Windmills in Fontana, Ca ?

Question

What are the rules and regulations regarding windmills in Fontana, CA?

We would like to install a small residential windmill to produce electricity.

Answer 1

You have to get a building permit because you are adding a permanent structure to your property.  This means that you also have to have approx. costs and a layout or a blueprint that shows where it will be placed and how big it is.  There are also restrictions based on bird migration and air traffic, but the county office where you would get your permit should have that information.

Air traffic is probably the biggest concern.  There is a strip mall close to my house that had to remove the facia on the front of the building because it was too high for the location.  There are no planes that fly over this building and it was only about 30 feet from ground level, but it was within a mile of an airport, so it was deemed to be too high by 5 feet by regulation.

Your windmill will probably be limited to a 6 foot diameter on the rotation, and you will have to ask about the height.  Just remember that you will get a Max of about 800 Watts from this windmill, and usually it will generate less than 150 Watts on a regular basis depending on which one you buy or build.