Placements.

There are many misconceptions on how exactly wind turbines can be used on the average home and business.

Utilizing a wind turbine is very site specific. Having the appropriate amount of space and clearance above and away from obstacles that may hinder or disrupt a steady flow of wind to your turbine is paramount.

Example of Wind Shear

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Air moves and operates as a fluid. Therefore it can be blocked and obstructed to the point where there is little to no wind being caught by the wind turbine.

The goal in using towers to mount wind turbines high is to avoid turbulent air and catch the higher wind speeds up in the air. The increasing wind speeds in the atmosphere is known as wind shear. The example to the right shows how you can see the effects of wind shear right outside your window. The higher the tower the better. Increasing height is not a linear function with wind speed, its exponential. Therefore doubling your tower height could theoretically result in being able to capture almost 4 times more energy.

When an e2sys specialist goes to site a wind turbine they will look for an area with few obstructions to laminar wind flow. Obstructions around your turbine will not only decrease the power of the wind but they will also create turbulent airflow.

Example of Wind Shadowing

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The rule of thumb for turbine placement is to have the lowest part of the turbine's blade at least 30 feet above any surrounding obstacle. This of course is a rule of thumb and a better understanding of the percentage of wind from each direction of the azimuth will decide which obstacles will make a true impact upon your turbine's electrical production. This information is viewed as a wind rose.