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Wind Power

From novel concepts under development, to kits and market-ready applications tapping the power of the wind.  Counter arguments and rebuttals also presented.

Open Sourcing

15-foot 'Low Tech' Effective Wind Turbines - ForceField's website reports how they have built working windmills from scratch. Site includes instructional material to enable others to do the same.

Plans

AE Wind Turbine Plans - PESWiki comment page to accompany site that sells plans for $30.00.

• All-Wooden Wind Generator - Full set of plans to build a functional device, as published in Home Power magazine. (Forcefield)

Illustration

• Video >

  GE Wind Turbine Installation (600 kb download) - quicktime time-lapse presentation of assembly of one of 108 turbines recently installed in Colorado; which combined are capable of generating 160 MW on a windy day. (submitted by engineer who worked on project.)

  ~Jan. 2004

Companies

• Bergey Windpower Co. - "the world's leading supplier of small wind turbines for homes, businesses, and off-grid."
• American Wind Energy Association
• Pristine-Power - Providing wind power solutions for homes and businesses; includes referral incentives.
• REPower: World's Largest Wind Turbine - 5 Megawatt output comes from three 18-ton blades. (SlashDot; Oct. 2, 2004)
  
• TechLine Power - U.S. company focuses on the design, development, and management of small and large-scale wind and photovoltaic renewable energy systems.  Able to monitor systems remotely.  Train operational staff.  Founded 1975.

WindTree Update Jan. 18, 2003 - able to capture wind power at low wind speeds.

Wyndpower Group - is developing a wind turbine system that can be mounted on a rooftop and that will respond to winds as low as 3.8 mph. Presently still in R&D. (PESWiki)

• Vertical Axis Wind Turbine for Condominiums - Eight agreements in place to evaluate WindStor Power units capable of 200 kW, to be installed on up to 600 rooftops in U.S. and Canada. (SolarAccess; Aug. 23, 2004)

Hydrogen Generated by Antarctic Winds (Renewable Energy Access; Nov. 29, 2004)

Developments

• 100-MW Wind/Hydrogen Cooperative to be Installed in the Baltic Coast of Poland (Fuel Cell Works; Nov. 24, 2004)

5 MW Wind Turbine in Germany Under Construction - Next to Nuclear plant. (Reuters; Sept. 24)

• Wind Turbines for the Shores of Lake Huron - The winds whipping up speed along lake Huron's flat expanse may soon be harnessed for power on the Canadian shores. (SolarAccess.com; June 23, 2004)
• Largest Wind Turbine Blade Unvieled - LM Glasfiber blade measures 126 meters in diameter.  At less than 18 tons, the turbine weighs less less than smaller blades due to new design and materials composition. (SolarAccess.com; June 21, 2004)
• New Calif. Wind Farm Seen as Model for Wind Energy - Stand 300 feet high.  90 turbines will generate 162 MW, enough to power about 75,000 homes. (AZCentral) (submitted by Frank R.)

Giant Wind Turbines Dot The Sky at Dawn in Central Spain - Spain is second behind Germany in use of wind power. (Reuters; Feb. 12)

• Wind Power Falls Under $0.01/kwh - Figure refers to the premium paid for the power over conventionally supplied electricity. (Slashdot; Sept. 14, 2004)
• Plans for the world's largest wind farm - 10 times bigger than the largest one currently making electricity _ are on track for South Dakota. (Energy Central) (registration required)

Research and Development

Project to Produce Hydrogen from Wind Power - Corporacion Energia Hidroelectrica de Navarra (EHN) of Spain is investigating ways of obtaining hydrogen from water through electricity generated from wind power. (Solar Access; Aug. 20, 2004)

• ??Wind Power "Laddermills": High Altitude Kites to Replace Turbines??? - Concept of 5-mile-into-the-sky cable with chain of controllable wing-like kites attached to a looped cable, generating 100 MW.  Developers at Delft Technical University in the Netherlands hope to build a working model in the next four years. (Alt Eng News; Dec. 19, 2004)

Resources

• Book >

  Phoenix Project: Shifting from Oil to Hydrogen with Wartime Speed - includes windships that poise wind generation at sea, and OTEC buoys that monopolize on thermal differential in surface water temperatures versus lower water temp.  By presidential candidate, Harry Braun.  (Submitted by Chris Horianopoulos)

• Wind Power--An Illustrated History of its Development

Counter Arguments

• Lightning at wind farms 'could start fires' - Direct lightning strikes on wind farms could create power surges that damage the electricity network and start forest fires, according to campaigners against the proliferation of turbines in Scotland. (Scotsman; Aug. 20, 2004)
  • Reply: "Think of how many hits the electric grid take each year. There are miles upon miles of electric wires strung around that lightning can hit - and has." -- Sheldon
• Wind companies sued over bird deaths - California environmental group seeks to force the operators of one of North America's largest windmill farms to take steps to reduce the number of birds killed in the turbines' propellers. (Reuters; Nov. 4, 2004)
  • Birds Not Being Killed by Wind Farms -Ecologist - Installations are actually benefiting their local ecology in Denmark. (Yahoo News; Nov. 25, 2004)
• Will Wind Power Change Earth's Climate? - Recent wind power study models the effects of introducing massive amounts of wind farms into North America. According to their results, while still having only 1/5th the impact of fossil fuels, wind power will still adjust the earth's climate with the equatorial regions warmed while the arctic grows colder. (Slashdot; Nov. 10, 2004)

Directories

• Wind Power - open directory at PESWiki
• Google Directory
  • Wind
  • Windmills
  • Associations
• Google > Wind Power
• Google > Windmill

Page posted by Sterling D. Allan, Jan. 11, 2004
Last updated January 19, 2005