The windmill spinning above the Alternative Energy Center at Nicolet College is, by now, a familiar sight. After six years, data has begun to show whether or not this type of energy production is viable in the Northwoods.

The wind turbine and solar panels, called photovoltaic arrays, were built in 2003 with a grant from the state for the Focus on Energy program. Jim Brown, vice president of instruction at the college, has been keeping a close eye on the results of the computerized data collected over the years.

“The power generated by the solar collectors is not bad considering our latitude and seasons,” he said. “There are many more productive places around the country, though, especially for wind production. Our winds are really not strong or steady enough.”

For peak energy production with Nicolet’s system, winds of 27 miles per hour are needed, explained Jim. “It may appear to be windy, but often it’s not windy enough. The actual energy produced goes down exponentially at lower speeds. In other words, with half the wind speed, you get only a quarter of the energy output.”

The data collected, once analyzed, is invaluable for the future of evaluating such power systems. “We can look at this and determine how much energy production you can expect from the weather and climate conditions in this area.”

For an individual or business to set up a system such as the one at Nicolet, it would be important to establish a payback time, or how long it would take for the value of the energy produced to match the original cost of building the system.

“That depends on a lot of things,” said Jim, “including the cost of energy, which changes. If the cost of electricity goes up, the payback time gets shorter.”

The initial cost of the photovoltaic arrays was about $12,000. The windmill, which utilizes a rather expensive monopole design for aesthetic purposes, cost almost $50,000.

Jim points out, though, that the college’s set up was not built with payback in mind, but to function as a research tool. Systems that are being built now, said Jim, with many large wind turbines and large expanses of solar panels are needed to compete with conventional energy production.

Power generated from Nicolet’s systems is first converted to 120 volts, then fed into the Alternative Energy Center building to run the computers, lights, and heating and cooling systems. Any excess goes into a row of batteries that can store power for later use. When the batteries are full, the extra power goes back into the power grid, making the electric meter actually run backwards.

That is where the potential for these alternative systems comes in, according to Jim. “If you are somewhere remote with no access to electricity, then the battery storage system is essential,” he said. “But it isn’t totally efficient. We get just 63 percent efficiency with the battery system, that’s 37 percent lost in the transfer.”

“One lesson we have learned is that if you were to bypass the batteries and go right into the power grid, it would be possible to run at 95 percent efficiency. And the best part is that at peak times of power use, like during a hot afternoon when people are running air conditioners, we get great production out of the solar arrays. Even a home with a small system like this one could really help out.”

Payback is also improving all the time, said Jim, with new, more cost-effective technology. “With the photovoltaic system, you can put in what you can afford and then add to it in the future.”

The wind technology is more fixed and more costly to begin with, but it, too, is improving, Jim said. When he recently contacted the windmill manufacturer he was told they could replace the blades and mechanism with newly designed ones to improve the system.

While many people are looking into alternative energy for what Jim calls “altruistic reasons,” more to do with philosophy than the bottom line, the time is coming when these systems will make a lot of sense for the planet and pocketbook.