By now wind farms, the large collections of towering wind turbines, have become a familiar site in parts of California, Iowa, the Dakotas, farm land in the Northeast, and across Texas. In order to generate electricity locally from wind, the next step may be looking to wind power that comes from turbines on the roofs of buildings downtown or on individual plots of land. Several months ago 2nd Green Revolution wrote about the need for locally produced renewable energy. Several companies have developed wind turbines that are designed to sit atop structures and spin a generator regardless of the wind’s direction.

The WindCube from Green Energy Technologies stands out as one product aiming to tackle the issue of wind generated electricity in city centers and potential rural locales.

Green Energy Technologies explains how the system works on its website.

The WindCube® relies on its “wind tunnel” effect known in physics as the Bernoulli Principle. While the rest of the wind industry generates energy through the use of free-stream wind, the WindCube® captures and amplifies the wind, which produces more kilowatt-hours (kWh). As wind encounters the WindCube® shroud, it becomes concentrated creating increased velocity and in turn, more power. By amplifying the natural wind speed, the WindCube® is able to produce more power from a smaller footprint. Proportionally, the WindCube® has the smallest footprint with the largest amount of power output in the industry. Because of these attributes, the WindCube® is uniquely designed to produce energy in urban, populated areas with space constraints.

Another company, Oregon Wind, has manufactured the “Urban Turbine”, specifically designed for installation in settings that would not be able to support the tower wind turbines found on wind farms. The company plans to release a beta version of their turbine this fall. For those interested in learning more about the release, sign up to receive an email from Oregon Wind. The turbine shown in the picture above is their Revolution^TM turbine. Standing a mere 42 inches tall (just over one meter), construction materials are made from “scrapped car bumpers and other post-consumer recycled plastic.” In addition, the “Optional frame and pole are made from post-consumer recycled aluminum and steel.” Manufacturing is located in Portland, Oregon. As an additional benefit, these wind turbines qualify for the 30% federal tax rebate.

Whether urban wind turbines catch on as a viable option for local energy production remains to be seen. In the case of the Revolution^TM from Oregon Wind, the output may not be what some home owners need to offset their energy consumption. The Revolution^TM is rated 150 watts, similar to the output of a single solar panel. It appears that wind turbines of this scale will be one of a suite of options for homeowners looking to generate their own electricity.

- Eric Wilson

[image source: Oregon Wind]