Which turbine is suitable for my needs?

A medium sized average home requires between 4–6 MWh of energy per annum. A school, office, community centre or farm will almost certainly use a lot more.

The Evance Iskra R9000 5kW turbine is capable of supplying this at an AMWS of about 5 m/s on a typical site, and can supply considerably more annual energy on a windier site, as is shown by the graph below.

For larger rural domestic properties, schools, golf clubs, farms, community centres and commercial premises the larger, more powerful, Gaia 133 11kw or Westwind 20kW turbine (pictured on the left) may be more appropriate. This will generate approximately 30MWh per year at a moderately windy site. We can also offer a 10kW turbine from Westwind for those with slightly less energy needs.

For sites with a lower wind speed and access to a three phase (400V) electrical connection, the Gaia 133 11kW may be the ideal choice. The Gaia 133 turbine has an very large blade with a diameter of some 13m which gives it exceptional low wind speed performance. The constant and low rotational speed of the Gaia 133 11kW turbine makes it among the quietest in its class. In practice the turbine noise is often masked by background noises such as wind or traffic. The Gaia 133 11kW turbine has a number of safety features that ensure that rotor speed and power generation are kept under control.

Segen can also offer a Vestas 225kW & 500kW turbine for industrial scale applications. These are fully reconditioned models from Denmark and provide excellent value for money for sites with large energy needs and good wind resource.

An assessment of the power requirements of your particular application and a wind speed assessment of your site, will need to be made in order to determine which turbine will meet all your needs, however the question may not be as important as you might imagine ...

The wind turbine, and your property, will be connected to the national grid, so whenever you need more power than the wind turbine can produce, it will simply come from your electricity supplier as it does now. When your turbine produces more power than you need, it is exported to the grid, and you get paid for the surplus.

Cost will of course be a major factor in your decision, and in general you should purchase the largest turbine that you can afford if you want to maximise your savings in electricity costs and environmental impact, however your neighbours and local planning authorities may not agree.

Shown below is a comparison table showing the expected energy generation and a graphical illustration comparing the sizes of the turbines when mounted on typical towers in clear open ground.