Solar Pumping Solutions

Skystream wind turbines

Skystream wind turbines - FAQs

How much will a Skystream wind turbine generate?
Depending on your location between 2,000 and 4,000 kWh of electricity per year - an average NSW home uses 7,300 kWh of electricity a year

If you pull out a copy of your power bill you'll see a lot of numbers relating to meter readings, usage amounts, usage rates and the cost. If you want to understand all of the components of your bill in detail, you should visit your electricity company's website but a couple of general things that apply to all power bills are worth noting:

  • Usage (usually shown in kWh) – this shows your total electricity usage during the billing period (usually around 90 days).
  • Your average usage per day – this is usually in the form of a bar chart that shows your average daily usage for the billing period and compares it to previous billing periods going back 18 months to two years, so you compare your rate of usage to the same time last year.
  • The typical NSW home uses the most power per day during the winter due to heating.
  • Power is usually measured in watts – one watt burns one joule of energy per second.
  • A kilowatt (kW) equals 1,000 watts.
  • Electricity use is typically given in kilowatt hours (kWh). In one hour, a one kilowatt appliance uses one kWh of power.
  • A megawatt (MW) is 1,000 kilowatts.

What does a Skystream wind turbine cost to install?
The total cost of installation is $25,000 - $30,000 including groundworks, each site is different and an full written quote will be supplied to you after an inspection.

What’s the payback?
At today’s prices the return on investment is between about 6% and 17%; better than the banks are offering! Another way of looking at it is that a Skystream will pay for itself in six to ten years depending on your location. The windier the site the faster the payback.

Is the feed-in tariff likely to change?
The Feed-in taiff scheme is currently undecided for NSW. As electricity prices rise in the future your payback times and rate of return is likely to get better still.

Can I do / organise the groundworks myself?
If you know of a good local groundswork company or contractor it may be possible to arrange for them to do the groundworks for your Skystream turbine. Discuss this with your Skystream installer when they come to do a survey of your property.

Do I need planning permission?
You will need to check with your local council for necessary develoopment applications.

How noisy is it?
Not very. All turbines make a sound, usually in proportion to the wind and background noise. Most owners say they don’t notice it after a few weeks.

What about neighbours?
Ideally the turbine should be at least 50m from your house and your nearest neighbours.

What about birds and bats?
Birds and bats tend to steer clear of small wind turbines.

Is there any maintenance?
The Skystream is designed for minimum maintenance. Unlike other turbines it’s bearings do not need to be greased every year. A yearly or bi-yearly check over is recommended.

What’s the next step?
Please contact us to arrange a site assessment to see if you’re in a good location for a wind turbine. If that looks positive we can organise a survey of your property to advise and quote for the supply and installation of your Skystream.

What if my property is off grid?
If your house is already connected to the mains (the grid) then we recommend that you connect your wind turbine directly to the grid. This is done through your meter box and there is no need for any upgrade any of the existing wiring between your house and the grid. However, if your house is not already on the grid then in some cases it may make sense to remain ‘off-grid’. Electricity companies often quote exorbitant amounts to connect a property to the grid. Where this the case, or where you are using a diesel generator and have high electricity consumption, using a combination of a wind turbine and solar panels to charge batteries, which then supply your electricity makes good economic sense, because you won’t be receiving electricity bills on top of the expensive of connecting to the mains.

When considering an off grid system it is important to minimise your likely energy requirement so that it will make it easier and cheaper to meet that demand. You will need to consider all your lighting requirements, electrical requirements including things like fridges, freezers etc. Each one of these will have a power rating (i.e. a 9W bulb), and will run for a certain amount of hours per day. You can work out how much energy you’ll need per day by multiplying the power rating of each device by the number of hours it will be used per day (on average). The sum of these will give you an indication of how many kilowatt hours of energy per day you use. This information can be used to estimate to a renewable energy system that will use a wind turbine and solar panels to charge batteries that will supply your required electricity.