Residential Wind Power

APS sells and installs small wind power (electricity generation) systems that can be connected to the home or building and the electricity distribution system. Battery backup can be installed for use during nighttime power consumption. Those systems which are connected to the electrical distribution system are called grid-connected.

A grid-connected wind turbine can reduce consumption of utility-supplied electricity for lighting, appliances, and electric air conditioning and heating. If the turbine cannot deliver the amount of energy needed, the utility will make up the difference. When the wind system produces more electricity than the household requires, the excess is sold to the utility via net metering, or stored in the battery backup system.

Wind power systems are practical if the following conditions exist:

An area with average annual wind speed of at least 10 miles per hour (4.5 m/s).
An area where utility-supplied electricity is expensive (about 10-15 cents per kilowatt-hour).