Taking a page from the playbook of successful solar installers, United Wind is offering leased residential and small commercial wind turbines.

“We have a lot of customers who couldn’t come out of pocket for a wind system,” said Joe Hess, Vice President of business development for United Wind. “This gives them another option.”

The company’s most popular turbine is a 10-kilowatt model that can usually offset all energy use for a typical home. Depending on the location and what the wind is like, a turbine can produce twice what an equivalent rooftop solar array can, Hess said.

“There are certain areas where wind produces better than solar just because it can produce power during the night,” he said.

United Wind was formed when two established wind businesses that have been working in the industry for 13 years merged. Talco Electronics manufactured wind turbines and Wind Analytics produced proprietary technology to help customers understand their properties’ wind potential.

United Wind is doing business nationally, but focusing its efforts on California, Oregon and New York. New York and Oregon still have good incentives for home and business owners that install wind turbines. California just has expensive electricity and a culture that supports renewable energy adoption.

Hess said incentives and pricey power combine to help United Wind offer a renewable energy option that saves clients money.

Phil Coombe, who lives in Grahamsville, New York, bought the 11-kilowatt Gaia-Wind turbine from Talco before the company merged with Wind Analytics. Coombe reported that the turbine saved him $1,200 within five months of its installation.

“I used to curse the wind,” Coombe said. “Then I realized it was something I could take advantage of, and that’s where it all began.”

Hess said customers can use United Wind’s website to get a price estimate and evaluation of their properties’ wind potential. The company is working to bring wind into the same space solar occupies. But that doesn’t mean wind needs to displace solar. There’s room for both, Hess said.

“There are certain places in New York where people don’t have the roof space for enough solar to offset all their use,” he said. “We’re working with some installers there on hybrid wind and solar systems.”