Distributed wind energy installations are common at, but are not limited to, residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial, and community sites, and can range in size from a 5-kilowatt (kW) turbine at a home to a multi-megawatt (MW) turbine at a manufacturing facility. Distributed wind energy installations are either connected on the customer side of the meter to meet the on-site load, or directly to distribution or micro grids to support grid operations or offset large loads nearby. Distributed wind energy installations are defined by technology application, not technology size, but are typically smaller than 20 MW.

This animation explains the distributed wind energy installation and illustrates how a turbine at a residential home can offset its energy usage. If you can't see the animation, please read our text version. Or learn the Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Distributed Wind on our blog.

 

Residential Distributed Wind

Small wind turbines can be used in residential settings to directly offset electricity usage using net metering, where power that is not used by the home is credited to the customer as it flows back on to the electricity system.

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Wind turbines used near homes are commonly in the 1- to 10-kW range but can be larger.
Video courtesy of the Department of Energy

Wind turbines used near homes are commonly in the 1- to 10-kW range but can be larger. They can be used to partially offset load or support a completely off-grid home. These turbines can sometimes be integrated with other components, such as photovoltaic systems and storage and power converters.