Greetings all,

Hello everyone. My name is Wayne and I'm totally new to the forum (as the title should give away ).

My wife and I were just talking the other day about what a great find it'd be to happen upon a newsgroup/community that discusses Wind Farms and works with others to help them along the way. She mentioned hearing about the Windustry site on NPR so I checked it out. It was from there that I was linked to this newsgroup and I'm very thankful to have found it. I haven't had the time to tear through the archives, but I'll be working on that very soon.

My wife and I are are currently living in the Baltimore, Maryland area, but are actively looking to move out of the area to the Somerset, PA area when conditions are optimal. Prior to moving, we are educating ourselves in various areas of expertise so that we can sustain ourselves off the land we purchase. Part of that plan includes purchasing land and building a zero carbon footprint house, including a solar and wind power system to support it. The second part of that plan is to - eventually, establish a commercial wind farm using some of the knowledge we learn with our home system. I know that this is also not a perfect science and they are not mutually transferable due to sizes, power outputs, etc. However, we feel it's a good starting place.

From what I've gathered so far, much of this forum is dedicated to the Wisconsin area, so I understand that some of the information is not relevant to other states. Of course, the fundamentals principals of building a wind farm apply no matter where the site is located. I'm here, per se, as a student but I hope that the information I learn throughout my schooling here can later benefit others with the same lofty goals. If our goal of establishing a commercial wind farm is fulfilled, we intend to establish a relationship with the local colleges for students to intern at our farm so that they can get hands on experience with real world situations and wind turbines.

I have a copy of Paul Gipe's "Wind Power, Revised Edition: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, and Business" and "Wind Energy Basics: A Guide to Small and Micro Wind Systems" as my primary source of knowledge.

I'm glad to be here and hope that I can be a good student and future teacher,

Wayne

Welcome to the forum Wayne!

We're glad to see you here. Just to clarify one thing: while the forum has some areas that focus on particular states, the forum as whole is not specific to any state or region. Everyone is welcome to participate, no matter where they are!

As you begin your education, I'd like to suggest a few of my favorite resources:

Windustry's Small Wind Pages
The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency
Wind Powering America's Small Wind Pages