fortis 5k

SolarLurker · July 2010

I had a solar guy recomend a fortis 5k turbine on a 100 or 120 pole.

does anyone here have any experiance with these units?

mike95490 · July 2010

Re: fortis 5k

Run away, run away.....

I mean do you have wind? if you can walk outside and have to hold your hat on, then consider a wind turbine. otherwise, forget it.

SolarLurker · July 2010

Re: fortis 5k

I live on the top of a mountain, all around me are commercial wind mills. It has been said that the wind resources in the area could power all of Pa.

I plan to invest in a wind study, although it won't be a 120 feet.

I am just looking for equipment recommendations.

stephendv · August 2010

Re: fortis 5k

The montana and passat were included in the famous Zeeland trials, and appeared to do well in comparison to the other units: http://www.boost-energy.com/boost/2008/10/delta-wind-trial-in-netherlands-bwea.html

...but yeah, you're on the right track by first doing a wind study. It's really tough to beat solar on a kWh/$ basis.

BilljustBill · August 2010

Re: fortis 5k

SolarLurker wrote: »

I live on the top of a mountain, all around me are commercial wind mills. It has been said that the wind resources in the area could power all of Pa.

I plan to invest in a wind study, although it won't be a 120 feet.

I am just looking for equipment recommendations.

When I saw that commerical wind mills are all around you, best start asking who owns the wind rights.....

Most of those companies "hide" a clause in the contract they dangle in front of the landowners that actually GRABS the wind rights, even if they don't put a turbine on their place... Some guidelines say that "You can't plant trees, or have anything higher than 40' without their permission."

Plus, already on a mountain, that height might require an FAA blinking strobe or red light at night.

Lots of moving parts in/on a wind generator....made worse by having to climb to get up there or paying for someone to tilt down the tower so you can work on it.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but any win/gen adds a unique responsibility weight to your daily life, especially when lightening or high wind comes through....not to mention annual mantenance on those with blade lengths that start at 8' and get bigger.

Bill

System2 · August 2010

Re: fortis 5k

Hello solarlurker,

The 5kw Fortis is a "made in holland" machine and has a good quality
But the price is on the high site i think.

About the comments compare solar with wind energy I can say that a lot of people are doing the wrong math.

Just look at the average windspeed in your region and calculate the turbine on this.

Do not compare a 5kw windturbine with a 5kw solar set-up.
it makes no sense.

Normaly a windgenerator wil do in average about 10% of the rated power.
But it can do this 24 hours.
To place a windturbine it does not make a big difference in price if you place a 5kw or a 10kw turbine.
in both cases you need a firm tower and concrete , also dig a hole for the cable and ask for the permit to place the turbine.
all these things are not much more expensive when scaled up a little.
in most cases you can put a 10kw generator direct on a tower that is made for the 5-10kw systems.
So the price of the tower is the same.
just connect 2x a power-one aurora inverter to a 10kw system and let the show begin.

With a little wind the turbine will give about 1000 watts but for 24-7-365
this means 168kw per week.
Lets asume the turbine will stop for 50% of the time then you still have
8736 kw pro year.

Can any-one of the solar fanatics make me a calculation what a solar installation will cost when it has to do 8736 kw pro year ?

But yes you need a windy site !!!! and a permit to build the thing

kind regards

Cor

http://www.draaistroom.net/video/5kw%20windgenerator%20draaistroom%20commercial.wmv

SolarLurker · August 2010

Re: fortis 5k

I will look into the price different between a 5k and 10k, if the tower and labor are the same, maybe the incremental cost may justify the 10k.

I was told here in my area a 5k would produce about 4500kw. I agree its not cheap, solar is better from a cost benefit. However, I have solar already and the sun does not shine at night. With the 30% federal tax credit and bonus depreciation, the net cost did not seem that bad.

niel · August 2010

Re: fortis 5k

you must be in or around somerset which is known for its wind and commercial turbines.
what did you mean by being told the 5k turbine will produce 4500w? is that the max output at any given time? is that kilowatt hours? is that 4.5kwh or 4500kwh? is that kwh per month?
do know that like pvs are dependent on the sun and how intense and for how long it is for an output that the same holds true for a wind turbine in that its output depends on the strength and longevity of the wind to produce an output. it would be unrealistic to expect full output for any long timeperiods as the wind would be quite consistently strong for a long length of time. nobody will experience these high output scenarios for long time periods very often and the norm is the average wind speed most experience which in turn produces very little power from the turbine. you may be in the 10-12mph range for your average there, which isn't bad, as pittsburgh is around 9.5mph on average.
if you get one of these turbines then please keep us informed as to its performance results and any problems you encounter including maintenance.

fortis 5k

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