Low-Cost Micro Wind Turbine Targets Top Five Place

October 14th, 2010 by Chris Milton

A British business offering turnkey solutions for micro wind power is aiming to become one of the top five producers in the world by 2016. Its innovative new design will provide a fully installed wind turbine for as little as $7000, according to the company’s CEO.

Totempower is planning to produce 15,000 wind turbines each year by 2016 which will be “as easy to install as a (natural) gas boiler”. “There will be no huge excavations in your garden,” the company promises, and “any maintenance is a matter of minutes rather than hours”.

It almost sounds too good to be true .. is it?

At the heart of the company’s ambitions is the Passive Air Jet Vortex Generator (PAVOG), a patented technology researched at City University in London, UK.

PAVOG is a form of blade configuration which allows the turbine to operate at far lower wind speeds than conventional turbines, increasing efficiency by up to 20 per cent. This also means it can be sited at lower elevations and on free standing masts. Hence the company’s claims about installation and maintenance.

The free standing nature of the masts also means they can be developed using more environmentally friendly materials: no concrete foundations and a mast made from natural fibres instead of the traditional steel. The company believes these innovations alone will cut each turbine’s carbon footprint by a staggering 90%.

The domestic version of the turbine is expected to produce 2,000 kWh per year, while a larger version will produce 15,000 kWh per year. The company believes customers will see a return on their investment within six years, meaning the turbine will be able to survive without subsidies or tax credits.

The company has only recently been spun out of City University and is currently negotiating $3m investment for final prototyping and production work. For further details see the Totempower website.

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: air efficiency, city university, London, totempower, UK

About the Author

Chris Milton is a seasoned sustainability journalist focusing on business, finance and clean technology. His writing's been carried by a number of highly respected publishers, including The Guardian, The Washington Post and Scientific American. You can follow him on twitter as @britesprite, where he's one of Mashable's top green tweeters and Fast Company's CSR thought leaders. Alternatively you can follow him to the shops... but that would be boring.

Narendra Patel

Marketing small gedjets for renewable energy is a big problem. Many enlightened citizen would like to instal such facilities, but problem is that many formalities of permissions, installations, etc are to attended to before sweet fruits of energy saving are available. Hence many people drop the idea. For them complete package for wind energy will interest. Permission part also can be simplified by standerd application formet.
- http://www.britesprite.co.uk Chris Milton
  
  You’re right Narenda and this is something both UK and US governments are looking at tackling with a range of initiatives to make it easier to obtain the necessary planning permission.
  
  I don’t believe the Totempower offering includes planning authorisation, mainly because that’s always a local matter. However, I guess when we see installers offering planning as part of their package we will know that wind power truly has come of age!
Frank Hanlan

I suggest some more research needs to be done. Look at what is required to install an antenna tower on a lot in a city. Ensuring public safety will mean great difficulty in getting building permit approvals.
- http://www.britesprite.co.uk Chris Milton
  
  That’s a valid point Frank. However given that these turbines will need a smaller structure than micro turbines built to date, I suspect the betting is that the approval will be easier.