copy the line below and replace the current information with your own and post it in a comment.

NAME: Joshua Janes      LOCATION: Oak Harbor, OH, USA       PRODUCTION: 153 kWh      AVG. WIND SPEED: n/a

        

We received an email from Peter Carse out of Bozeman, MT who is in the preliminary stages of installing a wind system at his home.

Peter wrote: "It seems as though governmental hurdles, including not only federal, state, and county; but neighborhood as well, prove to be formidable for many individuals passionate about pursuing their goals in the 'alternative' energy arena.

I feel especially lucky to live in a place where governmental as well as neighborhood sentiments tend more towards the bigger picture, than the inertia of coal and oil and Iraq and Exxon and what-have-you.

Even though I count myself among the lucky blessed few, it has come to my attention that many folks lack this support.
To that end, I offer to you and your site a neighborhood letter, an initial contact, which although tailored to my specific neighborhood, can be edited to be universal. It may prove to be as useful as the sample letter offered from skystream."

Peter attached this letter below that he sent to his neighbors that was preceded by an email describing his plans for a home wind system. Even in his progressive neighborhood, some people worry about visual aesthetics far beyond their larger sensibilities.

Below is the letter he sent out that he would like to share with others to use. You can also download the word document at: http://www.keepturning.com/downloads/greetings.doc

Thanks for sharing this helpful letter Peter.



Greetings neighbors,

“WIND ENERGY”

The words conjure up images of stately columns of turbines such as those seen at Judith Gap, Livingston, or the wind farm near Vantage, WA. Massive white structures turn in unison, a monument to our efforts to seek an alternative to fossil fuels.

These installations, beautiful in their own way, tug at a corner of our conscience. We know that we would like the opportunity to use domestically produced, clean, sustainable, carbon-neutral energy. We would like to drive a car that used no gasoline, heat our homes from the sun alone, cook with ingredients that have been grown as locally as possible without gross additives. We want these things because we feel that they are the proper course, because the alternative, our current status quo, is doomed.

Wind energy is a small part of a bigger picture of so-called ‘alternative’ energy sources that include wind, solar, micro-hydro, biomass, methane, tidal, and geothermal energy…+…?  The biggest obstacle to the development of these energy sources is the inherent resistance of people to change. Somehow we are programmed to perceive change as a potential for a negative experience. This reality is rampant anywhere you care to look: we fight mightily for the space we have come to occupy in our lives, and any change whatsoever has the potential to threaten that effort. In the realm of alternative energy, this resistance to change is found at the federal, state, and neighborhood levels. For example, it is illegal to drive an MSEV electric vehicle such as the “Solar Bug” offered by Bozeman resident Steve Titus, on Bridger Canyon Road. Around the country, individuals interested in expressing their preferences about how energy is generated (such as our local major source of energy: coal) are facing sometimes-insurmountable obstacles from neighborhood, county, and state authorities.

In terms of wind energy, we are lucky here in Montana. Not only is our state ranked fifth in the nation for wind energy potential, but the primary utility in our area (Northwestern Energy) offers grants for residential wind systems, as well as net-metering arrangements to maximize efficiency and lower costs. There are tax incentives from the state for income tax and property tax relief. And, our newly adopted county zoning regulations have no restrictions on wind energy installations.

Small residential wind energy installations are not cheap. Traditional cost-benefit analyses show that a residential wind system is break-even at best. But at this point in history, we are at the tipping point on many, many levels. It can’t be more obvious that we are moving into times that are substantially different. In Montana, our current reliance on coal for electricity has a dubious future. By installing a wind turbine at my home, I hope to make a symbolic statement. The wind here is ever-present. If only there were blades turning in addition to the Tibetan prayer flag flapping!

I hope that you will agree with me, that a small tower and wind turbine on my property will nurture our desire for a world which sits more comfortably in line with our values.

“accept what is; embrace change”

Peter Carse

        

Southwest Windpower Joins U.S. Botanic Gardens to Kick-off Sustainability Effort called One Planet-OURS!
Southwest Windpower features small wind generator at U.S. Botanic Garden’s summer exhibition on the Conservatory Terrace Washington, D.C. -- May 23, 2008 --Today, two leaders in sustainability, U.S. Botanic Gardens and Southwest Windpower, teamed up to bring Skystream – the first small residential wind generator to the U.S. Botanic Garden’s opening ceremony to kick off its summer exhibition. Southwest Windpower is pleased to be a part of the U.S. Botanic Garden’s summer exhibition which is held in the Conservatory Terrace, in the National Garden and in Bartholdi Park.

U.S. Botanic Gardens and Southwest Windpower are celebrating the theme of this year’s exhibition, One Planet – Ours!, which focuses on sustainability - not only how it applies to gardens and the landscape, but also how citizens and their communities can lead more sustainable lives.

“We are so honored to be involved,” said Andy Kruse, co-founder of Southwest Windpower. “Because we believe in sustainable living and we know that our Skystream residential wind turbine makes sustainable living more accessible for everyone.”

Skystream is changing the way many Americans power their homes and take control of their energy costs.

Southwest Windpower’s Skystream – the first backyard-sized, grid connected, wind turbine – is changing the way many Americans power their homes, allowing them to take control of their energy costs. Depending on the wind resource, a Skystream generates between 30-80 percent of the power required by an average home. Early adopters, who have had operational Skystream units for a year, are reporting a savings of more than 50 percent on their energy bills. 

Southwest Windpower is among a number of government agencies, non-governmental organizations and individuals focused on leading sustainability efforts in the U.S. Botanic Garden’s One Planet-Ours! exhibition running from May 24-October 18, 2008.

About Southwest Windpower
Flagstaff Arizona-based Southwest Windpower is the world’s largest producer of small wind generators (400 to 3000 watts). The 21-year old company has been a pioneer in the development of wind technology and has produced more than 105,000 generators that provide power to residential homes, remote cabins, telecom transmitters, offshore platforms, water pumping and sailboats. Southwest Windpower’s newest wind turbine, the Skystream 3.7, is the first fully-integrated wind generator designed specifically for the grid-connected residential market.  Southwest Windpower distributes in more than 88 countries. On the Web: www.skystreamenergy.com

About the U.S. Botanic Garden
The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is a botanic garden run by the Congress of the United States. It is located in Washington, D.C., on the U.S. Capitol Grounds campus near Garfield Circle. The building itself, which includes a large Lord & Burnham greenhouse, is divided into separate rooms, each one simulating a different habitat. On the Web: http://www.usbg.gov/index.cfm

        

The photo was sent to us from Marc Gasper who just installed his new SkyStream 3.7 in Belfair, Washington. Congratulations Marc.