Mag-Wind Vertical Axis Turbine for your Home
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.22.07
We get excited about new technologies; sometimes we jump the gun, so it is great to find a product that is new, different and actually available. It's a "Magnetically-Levitated Axial Flux Alternator with Programmable Variable Coil Resistance, Vertical Axis Wind Turbine' , and it has just come on the market. Designed by Thomas Priest-Brown and Jim Rowan in Canada and manufactured in Texas, it"solves 11 different problems that previously limited the development of vertical-axis wind turbines for generation of electricity ." The center hub floats on a magnet, and the coils that generate the power are at the outer ring, with magnets at the tips of the blades flying over them at high speed. It is designed for home installation in urban settings; It is only 4 feet high, so neighbours are unlikely to complain about its appearance. We asked about issues with ice and snow, and were assured that there was no problem. We also asked about noise (often a complaint) and was told that it was inaudible.
Unlike normal turbines, it doesn't mind a little turbulence, works well in developed areas, and gets an extra kick from something called "the roof effect" -evidently "A roof with a 10-foot vertical rise and a 30% angle will provide nearly a 200% increase in the amount of wind energy that is available to be turned into electricity. Compared to the same turbine just sitting on a pole, the roof effect increases the power yielded by operation of the wind turbine dramatically."
Specifications are impressive:
* Productivity: 1100 kWh/month in a 13 mph average wind
* Name Plate: 5 kW rated output in 28 mph wind at sea level with 80% relative humidity.
* Cut-In Speed: Less than 5 mph.
* Top Speed: Greater than 100 Mph.
* Economics: Fully burdened cost over 10 years is 3.5 cents per kW.
* ROI: If current bill is $300 per month or more, then ROI 3 years or less.
* Maintenance & Operation Costs: Minimal
* Deployment: Rooftop Urban or Rural Setting.
* Total Estimated Production Run 2006: 3,500 Units
* Production Units Ready Spring 2006
The first two prototypes have been working all year; Deliveries start in February from ::Magwind Local Canadian distributor is ::Niagara Windpower
I drive past the one in Grimsby, Ontario every day. It seems to spin pretty good most days... much better than the smaller one they had before.
Quite a lot of discussion on the claims presented by MagWind. Google yourself, or check out this one: http://blogs.onenw.org/jon/archives/2003/01/27/wind-power-for-urban-buildings/
Seems possible but unlikely. Who's to say until one is actually in use with verified data.
Lets see... wind speed*cost of electricity/Heisenberg constant plus interest rates in Japan... can anyone figure that out to get a price on that thing? Looks nice though. I'm thinking it wouldn't be hard to make a home made one too.
The Japanese have introduced short-sleeve suits for their businesswear, buit I don't think that willt mesh well with western sensibilities. We might better take a queue from the classic British linen suitings, and also from the classic Etonian outfit, which is blazer, tie, and shorts!
Anybody know how much it costs?
LA: I think around 8K for the turbine, 19K installed with batteries and inverter.
As to the price, the article says the ROI would be 3 years or less if your current (no pun intended, ha!) bill is $300 or more per month, so $300 * 12 months * 3 years is $10k. Or am I missing something?
inaudable? im sorry, i fail to see how this would be inaudible. but i am all for alternative energy...
Yeah I'm wondering about the cost as well....I checked out their website but it just says to contact them...wonder if they also have info on different laws in diff. countries and states regarding the power grid.
John
http://www.monomachines.com
Cost,
I'm not sure if I'm reading it right. But if it cost about 3.5cents per kW over 10 years. and produces 1100kwH/month on average. That's 1100kW*12 months*10 years= 132000kWh at 3.5 cents that's 132000kWh*(3.5cents)= $4620. Not sure if my math is right, but that's seems better than the $10,000 turbine that's forsale
So cost $4620 ?
I contacted them on the website but have yet to hear back on cost and more details. Optimistic about the idea but pessimistic about this particular one with such little detail on the website (including no pictures of actual installed turbines).
I'm thinking, in order to avoid the cost of inverter/batteries it would make sense, at least in Canada, to connect the turbine directly to a DC electric furnace or some kind of heating coils which would result in lower heating bills for most of the year. Then you could maybe plug it into a DC air conditioning unit in the summer (the kind they have in cars and boats) so that you'd get a cool house when its windy.
seems to me like an easy way to save 10000$.
re john
the electricity here costs about 5 times as much as it seems to cost for you, so over here it would pay off in less than 10 years. i think on most of europe the electricity price is at least 0.1 USD (3 times over your specified margin), and besides saving money, one could also accidentally save the planet.
Sadly, notice that there's no new information on the site passed December of 2005. I'd be concerned.
You want to "save the planet"? Learn to recognize an obvious scam.
or at least run a Google search
http://www.wind-works.org/articles/Mag-WindPyramidalPower.html
(for those unfamiliar Paul Gipe is a respected author in the 'small wind' industry)
LA: I spoke with the inventor, who says that Paul Gipe got the math wrong, was looking at an early prototype, and does not accept the principle of roof effect, which is well established and accepted by others. He did not want to get into a shouting match with Gipe who is not respected by him, and stands by his product and his numbers. We will follow up with a visit to the factory soon.
It should also be noted that even if this thing breaks the laws of physics and actually does perform as well as they say it does, people do not typically live in places that have an average 13mph wind speed.
It doesn't sound like much, but check what your local weather station says the wind speed is on a day when you think it's unusually windy. Most towns in Western nations manage, what, an average of 5mph, if that?
I have met the inventors, neither have any engineering or science background whatsoever. The numbers they claim for this unit are a practical impossibility at this juncture. The efficiency ratio required does not exist on planet earth for this VAWT or any other for that matter. Caveat emptor baby.
I just got off the phone with a distrubitor and did a little digging. I ilive in Dallas. Our average wind speed is 10.7 MPH. The unit is $15K installed, with batteries and an inverter. I don't give a hoot about batteries, so I am going to look into getting one without them.
In Dallas, we pay about 13 cents per KwH. Assuming a 5% increase in electricity costs per year and that the unit can generate on average 900KwH per month, it would take just shy of 9 years to pay back.
By my calculations, in Texas, this is substantially better than solar.
HI this jagan from india i got an average wind speed of 8 MPH, on my roof. But i had constrain of 36 inch working area.I need to genarate 800 kwpermonth . can u suggest me which type of wind mill is suitable for me and how much USD it will cost for the complete instalations.
I should not have my opion since other institutions (Not rright time to have their names pulic) and I, we are developing and testing other type (100% lift force) vertical turbine configurations.- even we have lab work, wind tunnel models. . .
But as public service I think i should post this link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_6410000/newsid_6419300/6419397.stm
In case you wonder what ours look a like then.'
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wind+wave+turbine&search=Search
I hope ypu enjoy it.
Thanks
Phi
here on the east central coast of florida - winds are pretty constant - and may be best area for efficient return on investment. placing turbine between homes - increases wind (15 mpg constant long term is common) and decreases potential bird kills - since they do not fly between houses (15 feet apart) - question salt and sand problem like everything on ocean side - high maintenance may be biggest obstacle- how is this coated? teflon? chrome? high grade aluminum? high grade stainless steel? all a must. need to support good hybrid dev and encourage improvements for future - rather pay $ to non utility firm and get supplemental energy from non electric source - any word on European residential turbine featured on Discover channel in March 2007?
Hi, I`m from Romania and I`m interested about this mag-Wind1100. Can anyone tell me if it`s any distributor in Europe?
Thanks, and I`m waiting for new subjects.
I dont understand why would this wind turbine be so expensive,
btw have you seen this one
www.windside.com
I live just a couple of miles from their plant in McKinney Texas and have been on their waiting list for over a year. I have been able to see their prototype on a home a few miles east of here and tour the plant where the assembly is to take place. Apparently, they are having some problems on the electrical engineering side. As far as the turbine itself, I have been able to actually see and play with one that was assembled and just sitting there. The concept is better than anything else that I have seen to date. But I still can’t get one on my roof!
SPECIFICATIONS ABOUT THE PRODUCT Mag-Wind Vertical Axis Turbine . TO BE INSTALLED IN IIFORD , LONDON ,U.K . ANY DISTRIBUTORS IN ENGLAND . ALSO DETAILS OF ANY OTHER SUITABLE MODELS
I just got off the phone with Mag-Wind. Apparently the 1100 has had some production issues and will not be available for a while. The salesman couldn't give me a price either.
I love this kind of stuff, has there been much written about running most house utilities off 12V
instead of grid power? From what I've read, it seems fully feasible to set up a combination
solar/wind setup, build a good battery system to
go with it, and keep grid power for the stove/dryer etc....
HI, This is Raja sekhar from Hyderabad.whether The product is avilable or not in india through any authorised dealer and wht is the selling price.wht about gaurenttey.
That turbine is way to small to get 5Kw/h. You would be lucky if it produced 1Kw/h. I wish these people would not make such unsubstanciated claims because it gives the industry a "snake oil" name. If they told the truth, they may actually sell a few...
They list vector systems of Texas as their fabircator. I contacted Ken Smith, a vice president there. Who stated that they no longer have any affliation with that company, (MagWind). And yet they are listed as the fabricator on the web page of MagWind.
There is a lot of controversy about this technology but an article I found in the St. Catherines Standard ( http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=838353&auth=Matthew+Van+Dongen) makes it pretty clear that it is not a good idea to invest any money in one of these devices at present.
well wind is free for now but if we change the fed gov would find away to make us pay for it you can belive that they charge us for airwaves we cant even see so do not assume its free the president turns a fan on there we control the wind now start sending out the bills
Btw at the current time if you click the link for Mag Wind above you will get a page that states a new Mag Wind page is coming soon. No other information is available. One of the changes to the new page, I suspect. Will be that they no longer list Vector Systems as their fabricator. Wonder what their new page will be like and when it will appear.
I bet this thing would be ideal for harnessing
water currents or tidal power
Can any one please tell me how to directly contact the manufacturer or a reputable distributor. Telephone numbers, please, because the company website isn't functional.
Thanks.
BSL
soy de PuertyRico como puedo saber mas de las turbinas verticales
Id love to know if this comes with snakeoil to lubricate the moving parts?
There are so many claims here that just do not jive with physics. First and foremost, I'd love to know the wind swept area of this device, because that is one of the key components in determining the power it can generate. Claims of 5KWh at 28 MPH, that would require a wind swept area of approximately 12 square meters or 130 square feet!!!. (This is assuming the unit is highly efficient and makes use of a minimum of 35% of the power it can actually produce.)
Look at the ad, the guy testing the thing, it's photoshopped. Is there actually one of these things in service somewhere making power to the claims?
Ok, call me skeptical...read here for a no nonsense guide: http://www.otherpower.com/windbasics1.html
how much is the mag wind for email me when someone gets this at hj4lyfe@yahoo.com thanks
I think the idea is fantastic and is the way of alternative electric, solar panels I've always believe was not the way to go. But wind turbine is definitely the true alternative. The main part or puzzle, if you will, has been solve which is the vertical turbine, now the fuel cell can be worked out later which should not be a big deal really, because we have been building battery now for years, we just now need to find ways of containing that energy for longer period of time. I look forward in marketing this product in the near future if given the opportunity to do so.
How much? When is it available in US?
How much? When is it available in US?
If this unit takes approx. 10 years to recapture costs,
has anyone found out what the economic life of this unit is?
If its' total life is 10 years then it wouldn't be worth the cost.
If this unit takes approx. 10 years to recapture costs,
has anyone found out what the economic life of this unit is?
If its' total life is 10 years then it wouldn't be worth the cost.