Monday
Oct052009
Hark, be that the call of the WIND!
Posted on 
Monday, October 5, 2009 at 02:06PM
Monday, October 5, 2009 at 02:06PM 
Yesterday was a particularly windy day in LA. Lately, all I can think about is wind. It’s probably because the Green Guys have been tasked with figuring out a way to provide onsite wind power to a large scale event in January. We’re currently in the proposal stage, but if and when we sign the contracts, I’ll write all about it. On a day like yesterday all I can think of is the power going to waste. The wind was whipping so hard at the beach I was blinded by sand. While heavy winds aren’t an everyday occurrence, there is usually enough wind near the ocean to generate some supplemental power. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of affordable options for harnessing the wind.
A few years ago I read about a young man in Malawi who had taken junk yard parts and turned it into a working windmill for his home. Neighbors who thought he was crazy while he was building the windmill now line up for a chance to power their cell phones on one of his five windmills. Last week a book was released called “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.” which details his experience.
Is wind power so hard to harness that the only way to do it is pay for high tech home windmills that cost $5,000? Some of the slick new home windmills are over $5000 and require a $4,000 tie-grid-inverter to pump the power back into the grid. Upfront costs like these make it hard for the average household to take advantage of power all around them. Maybe we should all start scavenging for parts in our local junkyards for parts to harness the wind.
By Matthew Geller, Green Guys, Venice, CA
Image source: Alt Energy News
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