In browsing Lutheran Lucciola's links on simpler living, I came across the Quietrevolution vertical-axis wind turbine. VAWTs have been around for a while, but the Quietrevolution helical design solves several nagging design issues with the concept, while making a great aesthetic improvement over previous VAWT concepts, in my opinion. This turbine is nearly a piece of sculpture, don't you agree? I've seen some designs for home-built VAWTs, but none quite as elegant as this.
4 comments:
I nearly fell into a torpor just gazing at that picture of one.
Heaven help me if I installed one; I'd never leave my backyard.
Sigh. So pretty. Why do people object to wind power? I don't get it.
Neither do I. I'm mesmerized by the traditional type, I can only imagine what one of these would look like in motion. There's a huge wind farm in Texas on a magnificent ridge an hour north of San Angelo, and I've nearly driven off the road staring at the turbines. Hopefully nobody does a study on highway accidents near wind farms and finds yet another silly reason to dislike them.
I learn from Wikipedia that the turbines I was staring at are from the 1st, 5th, and 8th largest wind farms in the country, by installed capacity. That has to be the most-harnessed wind corridor in the country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Texas
There are two between here and Rockford, IL, and another one about 30 miles west of here due to start construction soon.
Our area forms the highest rise or ridge for many miles around. When you're living in the midst of prairie, even a 650 ft-above sea level ridge (it's technically a morraine - who knew?) can support wind farms. Very cool.
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