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small wind
Success Stories
Customer
Interviews
San
Bernardino County, CA
Palms, CA - Adreine Jenik was looking for ways to tap the rich natural energy resources around her art studio in 29 Palms, a small community located in the High Desert portion of San Bernardino County. “I noticed that it was pretty sunny out here most of the time. And when it wasn’t sunny, there seemed to be quite a bit of wind,” says Jenik, an associate professor of Computer & Media Arts at UC-San Diego. She figured a renewable energy system would minimize the environmental impact of her creative getaway.
In 1998, she installed a custom-designed hybrid energy system that combines a 400-watt Southwest Windpower turbine with a 325-watt solar photovoltaic system. It took a year to work out all the technical bugs and get the paperwork straightened out, but now she’s satisfied with a system that supplies 100 percent of her electricity. “I paid the price of being an early adopter, but my electricity bills are now zero,” she reports.
“What I like the most about my own renewable energy system is that it has made me much more aware of my own energy usage. And that was a very powerful experience,” Jenik says. For example, she purchased a new heavily insulated refrigerator and put her water heater on a timer. “I made some major lifestyle changes. Sometimes I just bring a bag of ice instead of turning the refrigerator
on if I’m only here for a little while.”
Though permitting took some time, there was no opposition to her hybrid wind/solar system from her neighbors. “People pretty much stick to themselves
in a community like this,” says Jenik. Her “micro” wind turbine tower is less than
35 feet tall, so it didn’t present a problem for county permitting authorities. The wind and solar system requires minimal maintenance. So far, Jenik has been able to handle everything by herself, even filling her
six batteries with distilled water.
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