American Electric Power Installs Energy-Management Website for Wind Technology

American Electric Power (AEP, Columbus, OH) will help customers learn more about wind technology by installing five 10kW wind turbines and sharing real-time information about their operation and performance on its website.

The website will monitor the output of the turbines in weak and strong wind areas and is designed as an information aid for customers who may consider buying a wind turbine. An Internet-based energy-management system will allow viewers to use wind maps from the website to show at any given time how much electricity the wind turbines are generating.

Power quality statistics will be shown and links to sites that offer more data on wind turbines will be accessible. AEP's first wind turbine was installed recently at the John Dolan Electrical Engineering Laboratory in Groveport, OH.

Wind turbines, the successor to the windmill, convert the wind's energy to electricity. In some areas, a 10kW turbine can generate enough electricity to power the home of an average AEP customer. Cost of a wind turbine starts at about $27,000.