I agree with Tom–” looking good” does not neccesarily mean working “good” – Small wind turbines using high speed rotational blades feeding into direct drive high speed alternators utilize a good portion of their apparent wind energy in just “spooling up” with high losses due to drag vector losses . Vertical axis in small scale are even less efficient.
It is a” tough nut to crack” in the design of a small turbine which can offer even close to a 40% wind to wire power efficiency . It can be done but will require a “ground up design” incorporating an iron cored pm generator with variable pitch driver blades . This approach has been taken ( they sure look different and perhaps not considered ” pretty”) , and several prototypes produced with promise . Several machines have undergone initial testing and have promise to break thru the 40% barrier over a wide range of wind speeds.. Third party verification now in process. check out VFG energy systems and W4E hydro turbines — same technologies.. ones wet and ones kinda dry
Steven Bushongsays
Thanks for the comments, everyone. That Spiral Air Foil will definitely make it to the next iteration of this list. A sad note about Helix …
It appears all of these have one thing in common, nice artistically but lacking in performance. You just can’t change the laws of physics. I will wait for the next developments.
I agree with Tom–” looking good” does not neccesarily mean working “good” – Small wind turbines using high speed rotational blades feeding into direct drive high speed alternators utilize a good portion of their apparent wind energy in just “spooling up” with high losses due to drag vector losses . Vertical axis in small scale are even less efficient.
It is a” tough nut to crack” in the design of a small turbine which can offer even close to a 40% wind to wire power efficiency . It can be done but will require a “ground up design” incorporating an iron cored pm generator with variable pitch driver blades . This approach has been taken ( they sure look different and perhaps not considered ” pretty”) , and several prototypes produced with promise . Several machines have undergone initial testing and have promise to break thru the 40% barrier over a wide range of wind speeds.. Third party verification now in process. check out VFG energy systems and W4E hydro turbines — same technologies.. ones wet and ones kinda dry
Thanks for the comments, everyone. That Spiral Air Foil will definitely make it to the next iteration of this list. A sad note about Helix …
http://SpiralAirfoil.com is their web site.
That collection might have included, but did not, the SpiralAirfoil wind turbine.
It appears all of these have one thing in common, nice artistically but lacking in performance. You just can’t change the laws of physics. I will wait for the next developments.
There’s a small problem with one of the seven, Helix Wind. They auctioned off the company assets in May 2012, therefore, unless it’s used, you won’t be finding a Helix Wind unit for sale.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/08/120820-helix-wind-collapse/