An Introduction to Wind Power Turbines

On-Grid (Grid-Tie) Wind Power

A grid-tie wind power system can have almost exactly the same components as the off-grid system except that inverter is a special inverter which connects directly into the public utility grid. Increasingly, there are also systems which don't use a battery bank at all - the electricity flows directly from the wind turbine into the special 'grid-tie' inverter and then into the grid. These batteryless grid-tie systems have the added advantages that they tend to be less expensive (no batteries to pay for) and more efficient (because the electricity doesn't have to pass through the battery bank first). On the downside, if there's a blackout then your wind turbine system will also shutdown and not be able to provide power to your home or business.

Simplified Diagram of a Grid-tie Wind Turbine System with Battery Backup for Home: 1) wind turbine on tower 2) wind turbine controller 3) battery bank 4) grid-tie inverter 5) utility meter to track how much energy is fed into the electric grid (6.).

Simplified Diagram of a Grid-tie Wind Turbine System (no battery backup): 1) wind turbine on tower 2) wind turbine controller 3) grid-tie inverter 4) utility meter to track how much energy is fed into the electric grid (5.).