Helix Wind – Turbine Testing

There have been lots of attempts to create shielded VAWT but they lose most of the advantages of a VAWT. The shield has to have a yaw control, etc so you no longer capitalize on the variable wind direction. They do increase efficiency but at the cost of response time and CoGS.

You could, many off grid applications are done this way, but most customers elect to have it connected to the grid and net their usage on an annual basis. If you are on a time of use meter then, depending on your rates, a battery system to peak shave can make sense.

It is one of the quietest wind turbines available because the tip speed of the blades is less than the wind speed. It is also much safer than typical turbines because it turns at lower rpms and doesn’t shed ice long distances but rather downward in a limited radius.

Battery systems for storage are a separate component and not included with the system, and the platform does have a brake so that if winds in excess of 150mph are anticipated it can be shut down.

This data varies by model and is available on the Product page on the website.

They could be, but the square footage and subsequent output you could devote to the solar panels wouldn’t be worth the cost.

A good question. First, a ducted VAWT only generates more output in wind tunnel tests, not in the real world where the wind changes direction, and if you consider the additional swept area created by the duct as part of the turbine, then you’re really not seeing an efficiency improvement, only a swept area increase. Second, the key challenge with the Savonious is to make it durable, efficient, reliable and cost effective. That’s where all the development $ has gone.

Twoddle. ‘Shielded’ VAWTs or, to be more precise, those with ‘leading edge reorientation flap’ are showing much more efficiency, either in tunnels or outside, and by a huge %. Admittedly that % still being determined, and by only a tiny few, but what I cannot understand is why it takes so long in this IT age for the best to kill the rest. Human stubbornness one supposes. This helix thing is pretty, but pretty powerless and I suspect that the site is a hopeful advertisement. .

Efficiency is only part of the equation. Capacity factor is the other important part. Most HAWTs are inherently more efficient than VAWTs, but when it comes to utilizing the available wind resource over the course of a year to generate electricity, they end up producing less b/c they have many operating limitations. The ONLY metric that really matters is $/kWhr generated. On that variable, for target applications for this technology, Helix is highly competitive.

This is indeed the minimum speed required for it to start turning, however that’s not the same as to produce power. Most small wind manufacturers will issue confusing statistics which can be misleading to customers. Cut in speed does not equal starting production speed. You really need about 7m/s average annual wind speed for ANY small wind turbine to generate significant output.