These are a series of photos of a “demonstration” of “urban wind” using five Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) from three different manufacturers at Crissy Field in San Francisco. They are all very small. The Mariah Windspire, the only one of the bunch that has been tested to IEC standards is rated at 1 kW. The two Windspires were operating when I visited in 2012.

While the press reports were quite glowing about what the project was to “demonstrate” and the promotional materials touted how data from the turbines would be monitored and reported on line, I’ve found no such followup.

San Francisco has seen several “demonstration” projects of so-called “urban wind”. This is probably the best example. The others are even worse than this one.