Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

A reader asked for my viewpoint on this vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT).

On its best day, small wind is extremely expensive and inefficient.  Wind currents at low altitudes, especially when fettered by trees and buildings, are terrible.  This means small wind has to be cheap, and cheap things fall apart easily.  If you look around, you will notice that almost all of the initial entrants in this industry are six feet underground at this point; there is a reason for that.

This particular device is even less attractive than most, and many of its proponent’s claims are bogus.  In particular, nothing is needed to orient a VAWT to the wind direction; in fact; that’s one of its (few) benefits.  In addition, that nacelle is going to hamper the device’s performance.

If anyone wants a small VAWT, the best approach is this one, from WindStream.

As a marketing guy, however, I have to admire the name: “atmospheric dynamo.”  That made me smile, because I created the names for many of my clients’ products and services over the years (none of which were fraudulent, btw), and I always tried to achieve some level of positive differentiation in that process.

Quick story: I named Digital Equipment Corporation’s sales automation software the “Integrated Sales Information System,” and popularized its nickname “ISIS” among prospective customers.  At the time, Isis was known (if it was known at all) as the Egyptian goddess of women.  Now, the product (and the company, of course) no longer exist.  Given the developments in world terrorism, I suppose that’s a good thing.