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I'm looking at the financials of erecting a wind turbine to provide some of my domestic power. Is there any advice out there on the relative benefits or disadvantages of horizontal axis wind turbines versus vertical axis wind turbines?
The vertical ones probably look better but this is not about looks.

Welcome corktree.

Odd kinda site in a way, that Kedco. Obviously Ireland-biased (Cork!), which is fine, but they've gone to all the trouble of having pages about wind turbines - but then they don't sell 'em.

Plus, look at the picture of the turbine in between the houses. If only!

emordnilap wrote:Welcome corktree.

Odd kinda site in a way, that Kedco. Obviously Ireland-biased (Cork!), which is fine, but they've gone to all the trouble of having pages about wind turbines - but then they don't sell 'em.

Plus, look at the picture of the turbine in between the houses. If only!

Obviously I'll shop around before buying, I'm just at the research phase at this stage.
Any constructive advice?

None really as I've no practical experience but, talking to a wind expert recently, what he actually said was that because vertical axis have simply never caught on, far less research or development seems to have gone into them. He didn't have any comment about efficiency but carried on to say that the field of wind turbine development is 'exciting' at the moment as there are so many ideas about and who knows what's round the corner.

Going by that, it strikes me that unless someone hits upon something special in the vertical axis area, all the real progress and development money is going to be made in horizontal axis turbines.

How's about here and the links on that page for more info.

I agree with you though: they look good.

I had a chat with a reseller of Skyrota turbines at the Homes for Good Exhibition, and got a good impression. They're a bit big for a single home urban installation though.

Looks nice, don't it John? And so it should at 24 grand plus vat. Grrr.

Skyrota wrote:We recommend all suitable sites have an average wind speed at least 5 m/s, with reasonable exposure, good site access, and not within close proximity of the nearby dwellings or premises.

5 m/s = roughly 10 miles per hour.

I just found this website which is chock-a-block with info. about wind turbines. It's written by people who've been through the 'horrors'. They like the Skyrota amongst other brands.

The site doesn't work particularly well in Safari so I've asked them to check it. Otherwise, dive in, it's very readable.

Build your own vawt.

A definitive test I once read (sorry no ref but might be Renewable Energy World) came to the conclusion that for a given surface area (that is presented to the wind) a HAWT produces more energy than a VAWT.

However, this energy produced tails off LESS with increasing turbulence (sort of makes sense: the turbine doesn't waste time turning round to get into the wind) and there's also less wear and tear. The "dynamo" bit is easier to reach for service/repair, the construction is simpler (therefore more reliable) but as pointed out above the tech. is less mature. Hmm, yer pays yer money and all that.

Although your man in those videos didn't move on to the hooking up of his vawt to a turbine, the finished result was very attractive, even just as some kind of garden ornament or bird scarer!

emordnilap wrote:I just found this website which is chock-a-block with info. about wind turbines. It's written by people who've been through the 'horrors'. They like the Skyrota amongst other brands.

The site doesn't work particularly well in Safari so I've asked them to check it. Otherwise, dive in, it's very readable.

Thanks emordnilap, found some good info there.
OK, I think we all agree that the VAWT looks better.....still not 100% convinced it will work in my particular urban setting. The configuration of our street and the one behind us means that the rears of the houses almost form a wind tunnel and I'm at the top of it...but my hunch is no reason to invest. Is there any way of measuring the strength and consistency of the wind without investing in expensive monitoring equipment

basic rule no turbines work well in urban areas

need open rural or offshore locations to produce good outputs

hawt horizontal axis turbines are 1000s of years old

vawt vertical axis are new boys on block

good in high winds , compact & low noise but expensive

only vawt turbine that works in urban areas is maglev design
direct roof mounted flat or angled
prices start at $ 13,690 for 2.5kw syste with 3.6kw grid inverter
to well over $ 50,000 for 10kw system
plus carriage from the states

work or same principle as MAGLEV trains magnetic levitation
floating axial permanent magnets in rotor & generator assembly

see www.enviro-energies.com

all the rage in hollywood at present

can supply vawt systems on , off & hybrid
200watts to 1260kw 24v to 36kv