Vertical axis wind turbines have recently been revived by a few innovations made to them by scientists all over the world. Sauer Energy is one of them, and their turbine has a high efficiency because it’s designed to maximize the drag, so the blades are moved more efficiently by the wind.
Sauer’s VAWT features a concave high drag side, which will transfer the wind’s force directly to the rotor shaft, which is directly connected to a generator that converts the energy into electricity. The drag force may be controlled, and the turbine’s torque can be controlled by increasing the blades’ size and distance in mass, rather than vertical height.
The force produced by the volume of the wind is directly applied to the rotational axis of the turbine, thereby extracting maximum power at lower wind speeds.
The company can produce wind turbines that can be scaled up to any needs.
Generally speaking, vertical axis wind turbines are more efficient than horizontal axis ones, and can be put together to form fields in which the turbulence created by some can help others rotate, thus increasing the overall system’s efficiency. Unlike horizontal axis wind turbines, these settings can help efficiency instead of ruining it.
[via sauerenergy]
Vertical axis wind turbines runing at 50% in wind class area’s 1-2 or wind speeds of 9.8 mph average are being manufactured here in The USA also shown on USA Solar’s Website. these are using very low rpm PMG’s.
and reach full power at 7 m/s or 16 mph and stay at full power in wind thru hurricane winds.
So yes VAWTS have come a long way since consept was found in a few hunder years ago to grind grains into flower to bake bread and other goodies. There is a lot of power in low winds. example is on a windy day let the wind blow thru your house door to door and don’t let the door slam you the but on way out.