Is wind technology only feasible on a megawatt scale, or can we tap this resource at a community or even a family level?

Humans have used wind energy for thousands of years. Ancient Persians used wind energy to pump water before the birth of Christ. The world was explored by wind-driven ships long before engines were invented. As recently as the 1920s, over a million wind turbines pumped water and provided electricity to farms in North America.

 

Motorwave’s micro-wind turbines are light, compact, and can generate power with wind speeds as low as 2 m/sec. The gear-like turbines can be linked to fit just about anywhere and a row of eight turbines costs just $150 for now (prices will decrease once the turbines are mass produced).

One Answer is the Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT).

The vertical blade design optimizes the turbine’s performance at typical wind speeds, which are quite low.

Most designs concentrate on rated wind speed and rated power, which yield a lower annual power output at typical wind speeds.

The result is a higher annual power output - this is what is what it is all about- annual power output, not rated power?

 

Omni-directional: The VAWT instantaneously accepts wind from any direction as opposed to HAWTs (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines), which require an on-board motor to rotate the unit relative to wind direction.

Low rotation speed: Up to 200rpm during normal operation, and has a maximum rpm of 270.

Roof-top mounting: The VAWT is designed to be mounted on a roof as opposed to a pole or tower. This makes the unit more accessible for easy routine maintenance.

 

Each megawatt-hour of electricity that is generated by wind energy helps to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are produced by fossil fuel generation by slightly under a tonne.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

The use of wind turbine generators is growing around the world. In terms of installation and operation worldwide, the wind power industry now turns over more than 9 billion USD.

At the end of 2004, 47,000 megawatts of wind-generated electricity produced some 92 TWh (terra-watt hours) of electricity. That is sufficient energy for the electricity needs of Portugal and Greece combined.

2005 was a record year for new installed capacity in Canada. As of April 2006 Canada’s installed wind energy capacity was 944 MW, enough to power more than 280,000 homes.

The American Wind Energy Association says over 3 GigaWatts of new wind power will be installed this year. That’s enough for 750,000 - 900,000 homes.