The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is going to release a report on 2010 growth of the small wind turbine market soon, the AWEA 2010 U.S. Small Wind Turbine Market Report. I got to take a sneak peak at some of the data and charts and, with permission, am sharing a few key points and a couple graphs with you here on CleanTechnica. Check out the following and let us know what you think about the small wind turbine market and its strong growth.
Highlights:
- Small wind turbine market grew 26% in 2010 (in kW), more than any previous year.
- Nearly 8,000 small wind power systems were sold in 2010 for a record $139 million.
- Cumulative small wind turbine sales in the U.S. after 2010 bring U.S. capacity to 179 MW (from 144,000 units), nothing to laugh about.
- Fewer wind turbines were sold, but they apparently had a higher average capacity. (Average cost was $5,430/kW.)
- More of the sales were for grid-connected turbines than in previous years, representing 90% of sales for the first time ever.
- Sales come from over a dozen small wind turbine companies, including over a half-dozen U.S. companies. “Domestic sales by U.S. manufacturers accounted for an 83% share of the U.S. market; on a unit basis, U.S. manufacturers claimed 94% of domestic sales.”
- Turbines manufactured in the U.S. typically used 80% domestic content.
- 51 different wind turbines models were known to be sold.
More to come when AWEA releases the full report, but it seems clear that small wind turbines are growing in popularity and sales, and that they are creating jobs for numerous Americans today.
Images via AWEA
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