Distributed wind energy installations are common at 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 application, not size, but are typically smaller than 20 MW.
To learn more, see the Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Distributed Wind.
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 to the electricity system.
Wind turbines used near homes can partially offset load or support a completely off-grid home. These turbines can sometimes be integrated with other components, such as photovoltaic systems, battery energy storage, and power converters.
Community Use of Distributed Wind
Distributed wind helps diversify local energy sources, providing more energy security for the local community. The following animation explores potential use cases of distributed wind energy, including in residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and public facilities.
Click the interactive animation to begin or read a text version of the animation.
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