Free Electricity

Free electricity generated from a wind turbine is being wasted because of a lack of funding from Shepherd University.

The wind turbine near Byrd Science center remains on a windy day, even though the trees are swaying, wayward hats are scampering across the sidewalk. The turbine's generator has a fail-safe mechanism to stop the blades in case of extremely high winds, or if there is nowhere to send the electricity. Here at Shepherd University, the latter case is true.

Electricity costs at Shepherd University consume a large portion of student's tuition money. Alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar, can be fed back into the electric grid to reduce electricity costs and even earn money as excess electricity is sold back to the power company.

The windmill is plugged into a battery bank; however, the brake is still engaged.  Dr. Clarissa Mathews of the Environmental Studies department says that the brake can be released for demonstration purposes, but otherwise, "It will remain braked until we get an AC grid hookup at the site." The main obstacle in receiving such a connection is financial.

The windmill is a Skystream 3.7. It is a residential model designed for home use, and is tied directly into the power grid. Unlike other wind turbines, which produce direct current (DC) power and require an inverter to convert the energy into alternating current (AC), this model actually produces AC power.

Here in the United States, our electric grid uses AC power, while most batteries operate using DC power. Thus, the Skystream windmill is designed to be plugged directly into the power grid rather than a battery bank as it is now.

The windmill was installed for demonstration purposes. It is seated atop a thirty foot tilt tower which can be raised and lowered to give students access to the turbine itself. It will be used this semester in the sustainable energy course(ENVS 341).

Clay Herzog of Mountain View Solar, who helped install the windmill explained that the energy output of the windmill is directly proportional to the wind speed. At higher altitudes, and where there are fewer obstacles, there are higher wind speeds.

The Skystream model is designed to work at low wind speeds, and therefore does not need to be as high as other turbines. However, the current location of the windmill is obstructed by several trees taller than the turbine itself. Such obstructions create turbulent winds which are less efficient at turning the blades and generating electricity.

Herzog says the ideal height would be thirty feet above nearby obstructions. Mathews says that students have scouted several locations that would be more ideal for the windmill, but there are currently no plans to pursue these sites for wind energy.

Herzog suggested some other locations that would be good for wind energy, amongst which were near the Rumsey  Monument or perhaps even on the bridge over the Potomac river separating West Virginia and Maryland. Locations near the river would be more ideal as there are usually regular winds over the river and less obstructions.