Small Wind: An Evolution or Revolution?

An interesting design... still needs to turn into the wind like traditional 3 blade foils... Low starting wind speeds is nice but little energy to capture below 7 MPH.... if they can hold the efficiencies at the upper speeds as well then more is better of course... one of these days I will get my VAWT prototype "skinned" and see what no load TSR's I can achieve. If they are respectable, loaded TSR's will follow...
The theoretical intension of certifications and the reality are quite different. In the real world they are used to control the market and stifle innovation along with quota failures and various "payola" schemes.... These are the real "dirty little secrets" that the public at large does not get exposed to first hand....

.....Bill

Unless you're off-grid, why waste resources (and create audio-visual pollution) with small wind turbines rather than generating more community-owned wind farm cooperatives?

JPChance.Org

Very interesting podcast. At this point I don't think we can afford to throw out any new ideas towards energy production design. These little things may end up adding to a complete energy revolution. Who knows, maybe one day we will all be generating our own power.
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Nice post this is. These things helps us to commplete energy revolution. Wind turbine helps to generate more power. Some of them are creating entirely new designs or making interesting improvements on existing designs

Thanks for the great post it's great to hear what is happening with small but serious wind turbine generation. I would love to have a reasonably priced 10 kW wind turbine in my back yard. Height restrictions and modest average wind speeds are issues that need to be accommodated.
Thanks William Fitch for mentioning TSR's I did not know about their importance in wind turbine design. Found a good piece explaining "tip speed ratios" at http://www.reuk.co.uk/Wind-Turbine-Tip-Speed-Ratio.htm clear not too long and interesting.
And Jonathon Chance, re. "community-owned wind farm cooperatives", do you have links to people who have done it, web sites that address red tape etc, seems complicated compared to buying and installing my own unit in my own back yard. - chris

The SpiralAirfoil Wind Turbine is a HAWT. Please go to SpiralAirfoil.com to recieve further info. Most turbines do not start moving til 7 to 10 mph, a great deal of energy below this threshold which is 98 percent of the time goes unused. The SpiralAirfoil Wind Turbine has a start up speed of 1.6 mph, by 8 mph the 6 ft. dia by 10 ft. long bird is producing 12 plus volts before other birds have even started moving.
Because of the cabled superstructure the SpiralAirfoil can handle all variants of winds and hold together exceedingly well.
Truly a no stall bird, have you ever seen a bird quit cause the wind shifts rapidly? The SpiralAirfoil keeps on truckin no matter where the winds come from, she is a marvel to see in motion. Keep in mind this bird is no toy.

Dan'l

Small wind can help for off the grid applications since a gasoline generator may cost $0.50 per KWH.
Most of us would prefer not to live in windy areas because of the physical discomfort, making low height wind turbines inefficient.

One of the biggest problems with small wind is the permits and zoning issues. The American wind Energy Association has set guidelines that most cities and counties follow because they know no different. This limits small wind. The system that will take over and solve our problems hasn't been invented yet. But there are already controls. I don't have a half acre backyard do you?? But the wind blowing between buildings is 18 mph 12 to 15 hours per day. Sorry no permit Mister you don't live on a half acre. See the point. How can they regulate something that isn't invented yet. Or at least setup and working. Frustrating.......

@chris-long-156130: if height is an issue, a 10 KW turbine might appear unrealistic in most locations, unless you're lucky and positioned on a suitable hill with sufficiently clean airflow. Sorry, this may sound a bit like "party-pooping" but I would not want to hype up anything that might then turn into a disappointment for you.

That said, you might want to check out www.miniwindsystems.com for a range of similar mini wind turbines as well as smaller systems with low TSR design (smaller ones with their less-demanding siting requirements might always be tied together to arrive at the desired 10 KW total output you're aiming at). Maybe you find something suitable among these. Hope, this helps...

How about wind thermal, for example by connecting your garden fence or solar panels to something frictional?

Because wind is excellent at sapping heat. However, under one of the truly massive HAWTs on farms, i could see a large boiler that the turbine is directly connected to. This would transform the energy into heat allowing a steadier, albeit lighter, power flow out from the site. Possibly a central boiling plant for an entire farm would work better?

