"Many small wind turbines are not recommended" | enbausa.de

Only include recommended systems in your small wind turbine report. Why?

The market for small wind turbines is difficult. There are always providers who offer technology that is not ready for the market or recommendable. In strong winds, a wind turbine is exposed to enormous forces. In order to withstand this in the long term, you need high-quality system technology. Nowadays you can buy systems very cheaply on the Internet and have them delivered to you. People do that too - and then find that the bargain doesn't work as expected.

How high do you estimate the proportion of investments on the market that are not recommended?

It's hard to say because there's a lot on offer worldwide. Via online platforms such as B. Amazon and Alibaba you can order mini wind turbines from all over the world. Estimate that at least 10 percent of the international offer is not technically mature. My approach: I look specifically at the German market. This applies to small wind turbines that have a permanent sales partner in this country.

How do you identify recommended wind turbines?

I have created a catalog of criteria for when wind turbines are included in the market report. One is an official certification according to IEC 61400 -2. This is the international standard for small wind turbines. However, this certification is very expensive and is usually only done for systems with an output of around five kW or more. It is significantly cheaper for the manufacturers if they have the performance curve checked on a test field by independent testing institutes instead of full certification. Other criteria are the age of the company and the market maturity of the products. And then there are also test fields. There are also scientific studies and, of course, neutral expert opinions. I'm quite well connected in this area. Then, of course, the point of reputable sales and marketing also plays a role.

What should system buyers pay attention to in order not to fall victim to a dubious company?

A typical pattern is when someone sells micro wind turbines for residential use and shows pictures of the mini rotor directly above the roof ridge. I often have very bad wind conditions in residential areas. A solar system can work in residential areas because the sun shines more on the roof from above. But the wind comes almost from the side. And when I'm in the middle of a densely populated residential area, how is the wind supposed to get there? In general, the performance of small wind turbines on roofs is not satisfactory. This is mainly due to unfavorable wind conditions. The wind hits the building and is swirled around. It's much better if I have a free-standing mast next to the building. I need a peripheral location, a single location or a high-altitude location. In such situations, strong winds can hit the rotor.

For whom do you recommend small wind turbines, for whom is it worth it?

Small wind turbines can make sense for private and commercial operators. However, if you want to reduce electricity costs with it, commercial companies have a much better hand. This applies to windy outskirts of industrial and commercial areas as well as individual locations, as is often the case in agriculture. It is important to achieve high self-consumption. Feeding into the grid is definitely not worth it. In the case of private operators, motives such as self-sufficiency and self-sufficiency as well as fun with the technology should prevail. Private homeowners should not assume that they will save on electricity costs. That would be the case if wind power were cheaper than the price of electricity. You have to have a particularly windy plot of land for this. Despite this, consumers are interested in mini wind turbines because they are the perfect complement to solar systems.

Why is that?

The two complement each other perfectly, especially when a battery is added, which can then be filled from the wind turbine in autumn and winter. The dream combination of solar system, wind system and battery is also of interest to private operators if they want to be less dependent on mains electricity. What technological developments are you seeing in the small wind turbine market? As with large-scale wind power, there is a trend towards larger rotors, which means the systems are becoming more powerful. Rotor blades that are 10, 20 or 30 centimeters longer do not look much larger, but they can make the systems much more profitable. This means that the control technology has to be adapted, because a particularly large rotor is usually equipped with rotor blade adjustment. This is technologically demanding.

In addition to horizontal runners, there are also vertical runners on the market. Do you also have them in your market report?

I have listed a few vertical wind turbines. State of the art, however, are horizontal wind turbines - that's simply what research and development and, above all, practical experience have shown. Small vertical wind turbines are very popular among people because of the special rotor design. Let's see how the vertical runners develop in the next few years.

Information on the report

The small wind turbine market report 2017 includes detailed descriptions of 32 manufacturers, 86 wind turbine types and 101 generator-rotor combinations. Furthermore, the current framework conditions for the operation of small wind turbines are explained, including the EEG 2017 (Renewable Energy Sources Act) and the state building regulations. The market report comprises 193 pages and is published as an e-book in the form of a PDF file. The standard price is €38.99. by Silke Thole