I'm thinking about starting a side business making wind turbine generators. Good idea?

[LostInAnomie]

I have access to the materials I would need and a few people with the expertise to get them made fairly cheaply. I also live in an area that has at least the minimum average wind speed to make it worth installing. Do you think it would be a good idea? DO you think many people would buy them?

[conscious evolution]

1. Go for it

I am in the process of starting a alt energy company.Mainly solar as their is not enough sustained wind in my area but I will at least try to sell wind generators also.

[LostInAnomie]

2. I'd like to try to do hydroelectric too.

I actually think that would be more sustainable around here, but it would also be a lot more work to construct. There are a lot of constantly running streams around here that would be great for it.

[conscious evolution]

3. I thought of that also

Unfortunately my father,whose career was in building hydroelectric plants for the Army Corps of Engineers,told me you have to have quite a water drop to get enough water pressure to run the turbines up to enough speed to generate power..Something like a minimum of 40 feet.

[LostInAnomie]

4. I've been checking designs out on the internet.

I've seen a couple where people have built small dams and focused the water flow down to higher pressures enough to get around 12kw a day. I think for most people if you could tell them they could simply generate enough power to run their hot water heater it would be enough for them to buy in

[NNadir]

5. Well you couldn't do worse than Vestas. Theirs keep crashing and breaking apart.

Be sure you have good liability insurance.

[triguy46]

6. Step 1. Write a business plan. Step 2. Do you enough working capital?

Step 3. Is there a financial incentive/payback for the consumer. The current market has these and they are very pricey, with long paybacks in most areas.

Lastly, if you have to ask, you haven't begun to do enough research.

[applegrove]

7. My sister has some eco-friendly stuff at her farm including geothermic heating and cooling. She

needs electricity to pump the water through the pipes and is thinking of getting a small wind turbine.