A Canadian wind turbine factory hopes to send sales spinning as they set up in the California market at East Bay. Winterra, produces vertical axis turbines, or VATs. The turbines have a low but boxy profile with 3 small blades perched on a short platform.
For those with electric bills of $200/month, they can expect to save been $50 and $75 per month with the installation of one of these turbines. Not too shabby!
For those opposed to industrial wind farms, this homestead alternative is exactly what might turn heads! (not to mention tax monies can be better utilized) The shape is not offensive and it is more visible to wildlife as well! Like Mariahpower’s Windspire, it doesn’t require a tremendous amount of space and actually looks good! (and YES, *I* would put one of these on my house!)
From the article:
“Solar roofs cost about 20,000 for a typical two-bedroom California home. Windterra turbines cost $5,900, with the cost of installation about $1,000…
“Yes, it needs to have an architect check for the structural integrity of the roof. The unit is 250 pounds or so,” said Yanni Kalajakis, a marketer in Windterra’s San Ramon office.”
Advantages:
–multi directional
–easily mounted on roof
–rotate at a much lower speed, therefore lower noise levels and vibrations
–efficient at lower voltages (lower wind speeds)
– turbine is always producing the most energy possible for a given wind speed without overloading the turbine.
–blade design optimizes turbine’s performance
–Windterra’s ECO1200 is a complete “all-in-one” wind turbine system, which includes the turbine, controller/inverter, and mounting system.
It sounds to me that this system would give you the best bang for your energy saving buck.
I give it a thumbs up!
via Treehugger
2 Comments
This is a classic example of circular action: the more people buy, the more they produce, the lower the price, so more people can buy, so they can make more, so the price can go down….
I will have wind/solar/geothermal power incorporated into our next home and this looks like a very good candidate.
I wrote the article you quote in your blog post, and would have appreciated it if you had given me credit and maybe even a link, which is what TreeHugger and other blogs did. This is Janis Mara, reporter at the Contra Costa Times in Northern California. Here’s my article: http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_7350174?source=rss&nclick_check=1