You will see that this newsletter has a domestic theme, and reports on wind turbine installations in both the UK and Colombia - quite different climates, but equally as effective.

All three projects combine wind with solar technology, in order to ensure an energy solution whatever the season. TheTigh Na Creag installation demonstrates it is possible to create sufficient energy for a modern home's typical energy requirements.  They are aware of their electricity consumption and try and keep it to a modest level, but don't many of us given the hike in the cost of electricity?

FuturEnergy will be exhibiting at the Homebuilding & Renovating Show March 18-21st at the NEC.  The upgraded version of the popular 1kw wind turbine will be on display, together with inexpensive wind evaluation equipment for site verification, plus invaluable advice will be readily available on all aspects of domestic installations.

Over 3000 of our 1KW turbines have been installed over the last four years across the world, so do come and see why it is so popular and reliable and raise any questions you may have.  We are on Stand L89 ( Hall 11)

FuturEnergy MD, Peter Osborne, will also be giving a masterclass on Wind turbines: an introduction to micro generation using wind power. Friday 19th March at 10.30am. These specialist sessions, presented by leading exhibitors, offer a great opportunity to talk one-on-one with the leading companies in the industry. Each session lasts about 20 minutes and as you cannot reserve seats, you're advised to arrive early.

We have a limited supply of tickets which gain you free entry (normally £10 in advance, £14 on the door). Please email us & we will send you the promotional code to be entered when purchasing tickets via the website www.national.homebuildingshow.co.uk
First come, first served !

If you would like to find out more, visit our website, give us a call on 01789 451235 or alternatively drop us an email

Tigh Na Creag stands half a mile from the sea, looking out across the Minch to Stornoway in NW Sutherland; it is a remote and beautiful location for a house, and is where Stevan Lockhart and his wife Helen now live.

Stevan is the first to admit that the fact the house was off-grid ten years ago, when they bought it, gave him the perfect excuse to experiment with alternative energy: it was that or pay £8,000 for connection and dig a trench through a burn!  With no shortage of wind, be it fluky at times, Stevan opted for a wind turbine. 

Initially he experimented with an Air 400 module, which proved effective but noisy, and then moved onto a LVM Aero6gen with three solar panels (for further information visit: www.tncat.co.uk/stevan/archives/5).  However, having decided to turn their holiday home into their permanent residence, they needed more power, and so Stevan has recently installed a FuturEnergy I KW/24V turbine.  The power has increased four fold and is sufficient for most appliances including laptops, DVD, TV, lights, kitchen appliances, although no dishwasher, and a planned fridge, all running on 230 volts via a Victron pure sine wave inverter.

The installation includes two Unisolar 64w panels and the power generated by wind and solar feeds three banks of four Trojan T105 deep cycle batteries, providing 675A hours of capacity at 24V.  Future plans include an insulated battery house, connecting his wife's yarn dyeing workshop to a solar panel, install input and output ammeters.

Whilst not an electrician by trade, Stevan has found the technology involved simple to follow.  His biggest brain-taxer was how to raise the new pole into place, which he solved with a 'handy billy' block arrangement (see www.diy-wood-boat.com/Handy-Billy.html).

Stevan has adopted an experimental approach to the development of his system, and suggests that making a few "character building" mistakes en route, is all part of the process.  He recommends keeping your expenditure low whilst you are learning, and keep your system flexible so that you can make improvements over time.  He is impressed with the FE 24V turbine: "It's powerful, quiet, well priced and easily repairable", which are all key elements of an effective installation in my experience". 

www.ripplescrafts.com

Skyllermarks of Sweden (a FuturEnergy distributor) has installed a renewable energy demonstration site in Colombia, suitable for domestic housing, driven by a FuturEnergy 1KW wind turbine and two 50W solar panels.  The successful installation is designed to demonstrate a comprehensive solution to domestic energy requirements across Latin America, where grid coverage is far lower than in Europe:  in Colombia itself grid coverage in rural areas is just 55%.

The wind turbine is mounted on a mast made from centrifugal pre-stressed concrete: a production technique commonly used in Latin America for power lines and street lights.  The energy generated by the turbine and solar panels is stored in six 12V batteries, and an inverter facilitates the use of cabling suitable for standard 12V domestic appliances.

Stefan Skyllermarks, CEO, explains that the weather conditions at the test site favours solar rather than wind power, but that the constant soft charging of the batteries from the solar energy is balanced out by the intermittent high charging from the wind power, in so doing maintaining the effectiveness of the battery bank.

The site clearly demonstrates the flexibility of the technology, which caters to varying weather conditions and its suitability for domestic use.  The scheme has the potential to improve the quality of life for many people, and Stefan reports good interest from across Latin America.

www.skyllermarks.se

Whilst applying for planning permission for a permanent home on a three and a half acre site outside Atherstone, Ian Lewis has been experimenting with wind and solar energy - to good effect.  The site is part of an ex farm and he and his neighbouring land owners are all off grid, having once been quoted around £40,000 each to be connected: not surprisingly he started to look at renewable energy instead.

Ian and his wife now live on the site in a large touring caravan, static caravan and farm outbuildings, and before installing his FuturEnergy 12V wind turbine and two solar panels they relied on a generator, which proved to be expensive and noisy to run.  Ian estimates that over the last 18 months, with the wind turbine alone his daily fuel consumption of around five litres has decreased by 35 - 50%. The installation of the two 40W solar panels at the end of 2009, are already generating more savings.

They have both a 12V and 240V system, and using an inverter, successfully run their fridge/freezer, TV and lights off power stored in twelve 120 AMP deep cycle leisure batteries.  For juice drinkers such as the washing machine, they use the generator.

Ian is now completely hooked on wind and solar energy.  Subject to getting planning permission for his house, he will be installing an additional turbine on site, regardless of whether he and his neighbours eventually negotiate a sensible connection charge to the grid.

If you are interested in knowing more about Ian's experiences then please get in touch:
Hillside Meadow Farm, Quarry Lane, Mancetter, Atherstone CV9 2RD.