I don't understand people who think that windmills spoil a landscape. Personally, I think there's something beautiful about watching a field of windmills generating clean power.I'm the opposite of the NIMBY crowd - I wish that I had a backyard so that I could install a sleek and curvaceous wind turbine like the Skystream 3.7™ from Southwest Windpower.
Alas, I don't think that the traffic authorities would be amused if I installed a Skystream turbine in the middle of my high-traffic Brooklyn street.
But that shouldn't stop you from installing this turbine with a rated capacity of 1.8 kW. Skystream estimates that such power should be able to fulfill anywhere from 40% to 100% of the energy needs of a household or small business. (See specs and brochure for more info...)
Actual percentages will of course depend both on wind speed and monthly energy consumption. So start making your home more energy efficient (install CFLs, invest in ENERGY STAR appliances, etc.) and hope for a bunch of windy days.
Where to buy:
Find a Skystream dealer near you by looking for the blue dots and Skystream symbols on the Skystream map. You may need to zoom out and expand the search area a bit to find a nearby dealer.
Expect to spend $13,000 - $16,000 including installation. Apparently, many Skystream owners do qualify for significant state or national refunds or incentives. The Skystream map helpfully contains a link (under the city/postal code box) to appropriate rebates and incentives. There's also a wind map link, although the landing page for that link didn't seem to be functiong correctly when we tried it.
By the way, you can also lower the price by installing the Skystream yourself, but a media rep for Skystream says that self-installation is "not recommended".
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