Generally speaking if you have a directed energy source like a turning wheel, you are best off converting to electricity -- even if the end-use is heating. It's easier to transport, and can run a heat pump which would move more heat than the energy is worth in gross watts. The only reason we have low-temp solar thermal is manufacturing cost and rooftop real estate. If PV panels were > 60% efficient and cheap, you'd be better off with them and a heat pump than any vacuum tube collector.

That said, if someone came across a fantastic deal on a wind turbine but didn't have the cash to deal with the electronics right away, I wouldn't fault them for just hooking it up to a resistive heater during the winter... even without power point tracking if the turbine is cheap enough it could work out economically.

Hi Brian:

Basically you are correct on the higher eff PV being more desirable than going after the sun for heat with thermal units. The only problem that is still left with cheap PV is expensive storage. You can store 1 million BTU's with 1000 gallons of water at a delta of 120 DegF. The water is free just the tank cost. That is equiv to 292 kilowatts of electric, not so cheap to store. So both cheap PV and electric storage are required before going after the electric for heat becomes more desirable than thermal for thermal. Of course you could always do a hybrid solution by converting the electric into a 1000 gallon electric water heater and distribute conventionally.... less elegant but solves the storage expense...

.....Bill

I share an appreciation of small wind solar....why not make a solar coated wind catcher dual renewable style....the speed of light is so much faster....that overcoming the mental conceptual is all that innovation appears to take....It is the American way that will lead now....it is wonderful that you have put all this together....thanks DeBrux

Hi:

PV layered wind devices are not practical. In either a VAWT or HAWT config, only a small fraction of the solar energy would be falling on the PV who's eff is small enough to begin with.... ideas are great and I have one hell of an imagination, but real energy solutions must begin with solid engineering very shortly after the imagination has done its work....

.....Bill

Please check this one:

http://www.helixwind.com/en/index.php

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"

What if the first guy said, " ya know a 2% efficent PV panel is not Practical"? Neither is a Flying Bumble. Who's to say, let the market sort it out. I wish him well....

Hey:

Tinkering is great.. anything goes, but my comment was not really directed at that....
The Helix I think is one of the nice looking and captivating designs out there.... It just looks really neat for a VAWT....

.....Bill

Maya Culpa. I understand, thanks...... Buck...

Small wind is becoming increasingly popular, especially in rural/remote locations. It's not perfect, but it's getting much more efficient. Small wind/solar is the clear choice for consumers lacking good access to the grid or who are looking for self sustainability.

With big energy in the way or progress the little guys come up with solutions like these newfangled windmills in the hopes of bringing the next new method of power generation. It take a special kinda person to go head to head with the norm.

Wind farms, solar farms. Low wind speeds. Remote locations.

All are now a thing of the past.

A little guy has a new product availible this summer will make these things very unpopular and very obsolete.

What would 400 Amp 220/440 48 KW three phase cost with Solar. How about Windpower?

What would you pay for a 100% green unit, uses no wind, needs no solar, takes up less space then a two car garage and produces at 100% capacity 100% of the time without making any emissions and without any future costs other then simple maintanance?

How about a 1/3 the cost of wind power, 1/20 the cost of solar.

Yes windpower and solar power days are coming to an end.

This product is availible now to order and will be seen on national television July 4th in operation.

The big boys have really missed the target.

What we have here is a solution that will make a revolution.

Dear MYenergyman;

Give em a brake. Hewitt and Packard, Etel McCollock, Gorden Moore all started as the little guy in his garage. Patton did too.

Hi Russ:

BTW, "Imagination is more important than knowledge"
That is actually a quote from Albert E., in case you did not know...
Just an FYI....
His genes were probably one of the first out of the trees ahead of schedule....

.....Bill

Jonathan ,i think you are very visioneering and intelligent ,but community -owned anything is not very common in the USA ,even communist China got rid of its Mao times communal projects as a non -workable system pal.I think they have been doing much better ever since then economically

This collection of thoughts and ideas is more than a delight to read. I am a commercial wind energy developer located in northern New England. If I could I'd reach out and hug a number of you folks. I'm working on creating a commercial wind energy development which will stretch for more than six miles along an almost major highway. It is more than exciting to read the/ ideas,of the potential developers who just happen to be located in a cross section of neighborhoods (towns, cities, etc.)that have a wealth of people willing to wish and work to make their dreams come true, on a realistic scale in the real world. (Ray from NH).

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