Customer Reviews

Power From the Wind: Achieving Energy Independence

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If you're considering using the wind to generate electricity for your home, this book is probably the best you'll find to help you choose the right machine. More importantly, it may help you decide wind energy is not a viable option.
The author, Dan Chiras, has a gift. It's not in being inventive, or doing original work. Rather, it's his ability to distill and organize massive amounts of information and make it understandable.
He covers the pros and cons of wind energy. His co-authors, Mick Sagrillo and Ian Woofenden, are truly small scale wind energy icons. They use wind energy to power their own homes, and have written extensively about the subject, primarily in Home Power magazine. Sagrillo's article, "Apples & Oranges, Choosing a Home Sized Wind Generator" (Home Power #90, Aug/Sept 2002) is arguably the best 16 pages ever written about small scale wind. However, because all three authors love wind energy, the pros generally outweigh the cons when it comes to choosing wind as an energy source.
The book is divided into 9 parts:
Understanding Wind and Wind Energy, covering friction and turbulence, and the concept of wind as cube: double the wind speed, and get eight times the energy.
Wind Energy Systems. Grid-tie versus off-grid.
Wind Site Assessment. Besides determining the wind potential of your site, a lot of emphasis, correctly, is on home energy conservation.
A Primer on Wind Generators includes the importance of "swept area" as being the most reliable indicator of generator output.
Towers and Tower Installation. There are three kinds of towers. A towers cost may exceed that of the generator.
Understanding Batteries. This has nothing to do with wind generators, but for those considering living off-grid, this chapter is important.
Inverters. If you're going to be tied to the grid you've got to have one. Covers the various types.
Maintaining a Wind-Electric System. Not for the faint of heart. You may decide wind is not for you after reading this chapter.
Final Considerations: Zoning, Permits, Covenants, Utility Companies, Insurance and Buying a System.
I've lived off-grid with a hybrid wind/solar system for nine years. I'm on my second wind generator. I wish this book had been available when I was building my system. The only comparable book available on small scale wind is Paul Gipe's, "Wind Power." It is also excellent, but is more technical, and for me, was less accessible.
For anyone interested in small scale wind energy, "Power From the Wind" is probably the best single source of information you'll find.

I really enjoyed this book. I have taken many of Mick Sagrillos workshops (there are actually a few pictures in the book of workshops I have taken) and he is just great so if you ever have a chance to take one of his workshops, do it. But as far as the book goes, it really covers about everything you need to know as a purchaser. As an installer myself, I found a lot of the charts and graphs in the book useful and used them to help explain different things to my customers. I also have to add that Dan Chiras is a very good writer and the book makes you want to keep reading. You really cant go wrong with any of his books; I think I have about all of them. I do want to add that if you want specific info about turbines I would probably go with the Paul Gipe book thats like fifty dollars or so but that does take some time to read. A combination of the two would be good for very specific info on site assessing, turbine design, etc. Hope this helps.

I am a 50 year old female who has no background in construction. I just bought acreage in Arizona and plan to build my retirement home. I want to live "off the grid" so have begun to research the various options available to me. I can't recommend this book highly enough! It is so interestingly written that I actually don't want to put it down....and I understand all of the issues and concepts that Dan Chiras discusses. What a wealth of knowledge he is, and he truly does have the gift of papering his expertise so that an average person can read and understand. Thank you Mr. Chiras!

I really liked this book because it presents the information really clearly and made everything understandable. It gives you all the information you need to understand whether or not wind power will work for you, and tells you how you can get the best out of wind power on small projects.

If you are looking at renewable power of any sort, I would recommend this book. Even if you are considering solar and not considering wind power at the moment, this book will give you a fresh perspective that will ensure you get the very best out of whatever renewable energy system you end up with.

The book is in plan English. It does not have technical jargon. A lay person can understand it. I love it and is helping in quest to undersatad the working of wind power.

What can the wind do for the world's power problems? "Power from the Wind: Achieving Energy Independence" discusses how people can use wind power to power their own homes on a small scale, reducing power consumption bills. Wind is cheap and renewable; to not harvest it for use is wasteful. Outlining how to get started harvesting wind power, author Dan Chiras answers many of the most commonly asked questions. "Power from the Wind" belongs in any collection for the environmentally thoughtful.

A general view of domestic wind turbines written by people who have been working in the field for decades.
If you are looking to build your own turbine, like me, then this book will be helpful as an introductory text. I found specially useful the lessons about evaluating the wind in your area.

Unfortunately you will learn here that few places are good for domestic wind turbines.