The Outer Banks region has the best wind resource in the state, with adequate strength and consistency to provide more power than the Banks could ever use- if it were harnessed. Wind energy has been widely adopted in states such as Texas, Iowa, Illinois, and others with strong year-round winds. North Carolina has been slow to adapt.
Small wind turbines have been designed on the residential level and can be scaled to provide power to virtually any home size. Modern engineering has provided us with turbines that are more efficient, less noisy, and more cost effective than ever before. A turbine simply uses wind energy to turn a motor, which produces electricity that can be directed into a home or straight to the electricity grid.
Large commercial scale rotors are the most efficient way in which to harness the energy of the wind. Their height, combined with their enormous blades, can produce as much as 6 megawatts per tower, or enough to power 4,000 homes. A properly located field of wind turbines could provide all of the energy needs of the Outer Banks and still leave additional electricity for export.