Products

What are the main sizes Proven Energy manufactures?

 2.5kW, 6kW and 15kW

What heights are they?

Proven 2.5kW Mast Options:     6.5 or 11m
Proven 6kW    Mast Options:     9m or 15m
Proven 15kW  Mast:                            15m

What is a grid-connected system?

A grid-connected system feeds power directly into your main distribution board and exports power if there is too much whilst taking power from the grid if there is not enough power. Its a very balanced and synchronous system and will not affect your day-to-day living. If there is a power cut the turbine will have to stop generating for safety.

What is a battery charging system?

A battery charging system provides you with a continuous power source for your house via an inverter, which makes the power from the turbine usable. If you have an off grid site, you would have a diesel generator on stand-by to cover periods when you had no wind at all for a few days (typically because the batteries are sized to give you around 2-3 days worth of storage). If there is too much power from the turbine, it is dumped into either water or space heating.

What is a direct heating system?

A direct heating system feeds power directly into a series of small heaters (either water or space heaters) and is used in conjunction with your existing heating system. It is the cheapest of our systems but also the most dedicated as you only get power for heat – and you only get that heat when there is wind.

What are the turbines made of?

The turbines are all made of the same materials with only a few small exceptions. The blades on the 600W and 2.5kW turbines are polypropylene whereas the 6kW and 15kW blades are Twintex. Other than that the towers are all galvanised steel and the covers are polypropylene or hardened polypropylene.

How long will the turbine take to pay back?

Paybacks will depend on several factors. The main ones being your own wind resource, what you pay/get paid for your electricity and if you get any sort of grants for the project. 10-years or so might be achievable or even exceeded.

What is the life of the turbine?

The turbine has a design life of 25-years.

How does wind power compare to solar PV?

Wind power is a resource that’s more readily available in the UK . As an example, a 2.5kW turbine will run your typical 3-bed house in the UK whereas you’d need around 56 125W solar PV panels to do the same job. The panels alone would be around two-three times the cost of a fully installed 2.5kW wind turbine. You then have to add delivery, installation as well as all the control equipment on to the PV panel costs.

Can the turbines cope with very high or very low temperatures?

Our turbines have an operational temperature of down to –40degreesC and a special build turbine for cold temperatures can even go to –60degreesC! The highest operational temperature for the standard turbine is 45 degrees C.

Can the turbines cope with coastal locations?

Our standard turbines are all marine grade turbines with galvanised steel, stainless steel and fully encapsulated epoxy generator parts which means that they can withstand any amount of salty, turbulent sea air. We have a number of sites on the coast ranging from domestic houses to operational lighthouses as well as a number offshore on oil platforms

Why do the turbines look the way they do?

Our turbines are all downwind, this means they blow around in the wind like a flag. This also means they need no tail, but we do need the triangular vane on the underside of the turbine to help it find its way in the wind.

Siting

How far away can I mount the turbine from my house?

Turbines can be mounted as close as 20-50m or as far away as 450-500m depending on the turbine and the cable we use. The further away the turbine is though, the bigger the cable.

Can the turbines be roof mounted?

The turbines can be roof mounted on high-rise buildings with flat roofs such as university/school buildings, office blocks and tower blocks but not a standard domestic house. This is because of the loads that the building would have to take and a normal domestic household would not be capable of bearing such loads.

Do the turbines affect animals?

The turbines do not affect animals at all. We have turbines on livestock and poultry farms, in a deer park , on nature reserves as well as equestrian centres.

Are there any problems with low frequency noise?

There are no low frequency noise issues with our turbines.

Do the turbines affect epilepsy sufferers?

There is no link between our turbines and epilepsy. Our turbines do not create a frequency high enough to trigger an epileptic seizure.

Do I have enough wind?

There are two main ways of calculating your wind resource. One is to use web based resources such as http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse for anywhere in the world, or the NOABL wind speed model at http://www.dti.gov.uk/renewables/technologies/windspeed/online.html for the UK only wind speed model and the other is to install a small anemometer on your site for at least 6months (a year is preferable though). We always look for sites around 5 m/s and above with good exposure to the prevailing winds and good access. However, web based measurements of wind speeds comes with a significant degree of inaccuracy

Is my site suitable for a turbine?

As a Proven distributor we offer a site assessment service whereby we can either perform a desk-based or site based assessment of your project. This will let us know if your site is suitable for a system. For assessing a site, due care and attention should be given to high obstacles such as trees, buildings and hills which can block the wind flow and significantly reduce the available wind speed.

