Author Topic: lowest noise turbine type and size  (Read 1625 times)

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MountainMan

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lowest noise turbine type and size
« on: July 11, 2005, 01:37:12 AM »
I haven't found anyplace where somebody is actually experimenting with noise and laying out some info on choosing types of turbines and sizeing so as to minimize noise in medium winds.


I've got a really choice wind location, and recently found out it would cost me around $20k to get hooked up to the mains.  Since I'm basically an off the grid kind of a guy to start with, I'm thinking this is a great way to justify spending about half that much building a combo of wind and solar and generator to power my eventual house on the property (nothing there but a 20 foot storage container right now).


I would love to hear from the experts regarding the noise issue.  This is important to me for several reasons, not the least of which is that I bought this place to get some peace and quiet.  I don't mind listening to the strange noises the quail make, and the interesting noise that the bee swarms make as they pass twenty feet overhead has gradually changed from horrifying to interesting.  Still, I really don't want a bunch of noise from a wind turbine, and feel I can easily make up for less efficient but quiet designs by having a whole mess of them (I've got 8.5 acres).


In particular, I've got several places where the shape of the earth (locally and for miles and miles around) is conspiring to give me a very directional and dependable 10mph wind at or near the ground.  The downside is that these places would be pretty close to the house, both vertically and horizontally.  A horizontal Lenz or Ropatec or similar "VAWT turned on it's side" could be concealed in any number of places and still get lots of continuous wind on my land (and be tucked away out of sight for the most part).  I haven't found any mention of the comparative noise level from these designs vs. the more common propeller designs.


So, this is my plea...tell me everything you know about lowering the noise from a wind turbine, including insanely small or large designs, and or odd shapes and topologies that suffer from various inefficiencies but are much quieter than other types.


many thanks,

jp

« Last Edit: July 11, 2005, 01:37:12 AM by (unknown) »