www.TheFarmerStockman.com March 2009
3
NewsWatch
The power is blowin’ in the wind
I
N an era of depleting resources and
rising energy costs, many folks living
in the windy regions of the Great Plains
are tapping energy blowing through their
back yards to reduce their energy bills.
Tommy and Mary Williams of
Christoval, Texas, saw investment opportunities in wind power after losing
investments in the stock market.
“This is gonna make money as the
stock market worsens,” Tommy Williams
says. “I feel sure that the money I’ve invested, I’m going to get back.”
The Williamses first discovered wind
turbines at a trade show in San Angelo,
Texas, when they spoke to representatives from Sintex, a San Angelo-based
wind turbine company. They were sold
from the beginning, and little more than
a year later had a wind turbine in their
back yard.
Small wind turbines range in sizes
and can produce varying amounts of
electricity, from 300 watts to 300 kilowatts, with output measured on an
hourly basis.
Home power
Most wind turbines used for the average
home range from 5 to 10 kW, explains
Jeff Tullis, director of Stillwater Power in
Key Points
■ Backyard turbines are gaining popularity
in the Great Plains.
■ Initial cost is high, and the payback period
is long.
■ Domestic wind turbines offset utility bills
by “net metering.”
Stillwater, Okla.
“The average home in our area uses
an average of 900 to 1,100 kW hours per
month. Small wind turbines will produce
10,000 to 15,000 kW per year,” he says.
“That’s almost enough to cover an average home.”
Wind turbines connect to the home’s
wiring through a circuit panel that shares
inputs from the local utility company
in a process known as “net metering,”
whereby the meter can spin in either
direction. Any electricity coming from
the turbine and used in the home offsets power from the grid, lowering bills
as utility usage goes down. However, if
no power is coming from the turbine, all
power will come from the grid and will
be reflected on the bill.
The biggest benefit of owning a wind
turbine is the money saved on electric
bills, which can be anywhere from $50
to $250 per month, says Mike Bergey,
president of Bergey Windpower Co., a
Norman, Okla.-based wind turbine manufacturer.
“A wind turbine actually works like a
negate appliance, one that puts power
into the home instead of using it,” he
says. But wind turbines can only create
power and save money when the wind is
blowing. If the air is still, all power comes
from the grid, preventing complete independence from the power grid.
Turbines are expensive
One disadvantage of wind turbines is
the cost: They aren’t cheap and can take
years to pay off.
A rule of thumb is wind turbines cost
from $3,000 to $7,000 per kW. The price
actually goes down as the turbines grow
in size, but the price will still be steep,
Tullis says. Overall, a unit can cost as
much as $25,000 to $35,000, and if wind
in the area is good, payoff can still take
as long as five years.
But for those who can afford a personal wind turbine, the payback can
be good, whether it’s for living a more
“green” lifestyle or simply to save money
on utility bills in the long run.
“For us, the money we invested, it’s
gonna be good,” says Williams, watching
the blades spin on his new unit.
Brazil writes from Stillwater, Okla.
Great thinkers honored by AFBF
By FRANK HOLDMEYER
E
lubing equipment because there is no
need to hunt a flashlight and try to balance it on the equipment while holding
the gun tip and pumping with the other
hand,” he says. “It also minimizes the
number of bearings needing lubrication
that might be missed in poorly lit areas
on the equipment.”
For winning the competition, Prough
gets a year’s use of a New Holland T6050
tractor.
New Holland has provided a year’s
free use of a tractor to the grand prize
winner for 19 of the 20 years the Farmer
Idea Exchange program has existed.
Photo by Lacey Williams
By EVERETT BRAZIL III
More winners
Three other top “inventors” won $500
apiece. Mike Brookshire, Winchester,
Ky., developed the “most innovative”
concept. His hitch design allows its
user to safely tow any type of ag machinery. Using the hitch, which fits
into any standard 2-inch Reece hitch
receiver, machinery is hooked up to a
draw bar and PTO shaft. When equipment is properly attached to the truck
or towing vehicle, it will look as though
it were hooked to the tractor.
Richard Layden, of Hoopeston,
Ill., developed the “most cost-effective” concept. His modified
crutch tip gas spout cover
prevents the loss of the gas
can spout cover. Without
a cover, a gas can could
easily spill and create a
safety hazard.
The crutch tip fits in
the spout and is secured
through plastic wire ties
and an I-bolt Layden attached to the spout.
VERY once in a while someone
comes up with an idea and we
wonder, “Why didn’t I think of
that?” That’s certainly the case with
an idea an Indiana farmer has come up
with.
We’ve all been there — trying to
see grease zerks in dark, hard-to-reach
places. Daniel Prough, LaGrange, Ind.,
has fabricated a perhaps somewhat obvious, but still ingenious, solution. His
“creation,” called Greased Lightning,
earned the grand prize in the Farmer
Idea Exchange competition at the American
Farm Bureau Federation
annual meeting in San
Antonio in January.
Prough’s invention,
an illuminating grease
gun, frees up your hands
to pump and hold the
grease tip at the same
time.
It’s
especially
useful any time you are
greasing
equipment
under poor lighting conditions.
“I purchased a new
heavy-duty pistol grip
grease gun from my
local equipment dealer,
a gun scope mount and
a xenon flashlight from
a sporting goods store,” PROUD FAMILY: The Daniel Prough family gets a year’s use of
explains Prough. “The this New Holland tractor for winning the American Farm Bureau
unit has saved a lot of Farmer Idea Exchange. Pictured from left are Ethan, Daniel,
time in the field when Amanda, Lisa and Logan.
Texas title-holder
Donny Smith, San Saba,
Texas, developed the “most
usable” concept. His tank
gauge shows how much
liquid feed, fertilizer, water
or fuel is in a tank without
climbing to the top of the
tank. Smith’s gauge uses
a 5-gallon bucket, a rope,
two pulleys and a counterweight.
BACKYARD POWER: Tommy and Mary
Williams, Christoval, Texas, see their
backyard wind turbine as a long-term
investment.
Vol. 99 No. 3
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