Vertical Axis Wind Turbine - Mariah Power

I was researching for Vertical Axis Wind Turbines as this could be a good residential alternative to the typical propeller type wind turbines.The usual propeller wind turbines are known to be bird killers because of the huge sweep area of the blades and when there is wind, the propellers move fast (just like the ones on those propeller airplanes) which birds sometimes cannot see.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (sometimes called VAWT) , is mounted vertically  just like what was shown on the video above.   One thing I like about vertical axis wind turbine is that the motor is positioned usually at the base, unlike the propeller types where the motor is positioned usually at the back of the rotating blades which sits high above the pole.    It would be easier to do maintenance on VAWT.

This vertical wind turbine from mariah power is rated at 1.2Kw of power.   It will start rotating at wind speeds of about 9mph and can withstand 100mph winds.  It also has a built-in wireless zigbee modem.  This means your computer can access the turbine’s data such as wind speed and power produced.   Now that’s cool.

[via  mariapower.com ]