This weekend I traveled to San Diego and then to Palm Springs. More details of that to come but I wanted to share one of the most amazing sites on our way to the desert - the wind power generators. Here are some pictures and some random facts about them.
Because the wind produces kinetic energy to produce electricity, there is no bi-product produced, which means no pollution. There is no fuel to purchase and maintain, just some wind to move a wind turbine. Wind powered generators can produce quite a large amount of energy as well, up to 3,000 watts and more.
Here is a chart of how many watts are needed to run most common appliances:
Device Typical Wattage Surge Wattage
Light bulb 60 watts 60 watts surge
Fan 75 watts 150 watts surge
Small black/white television 100 watts 150 watts surge
Color television 300 watts 400 watts surge
Home computer and monitor 400 watts 600 watts surge
Microwave oven 750 watts 1,000 watts surge
Furnace fan 750 watts 1,500 watts surge
Refrigerator 1,200 watts 2,400 watts surge
Well pump 2,400 watts 3,600 watts surge
Electric water heater 4,500 watts 4,500 watts surge
House A/C or heat pump 15,000 watts 30,000 watts surge
***These numbers are only estimates. They will vary based on the wattage rating of the appliance being used.
When looking online depending on if you want to purchase a "home" or "industrial" (which varies by size & output) you may pay $5,000 to $25,000+. And yes, you can purchase them on Ebay even! 
It was an amazing thing to see. At times it looked as if it was a farm with daddy windmills, momma windmils and baby windmills. What an awesome idea to use a renewable resource for energy!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Amazing Power Generators
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3 comments:
So neat...and very interesting! I hope you had a great weekend. Can't wait to hear more. I saw you tried to call sometime yesterday. Sorry I missed you, we were running around all day with family. I'll chat with you soon. Love you!
Aren't those things crazy?! We pass a ton of them when we drive back to Kansas from here...in Weatherford, OK. I have never taken any time to do research on them, but it is pretty fascinating!!
Hope you had a fun trip!
Wind mills are awesome. They are a little creepy when you drive by them on the high way though. And the wind farmers pay a heffty price to the farmers that they buy the land from.
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