What's better than solar or wind?
Skystream Hybrid 6 - which hits the market this month - combines the best of both to bring homes and small businesses more energy, more consistently than either can do alone.
The hybrid technology includes a small wind turbine, 6 solar panels and a GPS-controlled tracking mechanism that rotates the solar panels to follow the sun. The solar system delivers up to 35% more energy than fixed panels, and will be mounted on the wind turbine tower.
The wind turbine is Southwest Wind's Skystream 3.7. The company says its the first compact, all-inclusive grid-connected turbine - the controls and inverter are built in. It can produce up to 400 kWh of electricity a month (depending on the wind resource), about half of what the average home uses.
Home Depot is beginning to sell the Skystream 3.7 at handful of stores - Texas, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and California - and others will follow.
Skystream 3.7 costs $6,000-$9,000 before incentives, so the hybrid system will cost more. Federal incentives reduce the cost 30%, and state and local incentives lower the cost more.
Arizona-based Southwest Windpower is a pioneer in small wind. Since 1987, it's sold over 170,000 small wind turbines (160-3000 watts) in 120 countries. Its partner, Advanced Technology & Research, makes solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations, solar powered lighting and utility poles, and residential ground-mounted systems.
Small wind (under 100 kW) is still a small market, but it's becoming increasingly popular around the world, and is projected to triple by 2015. US sales rose 26% in 2010 to $139 million.
The US is the leader in small wind manufacture. The extension of Investment Tax Credits to small wind supported this growth - and yes, they're about to expire.
