| By :
Roger Brown
About 2.5% of the energy in the United States is generated by the wind. The opportunity though is there is enough wind to power the whole country, according to the wind industry associations. Right now though, wind generating equipment is very costly. There has never been a better time in history though to benefit from renewable. Right now there is a federal tax credit of 30% of the cost of installation for home systems that brings the cost way down. Most everyone who owns a home has enough roof real estate to support a wind turbine - especially a wind helix turbine that takes up so little space. Taking advantage of renewable energy resources that are small, low maintenance, and will fit on your roof is the way this technology is headed. All types of vertical windmills are popular now. Wind helix turbines are experiencing even better sales than the verticals as a class for several reasons. For urban environments, there is not a better renewable solution available now. Wind helix windmills have the following advantages over other vertical-axis devices: 1. Efficiency is better 2. More quiet than other verticals 3. Aren't angry at the birds like larger windmills As far as efficiency goes, vertical-axis turbines are not nearly as strong as horizontals. With efficiencies of over 50% it is hard to beat a horizontal. With a verticals, it is more typical to achieve 30%. Wind helix windmills achieve 35% though. One of the reasons wind helix turbines can create more electricity that other verticals is they operate with lower inertia. That means they and can alter their directions of spin very quickly. This makes wind helix ideal for chaotic wind environments. Horizontals are a lot louder than verticals. Wind helix turbines are about the quietest out there because they spin in a tighter circle. As a side-note, there are studies coming from Europe showing that wind helix turbines have a calming effect on people who watching them work. Kind of like watching a babbling brook. Wind helix turbines blend in with the roofs they resided on and just aren't as noticeable to the neighbors, making them even more acceptable by the general population that has been known to complain about larger horizontal turbines. As well, most wind helix turbines are mounted on the roof - and made to blend in with their environments. Lastly, horizontal-axis turbines are famous for causing bird deaths. As they migrate, the birds fly into them. With their smaller swept area, verticals are just a lot less likely to impact bird populations. In summary, wind helix windmills are a really catching on and are a very successful sub-class of vertical wind turbines. That is good news for the wind turbine industry because that means problems that local officials have traditionally had with large windmills aren't a problem for them.
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articleforbacklinks.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
