The alt-energy conventional wisdom has always been that solar panels, because they’re just as efficient on a single rooftop as in a utility-scale desert array, are the future of distributed power generation. Wind turbines, because they get more efficient as they grow, are most useful as 300-meter high monsters in offshore wind farms rather than smaller turbines in residential back yards. But that might be changing, if the new generation of small, highly-efficient turbines lives up to its considerable hype. I spent an hour on the phone the other day with a rep for a New York company called WindTamer, which is developing a line of turbines that are shielded by conical tube, producing some apparent advantages. Our talk has me wondering if “small wind” deserves a second look.
Keep in mind that he has an obvious agenda, and that “story stocks” like this — minimal current sales but breakthrough technology — are a dime a dozen in hot fields like alternative energy. Still, if half of what small wind proponents are saying turns out to be true, the concept might have a future after all. Here are some of the high points:
- WindTamer’s turbines recently broke the Betz limit. “100 years ago a researcher came up with a theoretical limit for the amount of energy that can be derived from a stream of wind. He figured that the most you could possibly get is 59%. But recently a researcher [Kenneth Visser of the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York] found that this design breaks the limit. It takes 70%-80% of the energy from wind versus 30% for a traditional turbine. Some people in the industry say it’s cheating because you’re not only using wind that strikes the blade but what goes around the cowling, creating a vacuum. It depends on how you interpret the Benz limit, but the fact of the matter is that it does produce 2.5 times the energy for the swept area as a traditional turbine. Our 3.5kw model will produce 10,000-13,000 kwh versus 3,500 kwh for a traditional turbine.”
- “A traditional turbine has to be put on a 60-foot tower, but a WindTamer can be only 20 feet high, so you don’t have to worry about zoning or neighbors. It’s also quieter, like a refrigerator compressor, which can be lower than the sound of the wind, so it’s for all intents and purposes completely silent.”
- “With small wind the payback is typically 20 years. WindTamer’s 3.5kw unit costs $25,000, and you get 30% [tax credit] from federal government, so you can essentially eliminate electricity bill. The payback is 10 years or less. Right now they’re being essentially hand-made but there so many are on order that soon they’ll be mass-produced and the cost will drop dramatically.”
- “One of the problems for turbines big or small is that the blades are exposed to the elements so especially in freezing rain ice coats them. This can not only damage the turbine but there’s this phenomenon called ‘ice throw’ where chunks of ice are shot through the air more than a mile off the big ones. [WindTamer] blades are protected, which is one of the reasons why they’re so hardy. They don’t kill birds and though there’s only been one up and running for a couple of years, it’s expected to last for a long time. So it has a very long-term warranty. It’s the only turbine approved by the FAA because the blades are in a housing, not open.”
Now, like I said, in hot industries you hear things like this all the time. So it’s unwise to bet too much money on such a stock until the company has orders in hand and sustainable cash flow. But the possibility that small-scale wind power has a future is pretty exciting, and definitely worth following.
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