Wind Energy Basics: A Guide to Small and Micro Wind Systems (Paperback)

Paul Gipe's latest book, Wind Energy Basics, was published just this month (June). It is meant to be a companion to two of Gipe's previous publications, Wind Power for Home & Business, and Wind Energy Comes of Age.

While Wind Energy Basics is much slimmer than Gipe's prior tomes, this one is dedicated solely to home-sized and micro wind turbines. The text is richly peppered with photographs, schematics, and diagrams, all meant to stimulate the imagination of the reader. While not strictly a "how to" manual, there is enough motivating information included to keep a do-it-yourself wind aficionado busy for years.

Gipe begins with the usual chapters on wind fundamentals: power available in the wind, estimating performance, and a brief review of the technology. Of particular value are the photos of the dozens of commercially produced small turbines available from manufacturers worldwide. While pictures of these turbines can be found elsewhere, they rarely appear with actual people in them. Gipe's photos lend a sense of scale to the reader, helping the novice get some idea of exactly what she or he is getting themselves into.

Gipe then proceeds to chapters on off-grid applications and utility intertie systems. Again, Gipe does a good job of introducing the reader to what is possible. But because of the detailed complexity of such installations, Wind Energy Basics merely whets the reader's appetite for these topics. Anyone interested in delving deeper into the how's and why's of off-grid and utility intertie installations should proceed to Wind Power for Home & Business.

The chapters on siting, safety, and actually making a purchase give the reader a number of good tips worth remembering. My copy of Wind Energy Basics was immediately highlighted and "red-inked" as I went through these sections. There are several tables with realistic costs for the turbines, towers, and balance of system components. Since the book is geared towards the do-it-yourselfer, installation labor costs, the most nebulous cost to pin down in any home wind system, are not included.

The chapter on installing a small wind generator focuses on guyed tilt-up towers, ignoring the more usual freestanding or guyed lattice towers used on larger wind turbines. This was judicious on Gipe's part since the widespread use of small wind systems, especially with the off-grid PV (photovoltaic) crowd is inversely related to the height of the tower that needs to be climbed. By including a good photo sequence of his own tilt-up tower installation, Gipe is sure to instill confidence in the installation of a wind system by the most squeamish of non-climbers.

Finally, the appendices, unlike those of many other renewable energy books, are actually full of useful information. Gipe details the design characteristics of dozens of small and micro wind generators. In addition, all of the manufacturers contact information is listed, saving the reader hours of hunting for addresses, phone and fax numbers, plus web sites and e-mail addresses.

Limited to only 122 pages, Wind Energy Basics is unfortunately restricted in what it can present to the reader. However, Gipe does a great job with the pages available. While I've only had Wind Energy Basics for two weeks, I've already gone through it three times. Wind Energy Basics is definitely worth adding to your summer reading list whether you are planning on installing a small wind system in the near future or just interested in knowing more about micro turbines.