Top Five Micro Wind Turbines
2. Southwest Windpower Air X
The AIR is the world’s number one selling small wind turbine. The redesigned Air X incorporates a new microprocessor-based technology that results in increased performance, improved battery charging capability, greater reliability and the reduction of “flutter” noise from the machine.
The Air X is ideally designed for powering small appliances in off-grid installations, remote communications facilities, marine applications, and communities in the developing world.
Cost: $600
Rated Capacity:400 watts
Startup Windspeed:8mph
Rotor: 46 inches (1.14 m)
Interconnection: Battery charging
Voltage Output: 12, 24, 48 VDC
Estimated Energy Production: 38 kw per month @ 12 MPH (5.4 m/s)
3. AeroVironment Architectural Wind
Architectural Wind is a small, modular wind turbine system designed for installation on buildings in urban and suburban areas. This is done by eliminating the support tower, reducing noise and vibration, and creating a modular housing that installs quickly and easily onto buildings, without penetrating the roof.
The turbine design has received critical praise for a while now, receiving the Red Dot International Design award and a 2007 Annual Design Review award. With a sleek, color-matched series of specially designed, highly efficient and low profile wind turbines, property owners can integrate Architectural Wind systems easily into new and existing buildings. As Preston at Jetson Green pointed out, the AeroVironment turbines have been installed at the new Kettle Chip facility in Beloit, WI that can produce roughly 28,000 kilowatt hours of power per year under normal wind conditions.
Architectural Wind is scalable and works very well in urban environments. The price and output of the machines will vary because of the drastically different requirements of individual installations. If you need more information on cost and specs, you can contact AeroVironment through their website.
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Great and informative article. I live in Buffalo, NY and we have, as a community, a desire to start manufacturing wind devices. We have (unfortunately) plent of empty manufacturing space, and different modes of transportation for finished product, even the very large ones. But for some silly reason we can’t get local government to buy off on it. Someday you may read about Buffalo as a mjor contributor to the manufacturing of wind energy devices.
Joe- I hope I do!
Check http://www.allsmallwindturbines.com for a (almost) compleet overview of small wind turbines
I wish I knew how to install that $600 one! That is something I could actually afford.
Nit-picking, sort of - items number 1 and 2 list their energy generation in units of kw per month, which doesn’t make any sense. I’m assuming you really meant kWh per month?
it’s about time that the us and the rest of the world got there head out of there ass and looked at something else we are not the last generation to be left on earth.
wally
I am unclear why these turbines (except the vertical) have such small blades. Don’t you want a larger blade to collect more wind? Same reasoning that would follow for a sailboat…
Thanks. Tracy
A great article and very informative. I am keen in using renewable energy at my farm for an irrigation project and would like to explore the affordable “Southwest Windpower Air X” system.
Great article, one of the best I’ve seen reviewing micro wind turbines. I actually built my own turbine, but if I had the money I think I would go with the Skystream 3.7
The Whisper 500 seems to have a spec that is way off (by the manufacturers own data). You list it as:
Estimated Energy Production: 1500 KWh/month @12.5mph
They list it as:
Kilowatt Hours/Month: 538 kWh/mo at 12 mph (5.4 m/s)
This seems a lot more realistic. (I wish it were the one you have!)