Why don't we have windmills on top of each power pole, and therefore, effectively turn each power pole into their own power station? Yes, there is the issue of expense, but wouldn't these windmills all soon pay for themselves?
by 
Egao No Genki
ANSWERS: 13
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I would suspect, that such a device would only give you a fraction of a fraction of energy. In Australia, we do have a few emergency phones that work on solar power and perhaps some signs too. But to store the power would cost so much, in todays terms, that they are useless. The power absorbed by the sun or wind, needs to be stored in a battery. The batterie would cost more then the energy gained. It would be cheaper to use hydo power, however, we in Australia are having the worst drought in at least 200 years, so hydo power is out as we have very little water. We could install a massive solar panel, as we have sun, sun and sun, but the cost of storing the power would out-wight the cost, plus think of any aircraft flying over a giant mirror.
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You mean wind turbines (as opposed to those massive old brick windmill buildings)? Perhaps, as you suggest, the initial cost of setup. Also, the increased height may make them dangerous if near an airport, or would cause their centre of gravity to be too high and so very easy to blow over, causing potential damage and increased power cuts. Finally, the noise may well put nearby residents off.
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I suspect the number of power poles is far less than the number of houses. So each pole would need a fan catching at least the energy consumption of a house to be viable. I guess it would have to be at least a couple of yds in diameter. Compared with other renewable forms, an 'en-mass' wind-solution has a higher maintenance cost.
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Small wind turbines don't make as much economic sense. General rule, the larger the turbine (up to a point, usually greater than 2MW) the less you'll be paying throughout the lifecycle of the turbine per kilowatt-hour extracted. (and I mean larger in the sense of both, diameter-wise and power capacity-wise, since the greater surface area of the wind turbine blades =greater area for energy to be converted from the wind). Also, the mounting of the turbines is very important, as vibrations through the poles will lead to potentially large losses, and if great enough, potential damage to the turbine.
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The idea of using windmills for power is relitivly new like in the last 50 years they have been put into actual practical use and many of the power poles you see have been there longer then that. Being both an Engineering major and a Dirt Contractor I know that new power poles are very rare because most power lines are now run under ground. Also for a wind turbine to be efficient enough to be practical on a power pole the blades would reach down lower then the lines if it was still stable enough to support the extra weight. Even though power lines sag they are under a lot of tension and exert a great deal of force on the poles.
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Wait, wait, wait.. If it was even 1/10 of a house and the payback period was reasonable (3- 5yrs.) What is this all or nothing pysche?
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You will have to make sure there are no tree branches or wires in the way of the turbine blades. This is hard or impossible because telephone poles are in compact areas (where they are most needed). However it might be a good idea to try wind turbines on the very tall high-voltage power lines, since nothing is in the way of those. The increase in power will be small, but better than nothing.
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Sounds like a good idea, but not sure how much power the small wind turbines can generate. And then theres the issue of the constant sound produced by the turbines. If thats not an issue, it'd likely make more sense to just build a single large turbine for an area instead of a bunch of little ones.
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because it takes a societal paradigm shift, and those are slow..
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We won't have wind machines on telly poles because the ongoing costs of structures, access and maintenence will destroy payback. Many sites are not appropriate. Wind farms, however, can support investment in particularly favorable sites, and already exist.
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Payback will be an issue, of course, but can be trumped by other considerations, so you will begin to see wind turbines in many unlikely places. For example, WalMart is now considering adding small turbines to the top of their parking lot light standards to impress consumers with their "green" commitment. The answer will be different when applied to photovoltaic (PV) panels on power poles, as PV maintenance is much lower, huge scale makes a bigger difference in PV unit price, and the sun is a major contributor to wire overheating that leads to power loss in transmission and distribution (especially in rural areas), while wind is not. So PV could be a more reasonable fit and likely will see cost-effective application on distributed power grids.
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Until hurricane season. When mom nature gives them all a blowjob
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Its a great idea; however, there are several factors that must be considered. The current turbines make a significant amount of noise. Additionally, some people feel that they are an eye sore. From experience, I have found that the largest hinderance is peoples complaints to having eye sores and noise levels. Therefore, prior to adding anything to existing areas an Environmental Impact Assessment must be done. In addition, the cost is very high and you must have enough backing to add the turbines.
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