What do I *need* to make a grid-tied turbine?

[CinciJoe]

Soon I'll be comming into some money and I want to know besides a wind-turbine and the electric generator, what else do I need to make a proper grid-tied system that can be inspected by the city/county and get their "ok"?

I may want to do a small battery bank in case of power outages, but for now lets leave that out of the question.

Thanx-

[electronbaby]

If you want to add batteries, then you must think about that in the beginning. It is usually not a wise move financially to add them later UNLESS you plan for it first by selecting the right inverter, or series of inverters.

To grid tie, you will have to have a turbine, an inverter capable of grid intertie, usually permission from your utility, and any AHJ (athority having jurisdiction) who will inspect it for code compliance. Usually the utility will inspect it for UL1741 compliance as well.

Not to mention any building permits/engineering drawings (wet stamp).

Many times (not always) the township asks that the wind equipment be type tested, or UL listed. Homebrew turbines ARE NOT. Im not sure where you are from and what you can sneak by.

I suggest you learn a little first before rushing off and buying "stuff".

[zeusmorg]

 First off,, if by your name you live in the Cincinnati region, wind power won't be too effective, unless you have a great site! I do imagine that your average wind speeds would be to low to make any endeavor worthwhile.

 Designing an effective system for your area will entail finding out the area's average wind speeds, (you can google them) and also looking at other forms of power like PV solar panels if you have a good unshaded area to install them. A battery bank may be effective for short term outages, although some grid tie inverters actually use grid power to keep them charged. So maybe a separate, non-grid connected backup system may be worthwhile too.

 It all boils down to how much you're willing to invest in your system and what resources you have available at your site.

 You will probably never see "free power" just pre-paid electricity.. i would look into the current local regulations regarding what would need to be installed, and also if there are any extras to doing so, like an extra meter cost monthly.

[electronbaby]

A correctly sized battery bank, makes best use of the available power coming in through renewable source circuits and therefore minimizes the chance that the grid will be needed to float your batt bank. You are right, most inverter manufacturers include a grid powered charger usually in the equipment. This is usually to allow connection of an AC back up generator and does not need to be used for grid support (although it can be). A good inverter would allow the user to edit the programming and choose if they want grid support or not, or even better, at what specific voltage threshold.