| By :
Roger Brown
A vertical wind turbine for home use is one of two major categories of windmill that you should investigate before making a decision on what to buy. When you are checking out renewable energy options for your home, it is wise to look into the potential for energy creation by all available options. In general, that means wind and solar. (If you investigate and it turns out you have potential for electrical generation from solar, there are hybrid devices out there now that combine both technologies.) Vertical-axis wind turbines spin with their drive shafts turning in a vertical plane, or perpendicular to the earth's surface. This makes them very compact when compared with horizontals. That is because the horizontals have horizontal drive shaft. That drive shaft being horizontal greatly increases the footprint of the horizontal-axis turbine. What are the top 3 reasons for choosing a vertical wind turbine for the home? 1. Verticals love chaos - the roof is an ideal place for a vertical windmill because they perform well in chaotic wind conditions. This is very good news for people living in cities as the roof is about the only place they can install wind turbines. 2. Verticals don't take up much space - this is a big advantage in that you can install multiple wind turbines in a relatively small space, like on your roof. This is huge point that needs to be really understood. The vertical wind turbine takes up so much less space that these units can almost be installed side by side without degradation in their individual performance. 3. Verticals don't stress your roof as much - because they don't have a large lever arm, vertical turbines spin in a small diameter, so there isn't a tremendous amount of side pressure put on the device at any one time, almost regardless of the strength of the wind. In conclusion, the vertical wind turbine for home use may just be your ticket to a free energy future. There are a number of advantages of verticals over horizontals and this analysis is not exhaustive. The investment in a vertical wind turbine will certainly be more. But, keep in mind that just because first cost or the purchase cost may be more, does not mean the installed cost will be more. Since vertical devices don't have a long moment arm like horizontals, they don't require the same strength of foundation that the more traditional horizontal turbine does.
|
![[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
