Well it is a part of the answer.
There are a number of interesting developments in wind technology currently available or very close to commercial realization in something called micro-wind. This is a relatively new concept for me as my idea of a wind turbine was one of those large installations costing millions of dollars which have been installed over the last 15-20 years as a means to supply us with electricity. The technologies discussed in this diary are much smaller than the MW sized turbines with many of these unique designs small enough to be erected in a backyard.
Skystream Energy
Based in Flagstaff, Arizona, Skystream Energy have developed a number of small scale wind turbines which can be installed as a complete kit from their company at your own home or business.
"It was pretty exciting to come home yesterday and see my electric meter running backwards"
They have produced an excellent video showing exactly how the technology works and I highly recommend you watch it as I will go into a bit more detail on this and other small scale wind technologies available in the rest of this piece. But the simplicity of this type of installation which can save you money needs exposure.
There is an interactive graphic which also provides a little bit of information on how the fully self-contained micro-turbine is hooked up to your house and the electricity grid. There are a whole lot of useful tools on the Skystream website including an interactive Google map so you can go and see a wind turbine in action in your local area, a number of tools so that you can assess what wind is like in your area as well as find dealers and determine rebates and incentives applicable,
how to install and get permits for the structure, as well as details on commercial or retail installations.
According to Skystreams datasheet on the product, the unit itself will cost from $12,000 to $18,000 fully installed, however there are incentives and rebates available including a $4,000 tax credit. They also indicate that the unit will pay for itself in as little as 5 years.
I would suggest in some areas were a number of members from the same neighbourhood to get together, that bulk purchasing and installation deals could be arranged as well as saving costs on permitting and convincing the council that this is in the communities interest.
Paying for all your electricity needs for the rest of your life by installing one of these units seems like a pretty good idea. This will be seen as an investment opportunity by some, as 2.4kW, the rated output of these self-contained units (includes inverter), may encourage people to seek out high efficiency appliances for their homes as they will pay for the units quicker and start making money the less power they use.
TechnoSpin Wind
Based in New York, TechnoSpin have a number of turbine designs suited to varying applications. Targeting On-Grid, Off-Grid, standalone, hybrid systems, TechnoSpin turbines include PowerSpin a 2kW unit for residential and commercial use, ComSpin which comes in 2kW, 700W and aimed at Telecommunications and 400-1000W units, and AquaSpin which is designed to be coupled up with a pump for agricultural applications.
The units themselves, from what I read will require a battery system/inverter set up to fully take advantage of the output, however as indicated above, TechnoSpin have suggested that community bulk installations are the most economical means to afford to install these micro-turbines.
Technospin have a registered Youtube account and it may be worth spending a few minutes visiting the links if you want more information.
http://au.youtube.com/...
Swift Wind Turbines
Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Swift has a 5 blade turbine design surrounded by a ring and capable of putting out up to 1.5kW of AC power.
The units will be manufactured by Cascade Engineering in Grand Rapids, providing much needed jobs for this state, particularly after the rejected the Auto industry loan request threatening to force many Michigan people on to the unemployment lines right at Christmas.
They have provided a tool which helps you determine the suitability of your area for installation.
They have a number of videos on their site which I cannot embed the links, but may be worth a look.
Quiet Revolution
Although based in the UK, Quiet revolutions Qr5 takes a different slant at harnessing the wind power by using a helical design. The advantage of this is no need for wind directional tracking by the turbine as is generally required on the smaller units described above.There are a number of different sized units which will be manufactured it appears for Qr5 of 7kW, but as the graphic below shows, there appear to be plans to build different sized units including a qr2.5 and qr12.
For Engineering professionals, Quiet Revolution have provided a technical information request form so you can access schematics, CAD files, load calcs, noise studies and the like.
One of the really cool things Quiet Revolution is working on is installing LED’s in the blades which may provide the capability to display pictures or objects. If used in an application as shown below, over a roadway, it would be a great way to combine products.
There are some project example photographs which show these units installed in unobtrusive situations.
I know these are photoshopped but LED's in wind turbines for road signs?
Marquiss Wind Power
Based in Folsom, California, Marquiss Wind is developing an enclosed type wind turbine which may be able to be mounted a little more safely lower downthan an exposed blade type.
