| By :
Roger Brown
Ok, here's my question about the vertical helix wind turbine for the home - Why would a product design that's been around for centuries still not dominate the wind market? Will vertical helix windmills ever make it to the big time? The short answer is No, they aren't efficient and they cost a lot. Vertical wind turbines in general only account for 1% of the small wind turbines out there. Industry experts say, there is just nothing new going on with vertical wind…companies are just recycling the same old ideas. Very compelling idea to harvest all that chaotic wind up on rooftops but they're just not efficient enough yet. People are sometimes willing to live with inefficiency though to get something that looks cool - consider the Ferrari. This explains why any of these units have sold. Vertical orientation of turbine blade surfaces has been around for thousands of years and in wind turbine design since the mid-1700's in Germany. The idea of a small compact device like this was spot-on. But practically speaking, they can never go head-to-head with the efficiency of horizontals. Here's why. Let's look at the 3 key decision factors and why vertical helix wind turbines will likely never beat horizontals in key categories: 1. Efficiency Vertical wind turbines, especially the Savonius type, are quite inefficient when compared to their horizontal brothers. They rely on drag more than lift and therefore only achieve a fraction of their efficiency. Horizontals conversely expose relatively huge aerodynamically fine-tuned lift surfaces to laminar flow wind. They take maximum advantage of prevailing wind while vertical helix devices pick up the chaotic wind down closer to the ground. 2. Cost The cost of a vertical helix wind turbine - either of the Savonius or the Darrieus type is much higher than one that will produce the same power in a horizontal design. There just aren't as many out there, so economies of scale haven't come in to play yet. 3. Looks The vertical helix wind turbine is hypnotic. If you look on Youtube, the videos you will see from manufactures of these devices are mostly pictures of the beautiful turbine doing its work - not much on supporting data because that doesn't really help their cause. Makers of vertical wind turbines don't talk a lot about comparisons with horizontal systems because they know a fight over stats isn't a fair one. The horizontals always win hands down. In conclusion, vertical wind turbines, like the vertical helix wind turbine, serve a need. "Power production light" is what it might be called. If you insist on vertical wind just adjust your output expectations downward. Some manufacturers of horizontal wind turbine products say vertical wind turbine manufacturers are scheisters. I could not disagree more, however. There is certainly a market for less efficient vertical wind production devices that are elegant and have a small footprint. The promise of the vertical market is their potential wide spread distribution. Not every home can have a big horizontal wind turbine on it. My neighborhood won't even allow them, for example. The vertical helix wind turbine is a device not many communities will outright forbid. While its design is weak in comparative power production, it makes up for that in looks. The vertical helix wind turbine for the home will probably never dominate the wind turbine market. However, they do have future potential - wind production for the masses that can actually be installed in an urban setting.
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