No one who lives in South Asia is unaware of power cuts. The state owned electric utilities in that part of the world are a criminal disgrace to the millions of people who live there. I keep getting enquiries from a lot of you guys (and gals) for rooftop wind turbines to power individual homes. Well, here are some designs and also some new and high-tech designs that could be useful in more remote applications:
Aerotecture http://www.aerotecture.com/ourvision.html is a Chicago based company that makes horizontal axis wind turbines which are really unique. They also have a nice picture of a building where they have integrated their turbine design with the architecture of the building and produced a unique and attractive structure that would be powered by the turbines and looks really nice. I can see this design being very popular in India in particular on the multi-storey buildings in the cities in particular.
Oregon Wind http://oregonwind.com/index.html is another company developing a product that should be a huge hit if they could sell it in South Asia. Their turbines look nice and the price-point they are talking about would be superb if they could be close to it. I am particularly happy that these applications are coming about as a result of interest in renewable energy because of high fossil fuel prices. There's nothing like savings on costs to get people more interested in a new technology.
One more rooftop mounted turbine that looks like a large chimney or elevator service room us the Tesnic http://tesnic.com/ I shall be keeping a watch on their website to see how their project develops. It does look aesthetically better than any other wind turbine I have seen.
Tangerie Alternative Power http://www.tangarie.com/ a company that offers an advanced Vertical Axis Wind Turbine works with Engineers and Architects to offer an integrated solution to wind power needs. This is a woman owned business according to their website and the lady runs it in the memory of her brother, a soldier who laid down his life for his country in the Vietnam War. My salute is to both her and her brother as people, in addition to a second salute for offering a renewable energy product.
For those with large homes on the coast like the East Coast Road in Chennai or Clifton Beach in Karachi, for example, there is a British product that looks like some kind of modernist sculpture and generates power quietly, a concern with people who do not like the hiss of wind turbines: http://www.quietrevolution.co.uk/ has a nice product that would appeal to anyone who feels like driving an Ariel Atom or a KTM X-Bow if you get my drift . . .
And finally, a somewhat conventional design from Canada that is selling well in this part of the world from what I hear: http://windsimplicity.ca/php-files/viewpage.php?page_id=1 This design also works very well for home / condo use and could be a nice fit for a seaside home or for a home in an agricultural / recreational area. The Canadians do some really good work in this area and if something works in the very severe weather conditions in their country, it should be an excellent product for South Asia as well.
Cheers, everyone!
I hope this gives
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