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How much energy from a wind turbine?

The most significant thing in determining the energy from a wind turbine is the rotor diameter.

Since I've been unable to find any reliable output figures for wind turbines on the internet or elsewhere, here are some figures from a back-of-envelope calculation for turbines of different sizes.

I've assumed a quarter of the energy in the wind ends up as electrical energy, which isn't far out. I've ignored "load factor" and the other stuff which "experts" use which is often confusing and inaccurate.

A turbine has arrived, and as soon as it's up and working and we have some figures, they will be put on-line.

Looking at the manufacturer's literature, the 25 mph output is a little higher than my calculation indicates, but we are in reasonable agreement.


figures show probable
turbine output in watts
windspeed (mph)252015 12
Rotor
Diameter (m)
1.012564 2815
1.5280143 6235
2.0500255 11062
2.5780398 17298
3.01125574 248140


Nigel Deacon, habitat21 website

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