Blizzard 2011

The Blizzard that hit the Chicago area was a strong wind event. On February 1st, we had a gust of over 48 mph and later in the early morning on February 2nd, another gust of over 41 mph.

As for the wind totals, the entire storm did not break any records. From 2/1 - 2/2, the total generation was over 31 kWh. This was far short of the records set last fall, but this wind made the blizzard one for the record books.

The wind did help keep our solar panels free from snow accumulation, so both systems are producing as normal.

Happy New Year

In 2010, our turbine had its first full calendar year. In total, over 1,427.3 kHw was produced. The best month was April with over 188 kHw produced and the best season was the Fall with almost 450 kWh.

For both systems, we passed the 8,000 kHw mark as well as the 16,000 lbs of CO2 green house gas savings. In addition, we have produced enough energy to run a TV for over 56,000 hours, power over 62 computers for a year, as well as, 259 homes for a day.

Plus, more countries have reported in. Over the past few months, Australia, Vietnam, and Austria have been heard from.

We are looking forward to a great 2011

The Great Lakes "Cyclone"

On October 26th and 27th, a major storm hit the Chicago area with extremely high winds. In fact, the pressure fell to 28.99 inches, which was a new record for October and was very close to the all-time low pressure reading of 28.70 inches that occurred in March of 1923.

With this storm, we set two new records. First, we set an all-time one day record of 40 KwH on October 26th and a new two day record of 78.9 KwH for 10/26 and 10/27. The turbine also set a new record of generation for over 80 consecutive hours. The turbine started moving the morning of 10/25 and did not stop until the early morning of 10/29

For October, we just missed 300 KwH to end at 296.9. This now brings our lifetime data to over 7,568 KwH. This would be enough to power a TV for over 52,000 hours. Additionally, we passed the 15,000lb mark of CO2 reduction from our two systems.

In addition, we were featured in the Chicago Press on Wednesday, October 27th with three TV interviews and one radio. The link from CBS2 Chicago is listed below:

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2010/10/27/windy-weather-has-schools-wind-turbine-going-non-stop/

School Re-Opens

As we start the new school year, the summer production continued to do well. For the summer months, over 703 KWH was produced. All three months had a total of over 220 KWH each time.

In addition, September was been very active as well. In 2009, the month of September did not produce any energy from the wind turbine until the middle of the month. This year, every day except for two has had measurable wind totals.

Our new total production is 7,220 KHW. This would power 56 computers for a year, over 230 homes for a day, and a TV for over 50,000 hours.

Plus, we have had even more hits on our blog from across the United States and the World. Some of the notable US hits include Montana, Arizona and Tennessee, while our new countries include Spain, Egypt, and Turkey

Summer Update

The turbine and solar panels continue to produce at similar levels as in 2009. In May and June of 2009, the combined kWh was 478.3. For the same period in 2010, the production was 464.7 kWh. One difference noted for 2010 is that the production has remained above the 200 kWh level since March and it looks as July will continue that trend.

Our Environmental benefits totals are as follows:

• Energy to operate a TV for over 46,600 hours
• Energy to power 52 computers for one year
• Saved the amount of pollution an average car emits for over 487 days
• Energy to power 214 homes for a day
• Greenhouse gases avoided - CO2 13,334 lbs, NOx 27 lbs, SO2 68 lbs

Total kWh produced to date - 6,707.3

In addition, we have seen two additional countries (Slovenia and Ireland) as well as 5 more US states visit our blog. Two states of note would be Rhode Island and Hawaii as now both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are represented.

April 2010 Record Setting Totals

April 2010 set record after record. First, it has the best three days ever producing over 30 KwH (4/2, 4/29, 4/30) with April 30th setting the all-time record for daily production from both the wind and solar at 32 KwH.

Then the total for the month was 344.1 KwH beating May of 2009's total of 282 KwH. In addition, both the solar and wind systems set records for themselves. The solar had a new monthly all-time high of 155.5 KwH and the wind produced 188.6 KwH during April, again another record.

Finally, our life-time production crossed the 6,000 mark and our CO2 savings is now over 12,000 lbs. Our renewable energy has produced enough to power a TV for over 42,000 hours, power 47 computers for a year, as well as power 194 homes for a day.

May is also producing a lot of energy, so we'll see if we can get two back-to-back months of 300 KwH.

Happy Birthday to our Turbine

April 9, 2010 marked the first birthday for our turbine. It is hard to believe that an entire year has passed.

During this period, the turbine has generated over 1,230 KwH. This would be enough to power a home in our area for two months. The record for any one day was set in September 2009 with over 28 Kwh. The best Month was December of 2009 with 142 Kwh. Winter also produced the most of the seasons.

In addition, we have had visitors from across the globe view our blog as well as many making a site visit. We are looking forward to the future.