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New US Rooftop Wind Turbine Lab

June 1, 2009 | 7 Comments

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Boston, USA [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] In partnership with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, the Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Science, is installing a rooftop Wind Turbine Lab this summer.

"No one has tested five different small turbines in a rooftop laboratory. Although there's lots of interest in small-scale wind turbines, we found little data on their performance and impact," David Rabkin, Farinon director for Current Science and Technology at the Bostom Museum of Science.

The museum has already started the installation of nine wind turbines from five different manufacturers, the largest of which is 40 feet tall (13 metres) and the smallest about seven feet (2 metres) with 5- to 18-foot (1.5 – 6 metres) diameters. The first two turbines are now in place on the Cambridge side of the museum's roof.

The machines featured are the 1.2-kW Mariah Power Windspire, a vertical-axis turbine about 10 metres high; the Southwest SkyStream 3.7 a downwind, horizontal-axis 1.9-kW machine with a 3.7-metre rotor diameter; a Cascade Engineering Swift with a 1.5-kW rated output using an upwind, horizontal-axis design with a 2.1-metre diameter; A bank of five AeroVironment AVX1000 1-kW turbines that have a directional design for building parapets to take advantage of higher speed winds rushing up and over buildings and have a 1.5-metre diameter; and, the Proven 6, a 6-kW downwind, horizontal axis machine with a 5.5-metre rotor diameter.

Designed to demonstrate turbines, the lab will generate valuable experience to help government officials and renewable energy professionals make informed decisions about projects and policy. David Rabkin, Farinon director for current science and technology at the museum explains: "No one has tested five different small turbines in a rooftop laboratory. Although there's lots of interest in small-scale wind turbines, we found little data on their performance and impact. Despite a year of collecting data on the wind at the museum, we still don't really know enough about the turbines to predict their performance."

In addition to obtaining variances and permitting for both Cambridge and Boston, the three-year project involved selecting and siting the turbines to maximize wind exposure, visibility and safety in five different "microclimates." Each turbine was its own engineering project.

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry said: "This project will give us the information we need to debate the benefits of turbines in an urban environment and move forward on the technology front."

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Wind Power

7 Reader Comments

Comment
1 of 7

stan-smith-176204

June 3, 2009

This test should be reviewed by the Renewable web site at least every couple months as this test could determine whether the small turbines will be profitable on every building in the farming areas of the US. If this really does work then the Federal people need to standardize the net-meetering question across the country. Some states have taken the stand that the power company should hold all the cards, when the small generator paid the capital bill, but does not have much of a say about how to recover his investment. From Stan Smith of inHis name,LLC of Iowa.

Comment
2 of 7

is-vad-44349

June 3, 2009

Data collected about performance of the installed equipment, total project material and labor costs, critical factors like saefty and withstandability of wind storms, etc., and technical product details with manufacturer's product tests should be published and made available for meaningful review and discussion. Will be happy to hear from all interested in wind energy related fields. - isvadan@hotmail.com

Comment
3 of 7

scoraigwind

June 3, 2009

I welcome this test as it will expose the incredible stupidity of putting small wind turbines on rooftops. I hope that nobody gets hurt in the process. It is important that they measure the wind speed and turbulence since this is the main reason why it is such a bad idea. There is not enough energy there. Also I expect some equipment failures. The Swift is made here in Scotland and they usually seem to break down after a few weeks and then get abandoned. I have seen a lot of them around. Putting a Proven 6 on a building is pretty mad. They are known to sometimes throw a spring assembly some distance off the blade hub. I hope it's not a very public spot.

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4 of 7

jerry-wimberly-176230

June 3, 2009

My wife and I have two roof top wind turbines on our cabin in Tennessee along with a healthy PV system and since I built the cabin with dual power ie. 12 volt plus the old school 120 volt power grid we enjoy the ability to flip the main breaker and live off grid as we decide to. I beleive that small wind turbines feeding a 120 volt old school home power design is a lost economic battle but I truely believe that my wife and I are living proof that installed in a low voltage designed home it is a real winner. We based our system on our RV systems which we have lived in seasonably, totally off grid for many years. I also confure that roof top wind turbines "are" dangerous in densely populated areas. IMHO

Comment
5 of 7

INVESTMENTECHNOLOGY

June 4, 2009

It's curious that nobody mentioned the vibration transferred and resonances excited in building structures by wind turbines mounted on roofs, throughout the range of windspeeds. Measurement and mitigation of these effects ought to be one of this lab's featured tasks.

Comment
6 of 7

scoraigwind

June 4, 2009

Vibration is certainly an issue, and it is about as intractable as the lack of wind. In fact the higher the wind (as on top of tower block etc), the louder the noise in the building, and the more likely it is that structural failures will occur. There are llikely to be complaints from people inside. I do not mean to say that it's impossible for enthusiasts to put windmill on their RVs and boats and that's fine. Maybe the sweet music of windpower helps them to sleep. But rooftop wind turbines in the city are fundamentally a bad idea and will do a lot of damage to the image of the small wind industry.

Comment
7 of 7

masteringgreen

January 7, 2011

I just happened to see this article and the comments and the concerns about performance, vibrations etc. in relation to vertical axis wind turbines. Well, our product is virtually vibration free and has power output unlike other vertical axis wind turbines. Full power output can be reached with wind directors. In fact, we have the only UL certified wind turbine on the market right now. Our turbines go in water as well so the possibilities are endless. Power data etc. is on our website.

Green Energy Solutions
www.masteringgreen.com
troy@masteringgreen.com

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