Two Marshall County Families Benefit from Wind Power

The Marshalltown Times Republican has a story about two Marshall County families that have recently put up small wind turbines on their property. Marshall County approved a zoning ordinance for wind turbines in 2007 and the first two were installed in October and November. The total cost was less than I expected.

But at $10,600 — with half of that on a no-interest loan from the state — it fit his budget. Jansen’s model, a Skystream 3.7 made by Southwest Windpower, starts spinning in winds of 5 to 6 mph and shuts down to protect itself in winds of 25 to 30 mph.

By producing as much as 2.4 kilowatts of electricity in an hour, Jansen’s energy savings might be able to pay back his investment in 10 years or less, according to dealer Todd Hammen.

Small wind projects like these will surely spread across rural areas throughout the state.

Hammen thinks acreages and farms are ideal places to install windmills, and Farm Bureau reports there are 50,000 residential acreages in the state, he said.

“Small wind can create a tremendous effect in the long-term if its embraced by a large number of people,” he said. “... We haven’t even begun scratching the surface of people generating wind.”

Already both Jansen and Vopava have had visitors stop by, curious about how the wind generators are working.

“You are going to see these popping up all over the Midwest,” Vopava said. “They’ll become almost as common as the old windmill of a couple generations ago. The price is reasonable enough and as we all become more aware of alternative energy resources, this is a good option. You’re never going to run out of wind.”