Southwest Windpower - Renewable Energy Made Simple

Wind turbine the first on Ingleside skyline

The Ingleside Index
January 6, 2010
By Michael Cary
http://www.theinglesideindex.com

Carol and Frank Fenton are the first residents in Ingleside to erect a wind turbine generator on their property.

At a turnkey cost of about $13,000, it might take some years to earn back the investment through a lowered monthly electricity bill and an energy tax credit, but adding a wind generator to their residential power supply made more sense to the Fentons than investing in the stock market.

"We look at it as an investment. We will see a return that is much better than any Wall Street investment," Frank Fenton said regarding the new power supply that's hooked into his home's electrical system.

"We have put a meter on it, and we know exactly how much power is coming from it. We're hoping to cover 25 to 30 percent of our power usage," Fenton explained.

Their investment is a 220 volt, 2.5 kilowatt per hour Skystream residential wind generator that is rated for winds up to 140 mph. It stands on a 30-ft. tower in a back pasture on the Fentons 20-acre property on Morgan Avenue.

From the street, the wind turbine is barely visible on the Fenton property, and neighbors have said they really like the look of it when they see it.

"We're pretty sure it's not bothering anybody," Fenton said.

And Fenton said he wouldn't be surprised if another wind turbine eventually "sprouted up" at his home.

"We could put more up depending on how this one works out. Initially, I can see a better return on our investment over any investment we can make," Fenton said.

A new ordinance adopted by the Ingleside City Council in December now addresses height limits and the number of wind turbines that residents are able to install on their property.

Robert Stoddard, director of building inspections in Ingleside, said he and City Manager Jim Gray wrote the new ordinance based on what's available on the market and other factors.

Stoddard proposed the ordinance to the city council in an attempt to stay ahead of the demand that could arise in Ingleside some day.

"We were anticipating a demand with this ordinance. I wrote it all myself. I had a lot of information from vendors as well as from people who came in and talked to me," Stoddard said regarding the new city ordinance regulating residential wind turbines.

The ordinance addresses "wind energy conversion systems," and defines them as "a system used to convert wind energy into electrical power including grid tied and non-grid tied systems ... a turbine, tower, mounting brackets, foundations and associated electronic control and conversion devices ... which has a rated capacity of not more than 10kw and which is intended primarily for on-site consumption of electrical power."

According to Ingleside's new wind turbine ordinance, "permits shall be granted for wind energy conversion systems on lots one-half acre or larger and shall be a permitted use where structures of any sort are allowed ... the maximum tower height on one-half acre to two acres shall be 45 feet with only one system allowed. Over two acres the maximum tower height shall be 80 feet with only two systems allowed" and "shall be rated for a minimum survival wind speed of 120 mph."

The ordinance also covers requirements related to over speed controls and safety shut down requirements in case of an electrical grid shut down, which are features already built in to a wind generator system such as the Skystream that the Fentons operate on their property.

"The height limitation and the property size requirement were things discussed between myself and the city manager. We looked at what manufacturers are putting out there. We weren't going to write anything that prevented them because of height," Stoddard said.

Stoddard said that residents who are eligible and who elect to install wind turbines on their home sites would see a payback in their investment over a 10-year period.

"I would say it's possible that you could save about 30 percent of your bill during the wintertime and 20 to 30 percent during the summertime. If your average light bill is $300 in the summertime, you possibly could save $75 to $80, maybe a little more," Stoddard said.