Q: Why wind as my source of energy ?
A: Quite apart from saving money, there are the environment aspects. There is little doubt that global CO2 emissions have to be greatly reduced if we are to halt global warming. Wind energy produces more watts per euro invested than any other type of renewable energ and emissions are virtually nil.

Q: Can the grid-tie system be connected to my home electrical circuit ?
A: To connect directly to your household circuit you will need a Grid-Tie Inverter that has been approved by ESB Networks which is intelligent enough to isolate itself from the Grid in the event of a grid power failure. Our grid tie system uses a SMA WindyBoy which is programmed to match the performance of our grid tie turbine. It has also been programmed with Ireland-specific settings. Please do not even think about buying a grid tie inverter designed for a market other than Ireland. It could be dangerous to connect it to the grid and is also strictly illegal.

Q: What power can expect, and what can I use it for ?
A: In reality, a 1KW wind turbine will only give you 1KW of power if the wind is blowing at a constant 12.5m/s speed. In practice you should expect to get 20% of this on a good site, with good average wind conditions. This will represent anything from 0 to 4KW of power per day.  To most people this figure means nothing much, and so, to put this in laymen's terms, if you produce 3KW of power over a 24 hour period, this is the equivalent of boiling your kettle for a full hour constantly in any one day.  Similarly, if you produce 1KW of power, you could operate your toaster for 1 hour constantly over a single day.  This demonstrates how much power you can expect to receive from your turbine.  The combination of our wind turbine and SMA grid tie inverter, means that the turbines power is shared with the "mains" power in your house/office. This will simply reduce your bills by varying amounts each day depending on the wind conditions, and you should notice a drop in your monthly electricity bills of a few percent to 30% at most, depending on how windy your site really is.

Q: Can I install this system myself ?
A: No. A grid-tie system needs to be connected to the grid and this can only be done by a qualified electrician.

Q: Will the ESB pay me for any surplus electricity that I generate?
A: In Ireland the jury is still out on this one. Currently the Commissioner for Energy Regulation (CER) has issued a consultation paper with a view towards reaching agreement on this with ESB Networks. Energy Liberators are also participating in these consultations with a view towards ensuring that the consumer gets compensated fairly for any surplus he/she produces. However, you must be aware that in most Renewable Energy systems, the surplus (usually called "spillage"), is minimal and is unlikely to result in significant paybacks from the grid operator. The real return on investment with grid tie systems lies in being able to offset existing usage

Q: How do I become an installer of these systems ?
A: Please contact Energy Liberators using the details listed here.

Q: Do I need planning permission ?
A: In Ireland the rules are currently very fuzzy on this. However, we believe that if your turbine tower is not installed in a highly sensitive area, it will probably not need specific planning approval. We are currently unaware of any similar turbine being refused by the Irish planning authorities.

In November 2006, the Irish government attempted to clarify the situation by publishing a Consultation Paper concerning "Proposed Amendments to the Exempted Development Provisions of the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001 in Respect of Micro-Renewables" . On the whole this is a pretty enlightened work and suggests that a wind turbine be exempt from planning permission if the following conditions are met:

1. The turbine shall not be erected on the house or any building or other structure within its curtilage.
2. The height of the support tower shall not be less than 6 metres and not exceed 10 metres.
3. The length of a rotor blade shall not exceed 2 metres.
4. The supporting tower should be a distance of not less than one and half times the total structure height (including the blade of the turbine in its vertical position) from any party
boundary.
5. No more than one turbine shall be erected within the curtilage of a house.
6. All turbine components shall have a matt, non-reflective finish and the blade shall be made of material that does not deflect telecommunication signals.
7. No sign, advertisement or object, not required for the functioning or safety of the turbine shall be attached to or exhibited on the wind

Fortunately, all of Energy Liberators wind turbines, when combined with towers sold by Energy Liberators, satisfy points 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7. Compliance with points 4 and 5 are at the discretion of the customer.

Q: What power can I expect to generate at different wind speeds ?
A: Please see the data in this document [PDF].

Q: Do you think that a site 80 feet from the nearest neighbour will be ok for noise?
A: 80 feet should be more than fine. The only noise is that produced by the blades which is more of a whirring than anything else, louder in very high winds, but then the wind is noisy blowing through trees anyway.

Q: If I live in Ireland, will I get a grant for installing a wind turbine?
A: The simple answer is "no". Right now, grants are only available for heat generating systems (like geothermal and solar water heating), but this may well change later. It is the belief of Energy Liberators that if a grant program does get introduced for wind turbines, that the resulting price rises will be in excess of the grant contribution (just look at the insane prices charged by some installers for solar water heating systems). Our advise is to install a high quality grid-tie system now and start realising real savings immediately.

Q: Can I mount the turbine on my roof?
A: Energy Liberators does not recommend mounting wind turbines on standard residential buildings except in exceptional circumstances. We (like many others in the industry) believe that wall or roof mounted turbines could result in structural damage to your home by transmitting small but significant vibrations into the structure. Another implication of these vibrations is that it they may make it difficuly to sleep at night due to noise. For this reason we use standalone mounting towers. These towers are discrete and are errected at least a few feet from your home. Another problem with standard roof mounted turbines is that they do not produce a lot of energy due to the rough wind patters that form around large structures such as houses. For more information, see a recent article from the Observer newspaper: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/cash/story/0,,1805154,00.html