Slashdot Mirror
12 Small Windmills Put To the Test In Holland
tuna writes "A real-world test by the Dutch province of Zeeland (a very windy place) demonstrates that small windmills are a fundamentally flawed technology (PDF of tests results in Dutch, English summary). Twelve much-hyped micro wind turbines were placed in a row on an open plain. Their energy yield was measured over a period of one year (April 1, 2008 — March 31, 2009), the average wind velocity during these 12 months was 3.8 meters per second, slightly higher than average. Three windmills broke. The others recorded ridiculously low yields, in spite of the optimal conditions. It would take up to 141 small windmills to power an average American household entirely using wind energy, for a total cost of 780,000 dollars. The test results show clearly that energy return is closely tied to rotor diameter, and that the design of the windmill hardly matters."
But the electricity needed to power the average American household would power a medium-sized Dutch city, right?
Get your own free personal location tracker
Why don't the Dutch install tidal turbines in their fields instead, and wait for their country to flood.
Oh I kid, I kid
3.8 meters/second average is not a windy area, infact it's a Class 1 [doe.gov] wind speed. There are many places in the U.S. that are Class 3 or better, and you'd get much different results from those areas.
Yeah. You'd have ALL of them break.
Maybee zie posteer kann no sprechen oder reeden die Dutchenzeelandspache so gut.
The folks that got screwed where the buggy whip makers. There just aren't many ways to modify a buggy whip into something that meets a need in another market.
Ummm, try the booming erotic services market.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
You really should check things like article links more carefully if you want to quibble about "news" versus "discussion." The summary link: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/04/small-windmills-test-results.html, astonishingly is to a "journal." It is the author of the journal article that asserts that "small" windmills "are a swindle." The references to "design" by the OP also appear to derive from an uncited link: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/09/urban-windmills.html, to another journal article that debunked small windmills as a poor investment, or as the authors of the linked article put it "fundamentally flawed." There is in fact apparently nothing in the summary by the OP that does not appear to derive from a "journal" source, if you consider that important. So, evidently it really IS news, wouldn't you say?
------ The only greater hazard to your liberty than n politicians is n+1 politicians.
I only took one season of Benny Hill German in high school. My apologies to the Dutch.
I thought all your hippy orgies in your communes would keep you warm you socailists.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
Careful there, wouldn't want to get the White House burned down again.
Maybe you don't have the energy requirements of an "average American household". Try adding 4 televisions, three large fridges, two air conditioners per apartment and you'll be halfway there.
Yeah! And we all drive three SUVs at the same time, to maximize our baby-seal-running-over potential.