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When Kevin Schiebel installed a 10 kW Bergey wind system in 1996 at his all-electric home off Highline, there were no incentive rebates from the California Energy System. But, as his brother Brent recently told us, that unit easily paid for itself within the first 8 years of its 30+ years anticipated life span. “It’s been a fantastic success,” said Pat Schiebel, Kevin’s mother. “It hasn’t required any maintenance all this years.” And, as Brent added, “”Power is never going to be cheaper, so why not use what God has given us.” Another all-electric Tehachapi home that has received national attention because of its successful use of wind power, is that of the David Colley family. Their system has now been operating 3 years.
Having taken advantage of the CEC rebate incentives currently scheduled to end at midnight June 31, Colley expects his system to pay for itself “in six or seven years.” “I’ve had no problems at all,” he adds, “absolutely no maintenance requirement at all.” "My daughters and I were just having a discussion on three important things Americans should do: recycling, cars that cut down on oil use, and having a renewable energy system like ours for their home," said David Colley. With average annual wind speeds of 12 mph, the Tehachapi area has seen a lot of successful residential wind system installations. Sizes for residential wind systems vary from self-installable 600 watt and 1 kW systems, withy professional installations available for 3 kW, 10 kW and even 20 kW systems. However, not all come with no scheduled maintenance. For example, the 20 kW system, which costs about what a 10 kW Bergey wind system costs, will require annual lubrication. Realizing the importance of these systems to our entire electrical grid and environment, the California Energy System now provides generous rebates of $14,080 for a state-certified 10 kW small wind system, and $22,060 on a 20 kW system. These rebates, however, are scheduled to end June 31. Designed for life spans of over 30 years (and rebuilt-able after that), a lot of these small wind systems can be seen working throughout this area. With a 12 mph average annual wind speed, a 10 kWh small wind system can produce a monthly average of about 1,400 kWh per month, more than many average American homes use. The state’s “Net Metering” law allows these systems to run utility meters backwards so that one month’s excess energy production can be used on less windy months.
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SYSTEM HOMEOWNERS SPEAK OUT
“So
far,” David Colley happily said, “it has done really well,
giving us up to 50% reduction of my bills. With two children, computers
that are on almost all the time, and electric heating in the winter,
our bills used to be $300 and $400 most of the time. The first month
after it was installed, our bill dropped to half the previous month’s
$300 bill.”
