Those 400 footers are montrous large. There are some in the CA central valley someplace east of Concord(?) of that size, but they are (or were) pretty distant from habitations...
There are a bunch of them in KS, mostly SW KS. I would be willing to bet some folks out there may have done some 'lightweight' studies on the matter.
The ONLY reason to build one of that size (which is the preferred size at this time BTW)... is due to the economic incentives prvided by the tax breaks. The number of 'big' (as opposed to homestead) windmills installed in non incentive years is a big fat ZERO... in incentive years they sprout up like mushrooms.
Many companies are putting the things in, and reaping the benefits for a 10 year period and ABANDONING the things to the landowners upon completion of the landlease and original terms of contract. They are notoious for breakdowns... and they don't really have good technology as yet...
They tear up the ground at the base site and for some distance around the area, getting the things in and hooked up. I mean BADLY - its worse than drilling for oil in terms of ground disruption... and the infrastructure to pack the 'lectricities away from the individual sites to collection/transportation points is pretty extreme...
As to the valuation part of the deal, I may be able to scare you up some contacts... I'll chat with a few folks early next week, PM me if I don't get back to you...
I sat through a 2 hour presentation on the economics, location/siting rationale, structural issues, and engineering on those things just about 2 weeks ago - while I know very little about VALUE issues on neighboring properties, I now know a great deal about the other aspects of how that business works. :new_all_coholic:
In my not so humble opinion it ain't purty. The break point for return on investment (sans tax breaks) is I think another 50-80/bbl of oil away. In otherwords the US tax payer pays for the deal, and the guys making the install make moocha moola. The property owner makes some bucks intially, but have you ever tried to take down a 400 foot tower in your back yard? - without causing serious damage to something someone?
Those big vanes are ALL fiberglass. what dump ya gonna take em to? Assuming you can chop em small enough to fit on a NORMAL truck.:Eyecrazy:
Oh and no one at the presentation I went to discussed the nasty side effect the energy field has on animal life- specifically birds... they still haven't entirely figured out how to keep those sensitive beings from losing thier inner compass.
If the property owners want NOT to have this albatross in their back yard, they shoud be advised to go after the BIRD angle - forget the other issues. That one is eco-touchy feely and was still provable - as recent as 10 years ago... the atlantic flyway is still a pretty important passage. Google bird death and Altamont Pass if you are curious - there USED to be a bunch of articles on the subject.
Sadly even if there IS a valuation issue to surrounding properties... I got a funny feeling that the proximity of one of those monsters to a rural KS residence isn't quite the same as the market you are talking about...
But is might be a start... specially if the percentage of value is significant!:laugh:
