New Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Tested at Texas Grocery Store
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY 
on 10. 3.08
photo: CJ C
TreeHugger has covered vertical axis wind turbines a number of times. Smaller in scale than most of their bladed cousins, most are intended for smaller-scale applications. Illustrating this is an announcement that Wind Energy Corp. has gotten a pilot project online in Texas, installing one of its turbines atop a 100’ tower next to a Weslaco H-E-B grocery store. Here’s the skinny on this new development:
Originally announced back in February of this year, the pilot project is expected to last between 18 and 24 months. In addition to the turbine, two meteorological towers have been erected to study wind speed, and have been collecting data for the past six months.
Just a Prototype at This Point, but 150 Turbines Next Year
The prototype turbine is made of new carbon materials and will generate between 25-50 kilowatts depending on wind speed.
According to a Greentech Medial article on the announcement, Wind Energy Corp hopes to manufacture as many as 150 of these turbines in 2009. Eventually, the company says it would like to improve their turbines to the point where they can generate power at a cost of 11 or 12 cents per kilowatt-hour.
More at :: Wind Energy Corp. and :: Greentech Media
photo: Wind Energy Corp
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I've seen a lot of skeptical comments Renewable Energy magazines about vertical axis wind-turbines. The comments seem boil down to the following issues:
Since they're putting this 50kw unit on a tower, and gathering wind-data at the site, it sounds like they've at least avoided the 2nd pitfall Cool! :-)
It also seems to me that a vertical-axis turbine has some advantages - it'd be easier to several on a tower, and people may be more willing to accept their aesthetics in town. But the sweeping blades on a conventional propeller / wind-generator cover a surprising amount of area -- and 1950s aerodynamic theory says that the drag caused by a spinning blade is about the same as the area it sweeps through. There is a lot of engineering to do with these things! I'm just glad someone's doing it. :-)
I live in Honolulu, and there's no reason not to have vertical wind turbines on the tops of all the buildings here. The trades blow consistently, and that uncaptured resource could produce lots of clean power. The vertical turbines handle the shifting urban winds more efficiently that standard horizontal ones, and they'd already be at more efficient heights on the tops of the buildings. Hawaii generates its electricity (like most islands) from diesel generators, so anything to offset that is a big bonus, since oil is the first fossil fuel to deplete.
I live on Kauai and I'm sure many NIMBY people would shoot down the idea of having a 100' tower anywhere.
Shame, seems like a good idea.
The horizontal wind turbine, in an obvious way – its blades are attached to a central vertical shaft instead of a horizontal one, allowing for some benefits, particularly in low wind circumstances