Workshop explores wind power

By Dave DeWitte, Gazette assistant financial editor

July 02, 2001

SPRINGDALE -- Don Laughlin would have been happy just to find 12 people
willing to invest $200 of their money and three days of
their time to learn about wind energy and help him install a wind turbine at
his Springdale home.

Instead, Laughlin and the Iowa Renewable Energy Association had to turn away
would-be participants in a three-day wind-energy
workshop that concluded Sunday. The association could probably have put on
five workshops with the number of interested
participants, if only there had been enough wind turbines to install.

Laughlin said the workshop was intended to give people enough knowledge to
decide "whether they can handle it financially and
technologically."

"A lot of Iowans are interested in solar, including quite a few women,"
Laughlin said.

The workshop didn't pretend to give participants all the knowledge they
would need to install a wind turbine. Even those who are
technologically adept and physically strong would likely need some help
doing an actual wind turbine installation, he said.

Several years of planning went into Laughlin's wind turbine project. He
expects the 7.5-kilowatt battery-charging turbine to provide all
the electricity needed for his house, eliminating his reliance on the power
grid.

That was easier for Laughlin than for many people, because he previously
installed a solar hot water system, which provides most of
his home's heat and hot water.

"Wind power and conservation go hand in hand," said Dennis Pottratz of
Decorah-based GoSolar, who provided training. "If you want
to get off the grid, you have to get your power demand down."

Pottratz said eliminating electricity from a home's heating mix is probably
the best way to reduce power consumption.

Wind availability is the other critical ingredient in the mix. Laughlin is
hoping for an average wind speed of 13 m.p.h., just a little over
the threshold of about 12 m.p.h. for an economical system.

Erecting the tower to get the wind generator to a height 30 feet above any
terrain obstacles within 50 feet was a challenge on
Laughlin's property.

He wanted a "tilt-up" tower, which can be raised from the ground, but had to
settle for a tower that could be lifted into place with a
crane.

Participants spent about half their time in instruction and about half their
time doing hands-on work such as assembling the tower.

Pottratz says demand for turbines has risen during the recent updraft in
electricity prices, but not enough to overwhelm the supply.

A system the size and type of Laughlin's would cost up to $40,000 to install
in a typical home, and Iowa law does not allow one-for-one
'net metering,' in which the power company must reimburse owners of
generators for the power they put on the grid at the same rate
they sell them power.

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All local content copyright c 2000 by The Gazette Company, Cedar Rapids,
Iowa

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