Are Vertical Wind Generators A Better Option?

In today’s environment, both financial and climate, it’s important for us to consider the impact that we have. It seems everywher you turn these days there is more bad news about the economy, so we need to look at ways to save money. If it’s not the economy then it’s doom and gloom about the environment and we rightly need to find ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Residential wind turbines are a good example of being able to do both.

A vertical wind generator is very similar to a regular  wind generator except that the blades are postioned vertically rather than horizontally. This vertical orientaion might make this the right application where space is limited.

A vertical wind generator can easily be made and adapted from plans for a normal wind generator. Since all that really is needed is to turn the blades vertical. With the right plans and materials you could build a vertical wind generator for around $200.

What are the benefits of building a vertical wind gernerator? With the vertical orientation of the generator you have the option of installing more blade units because there is more space. More blades won’t necessarily produce more energy, but it will allow for lower wind speed sensitivity.

Vertical wind generators can be built more compact that usual wind turbines. This smaller size is ideal for people with limited space. With a vertical orientation you don’t need a stand that rotates to follow the direction of the wind like a normal wind turbine. 

If you are looking to go off grid, then you will probably need three or four units at the very least. You’ll also need to have storage batteries to hold the electricity generated for times when the wind is not blowing. Battieries will significantly increase the cost of the project.

A better option might be to remained tied to the grid. In this situation you don’t have to have batteries. When the vertical wind generator is not producing electricity you use the normal utilities. This is usually the most cost effective way to deploy vertical wind generaotrs.