More on Vertical Axis Turbines in "Small Wind"

I wanted to make another comment or two on this idea in small wind: a set of small, vertical-axis turbines that are designed to look something like a tree. It’s interesting to note that people seem to get their panties in a bunch about ideas like this, e.g., my pro-nuclear friends, the leader of which sent the link and wrote: “Be ready to handle a new year of scammers…”

I do admit that a) this won’t represent a cost-effective solution for wind energy (for numerous reasons), and b) there really are scammers in renewable energy. But let’s accept this idea for what it is: a cute way of reminding us (in this case, the Parisians) that renewable energy is here, that it’s a good thing, and that as people of conscience, we should care about it.

From an engineering standpoint, there is no getting around the obvious limitations:

• No one, even those who are willing to make their designs ugly in the extreme, has not been able to make small wind cost-effective; that’s why there are zero participants in the field at this point. You can go to Home Depot, buy some PV and put it on your roof. If you try to do the same with a small wind turbine, you’ll notice something instantly: it doesn’t exist. Companies that sell real products and need to stand behind them concluded many years ago that this whole concept is irremediably flawed.

There are no places on Earth where electricity is so expensive that this is a good idea.  If there were, entrepreneurs with various legitimate solutions would be popping up like mushrooms in a soggy forest.

• The central problem with small wind is the lack of wind resources near ground level. If you want to build a small turbine and put it on your roof, go for it, but keep in mind that all the houses and trees in your neighborhood will render it useless. If you want to put it up on an 80-foot pole, again, go for it, but now you have an eyesore—one to which you’ve just added 10 times the costs.

• A related problem with this particular design is that the turbines in front block the wind from those in back. It’s like buying five wind turbines and installing four of them in your garage.

But let’s let cooler heads prevail; there’s no call to get all excited and call out the product designer as a “scammer.” If you want to see some real scams in renewable energy, just ask.  Trust me, I can show you several.