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“We’re trying to get a package so homeowners can get a payback of five to six years on their investment,” which can run $25,000, Blevins said.
“Wind is a lot more affordable in general than photovoltaics (solar panels). And we’re seeing a lot of interest in North Carolina,” said Bob White of Blue Sun Renewable Energy, a new company based in Asheville.
Blue Sun offers a new vertical turbine, priced at about $6,500, which can be more aesthetically pleasing and affordable than traditional propeller turbines. The company recently donated one of the Windspire turbines to the ABC TV series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” for the show’s finale in Indianapolis.
In Boone, Appalachian State University will boast of the state’s largest wind turbine as a 100-kilowatt system will be mounted on a 155-foot tower at Broyhill Inn and Conference Center this summer.
That project is financed by a $5 annual fee that ASU students pay for renewable energy projects on campus.
The Broyhill wind system will be a smaller version of an experimental windmill that NASA and the Department of Energy once operated atop Howard’s Knob overlooking Boone during the late 1970s.
“That was a 2-megawatt system, so the Broyhill turbine will be quite a bit smaller,” said Mike Uchal of the Western North Carolina Renewable Energy Initiative at Appalachian State University.
The university also hosts a Small Wind Research Demonstration Site near Beech Mountain with working wind turbines on display and workshops for interested homeowners.
“With the unstable prices of fossil fuels and the environmental impact, we definitely are getting to the point where we have to implement these technologies,” Uchal said. “We send out $8 billion a year just for coal to power the state. If we can develop wind technology here, that will promote job creation within the Southeast.”
While WNC has great potential for wind, not every property in the mountains gets a sustained wind of 10-12 mph to make the investment work. A good rule of thumb is if you have a north to west facing slope above 3,000 feet in elevation, you’ve probably got the potential, Hollister said.
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