Welcome to Wind-Works

An on-line archive of articles and commentary primarily--but not solely--on wind energy, Feed-in Tariffs, and Advanced Renewable Tariffs.

What's New

February 6, 2010

Endorse the use of Electricity Feed Laws, Feed-in Tariffs, or Renewable Energy Payments in North America.

Sign Up, if you would like to be added to my email distribution list on feed-in tariff developments in North America.--Paul Gipe

on Feed-in Tariffs

• NREL: Feed-in Tariffs Legal in USA When Certain Conditions Met--The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has issued a long-awaited legal analysis of how states could implement feed-in tariffs and still comply with federal law. . .
• Britain Launches Comprehensive System of Feed-in Rates--In a truly groundbreaking move for the English-speaking world, Britain's Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) has released a full suite of renewable energy tariffs that go into effect in April. . . Britain will become the first country in the world to offer a comprehensive system of tariffs for renewable heat, including tariffs for solar domestic hot water and ground-source heat pumps among others. . .
• Chabot 2010 Price-Setting Workshops Advanced Preparation--One of the purposes of the workshops is to learn a technique for calculating the tariffs needed to cover the "cost of generation plus a reasonable profit" that is a hallmark of successful feed-in tariff programs. . .
• Feed-in Tariff Price-Setting Technical Workshops with Bernard Chabot--These are advanced workshops intended only for those seriously interested in the economic theory behind tariff setting and the formulas necessary to calculate tariffs that pay for the cost of generation plus a reasonable profit. . .
• 2010 French Tariffs Raise Price for Solar, Geothermal, and Biomass--France has introduced new feed-in tariffs for 2010. These include substantially higher geothermal, biomass, and building integrated solar PV tariffs than in 2009. . .
• Reuters: German CSU wants delays in solar incentive cuts--The Christian Social Union, Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, wants to delay cuts in incentives for solar power planned for April 1. . .
• Presentation by Paul Gipe on Ontario's World Class FIT Policy for MaRS 29 Jan 2010
• FITness Testing: Exploring the myths and misconceptions about feed-in tariff policies--The booklet published in January 2010, reviews common criticisms of feed-in tariffs (FITs). Discussion about FITs and other policies to boost renewable energies has grown considerably in the USA - this brochure explains how FITs work and what they can contribute to improve energy security, create new jobs, and address the growing risks of climate change. . .
• Presentation by Paul Gipe on Accelerating Deployment of RE for VerdeXchange
• Presentation by Paul Gipe on Globalizing Successful RE Policy for VerdeXchange
• Updated Tables of Feed-in Tariffs Worldwide--including new tariffs in France and Great Britain. . .

on Community Power

• Wind Turbines in Denmark by the Danish Energy Agency (2009)--A typically well done official Danish review of how many wind turbines exist in Denmark, how well they work, how they are integrated into the landscape and the grid, and how the community benefits. . .

on Solar Energy

• Energy Self-Reliant States--a Review--is another valuable tool for renewable energy advocates in building a case that "yes, even the US can" move to renewables--and the sooner the better. . .

on Wind Energy

• Finally--AWEA Establishes Small Wind Turbine Performance and Safety Standard . . . after decades of effort, the American Wind Energy Association has estblished performance and safety standards for small wind turbines. . .
• Mariah In the Running for Worst Small Turbine Install--You have to give them credit, small turbine manufacturers are a competitive lot, especially small VAWT suppliers. They are tripping over themselves to see who can win the award for worst turbine install. . .
• Worst Turbine Install in History?--Mike Nelson call this the worst turbine install in history. It certainly ranks right up there with some recent installations by Mariah, a Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine manufacturer. . .

What Can Be Found on This Site

This site contains information about my books, an archive of my articles, and descriptions of my workshops on wind energy and Advanced Renewable Tariffs. This site also contains an extensive collection of articles and technical reports on electricity feed laws or renewable energy tariffs. I've been an outspoken proponent of feed laws since the late 1990s when I urged the American Wind Energy Association to call for them nationally.

Photography

My photos are stocked by Still Pictures in London. For more on my photography and for photo tours of several wind farms as well as a sampling of wind energy icons, see the photos section of this site.

Small Turbine Testing

Beginning in 1997 I've measured the performance and noise emissions of small wind turbines at the Wulf Test Field in the Tehachapi Pass. For more information on this work, visit Wulf Test Field.

Previous Web Sites

My web pages have previously been hosted on the Chelsea Green web site and by the Workgroup Wind Turbines at TU-Berlin. My thanks to Michael and Sienna Potts, and to Klaus Kaiser, for their help posting my pages in the past.

Origin of Wind-Works

Since 1981, following a trip to Denmark, I've stressed the theme that wind energy does indeed work, makes economic and environmental sense, and is here to stay. Even then Denmark was a model of how successful wind energy could become--when given the opportunity. In North America at the time, there were few wind turbines and only a few of those operated well. Most simply didn't work. My slogan was as much a statement of what could be as it was a statement of fact. Today, wind turbines are commonplace throughout the world and "wind works", once a bold statement, now elicits a "What? Of course it does. Everyone knows that." And that's the way it should be.--Paul Gipe