They have produced a small video of the unit in action as well as having featured on CNBC’s "Powering the Planet".
Using a common base design, dependent on available space, wind speed and specific requirements (budget, power required etc), Marquis manufacture a series of different sized units called the Aeropoint T series. These come in sizes of 5, 10, 15 and 20kWH. According to their latest press release, Marquiss Wind turbines have met the requirements of two of Northern California’s major electricity utilities, PG&E and SMUD, to be allowed to connect to the grid.
Mariah Power
Based in Nevada, this company has a design based on similar principles to Quiet Revolution above.
To get an idea of how effective this design is take a look at a video here, and here or visit their gallery page.
The windspire product comes with all of the equipment needed to connect to the grid, with the specifications stating an 1.2kW output. Like Quiet Revolution design, taking the area of wind capture upwards, means the diameter of the installation can be greatly reduced with this particular design at 2 ft (0.6m) radius.
Mariah Power have reached agreement to start manufacturing these wind turbines with Mastech Manufacturing based in Michigan, beginning early 2009. They have won an award from Going Green, have quite a few operational units, and have been successful in a number of rounds of capital raising even in the difficult credit market.
As with a number of the companies I have shown here, they are looking for dealers and employees, so their site may be worth a visit for entrepreneurs and job seekers alike.
Helix Wind
I’ve left this new technology until last as it is probably the strangest looking design I’ve come across. Using something akin to shaped corrugated iron, Helix wind have come up with a turbine that is not only practical, but in my opinion looks good.
Based in San Diego, this company has a whole lot of different media outletsfollowing its development and has already signed deals and MOU’s for $10.6M from South America, 1,500 cell Towers, 2,500 and 1,500 hundred units respectively according to their recent press releases. They have a comprehensive series of technical documents for engineering purposes, and again are looking for developers, integrators and employees.
They appear to have a number of different sized units including a 5kW turbine, 2.5kW design, with an interactive products page showing specifications, certifications and the like.
With a YouTube registered site with 36,667 hits already showing the testing of one of their turbines, this company looks like they have something people are interested in.
http://au.youtube.com/...
Square Engineering
Based in India, although this company appears to be an onseller and distributor of micro wind turbines, they do have what appears to be one of the better collections suitable for smaller installations I could find.
Their site is also quite useful in terms of specification detail and includes products such as 600watt, an improved 800watt unit, 1kW,, 3kW as well as offering a 6kW and 25kW turbine.
It is heartening to see a company in India pursuing renewable technologies like this, knowing they are endeavouring to take on the challenges of developing and using low emission electricity generation technologies.
Southwest Windpower
Like Square Engineering in India, Southwest Windpower, based in Arizona, USA distribute and install a number of various micro-wind technologies. They are behind the Skystream design mentioned at the top of this piece and seem to have one of the longest histories in this industry.
Other products include Airbreeze 200w, Air X 400w, Air Whisper 900w, 1000w and 3kW, as well as their new design Skystream 3.7.
Once again the site is full of useful information to help any residential, commercial, architectural, engineering etc professional determine suitability of micro-wind for their purposes.
This is most likely not the extent of interesting developments in micro-wind generation, but its a start. There are of course medium size to mass scale wind turbine designs out there which, given enough time I’ll try to put together another diary on these in the coming weeks.
There are a number of things I like about these technologies not least of which is the savings possible if community organisations collectively investigate these ideas. Economies of scale in purchasing, lower installation costs, permitting, standardized design, possibly even power sharing on a street. Factor in that many of these newer technologies can be installed on existing infrastructure such as lighting poles, electricity poles, telecom towers, commercial and industrial building roofs even on highway overpass signage (Quiet revolution), and these technologies make a lot of sense.
Maybe put these on top of existing electricity poles
Consider mounting these turbines on rows of street lights
Now think really big
Please visit the sites above as many of these companies are looking for employees or people with the capacity to develop new industry by becoming distributors.
Admittedly, with the weakened US economy it is a challenge to even contemplate things like this, but it is my hope that enough people will eventually understand that it is NOT impossible. That it can be done.