Renewable Energy -- Small Wind program

Published By EnergyTrust

• Published October 2008
• 2 Page(s)

When farmers Chris and Mike Bernards registered to attend the January 2008 Harvesting Clean Energy Conference in Portland, they expected to learn how a solar electric system could cut energy costs. Instead, they discovered that the answer was blowing across their 100-acre McMinnville farm.Just four months later, a 10-kilowatt wind turbine mounted on a 120-foot tower began generating electricity in the Bernards’ oat field. The project came together with help from an Energy Trust incentive, Oregon state energy tax credits and turbine manufacturer Abundant Renewable Energy, who used the installation as a 5-day training workshop for dealers, installers and others. The Bernards expect to generate approximately 15,600 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, enough to meet over 25 percent of the farm’s needs.