What output could I expect from the turbine?

Outputs will vary from site to site and a site assessment would be needed to work this out. The estimations we would give you are for indicative purposes only.

What space do I need to erect the turbines?

Each turbine and tilt-up tower combination requires its own “footprint” on the ground. As a rough guide taking the tower height and multiplying it by 2.5 will give you an approximate length for on the ground. The width would be the rotor diameter +2m to allow enough space for raising and lower. Guyed towers require more space however. Please contact the office for advice.

Are there any reference sites I can go to so I can see them for myself?

Proven have installed over 500 turbines in the UK and we should have a reference site not too far from you. Please contact us and we will see if we can point you to our closest.

Operation & Maintenance

Do the turbines stop in high winds?

No, the turbines keep operating in high winds due to their unique design. See: What happens if there are extremely high winds?

What is the servicing frequency?

The turbines require annual servicing either by us, our distributors or by someone that has been trained to do so. As part of the warranty agreement, the turbine HAS to be serviced annually.

What is involved in servicing?

Once a year, lower it down to ground level (using the hinged tower), remove the covers, grease three bearings, polish a set of slip rings and generally check it over for any wear and tear.

Can I do my own servicing?

You can if you receive the correct training from either ourselves or one of our distributors but we would encourage you to take out a service agreement with us.

Is there a legal requirement for grid connection? How safe are they?

G-83/1 and G-59/1 are the electrical recommendations that are a legal requirement to comply with for all grid connections. (Applies to UK only other countries have their own regulations).

Will a turbine keep producing electricity in a power cut?

A grid-connected turbine will have to disconnect for safety if there is a power cut.

Will the turbine affect my own or my neighbour’s property price?

Chances are it will add value to your property. Your neighbour’s property prices should not be affected by the installation of your wind turbine.

Can I put a turbine in my garden or on the roof of my house?

If you have a big garden with good exposure then you will have a good chance of having a suitable site, otherwise our equipment might be a bit big and unsuitable for you. We do roof mount turbines but only on flat roofs on top of significant buildings such as university buildings, tower blocks and offices etc. Our turbines are not suitable for roof mounting on a standard domestic household.

What happens if there is no wind?

If there were no wind you would have to rely on another source of power. For direct heating systems this will be your existing heating system, if it’s a battery charging system then you’d rely upon the batteries and/or a diesel generator and if it’s a grid connected turbine then you rely upon the national grid.

What happens if there are extremely high winds?

The unique patented blade design means that in high winds the blades cone out of the wind. This reduces the surface area exposed to the wind and stops it from over producing. As the speed of the blades pick up, they twist round to change the angle of the blades. This twisting alters the angle of the blades enough to stall the speed of them so they will never over speed. Once the wind decreases, the blades open back out and the blades twist back to an angle that doesn’t stall. This means that even in the strongest winds the turbines will continue to produce the maximum power without stopping.

What is the warranty offered?

We offer a 2-year standard warranty and can extend it to up to 5-years cover upon request.

Can I get a service / maintenance plan?

Yes, service and maintenance plans are available and a quotation for this can be prepared for you

Planning Do you need planning permission?

This depends on a number of factors including space available on the site and mast size. Please contact us for further details.

Can the turbines and towers be painted?

The towers can be painted any colour that you wish. The turbine heads can also be painted but we prefer to keep them black where possible as through time the paint can flake and chip on the plastic covers. The 6kW and 15kW turbines are supplied in black and off-white

Are the turbines noisy?

Since our turbines do not use a gearbox, the blades rotating at a relatively slow rpm and the aerodynamics of the blades the turbines are quiet in operation. Background noise often drowns out any noise from the turbines.

Do they kill birds?

Bird strikes do happen very rarely. We take care to site turbines away from bird feeders and nests as well as to identify migratory flight-paths where appropriate. The turbines rotate at a slow rpm and are black and so can be usually be detected from several hundred meters by birds – allowing them to adjust their course to avoid the obstacle. Cars, windows in buildings and natural predators kill millions more birds than what a wind turbine ever has and will do. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) actively supports and promotes the use of wind turbines and does not object to them on principal.

Do turbines interfere with electrical equipment?

No interference whatsoever with electrical equipment.

Do turbines interfere with telecoms, radio or TV equipment?

Definitely not, we have a number of turbines at telecoms bases for O2, Orange , T-mobile and also a few TV repeater stations.

Do the turbines produce radiation / electromagnetic fields?

No radiation whatsoever and no electromagnetic fields to affect any equipment in the vicinity.