Have you thought of adding a wind power system to your home to lower your energy costs and help the environment? Does your site not make a large tower with guy wires spreading across your property to stabilize it feasible? Or are you in the city where the wind bounces off the buildings around you? Let's look at a couple of options available that will let you take advantage of the wind no matter where you are living; Urban, suburban or rural.



Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) are windmills that have helical shaped blades mounted vertically to the generator. They are specifically designed to address the unique problems associated with producing electricity in urban or suburban areas where often a horizontal wind becomes vertical when it encounters the face of a building. The helical shaped blades of the VAWT system utilizes vertical or horizontal wind bursts blowing from any direction (omni-directional). This makes it more useful in these areas than the more prevalent roof mounted Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) available in most home wind power systems.

The HAWT systems work well in more open settings, a rural area without trees or surrounding buildings that break up the flow of wind coming to the blades. There are a number of smaller designs built specifically for home use, a lot of these are DIY kits that allow you to set up the system yourself, saving on the cost of professional installation.

Vertical systems have been shown to generate energy at a lower threshold of wind than a comparable horizontal turbine. They also will produce power past the point that the increasing wind causes the blades of a horizontal turbine to feather to prevent damage from over powering the system. The larger, helical designed, slower rotating blades are also more visible to birds than the thinner propeller style of wind vanes used in a horizontal axis system. The Savonos style of vertical axis wind turbines can offer magnetic levitation instead of traditional ball bearings in the generator to blade interface, drastically reducing friction. The less friction, the less energy needed to turn the blades allowing the system to operate in lower winds.

Vertical versus horizontal. Which system to use? Each has their own pluses and minuses, and no one type will be perfect in all wind conditions for all sites.

Learn about the alternatives before purchasing. Start with the Internet to learn about the options, including information on siting, required permits and net metering available to add your system to the power grid. Do your research and use that knowledge to help you on your journey towards energy self-suffiency and improving your environment.