News & Articles on History of Wind Power
This page was prompted by a technical question about early electricity-generating wind turbines in the United States. The question followed a similar question about “who was the first” to interconnect a wind turbine with an electricity network. There is a lot of confusion internationally about both subjects.
The history of wind energy is a broad subject and many have written about it. I’ve pulled together a list of sources, books, links, and museums that I know about. This list is far from comprehensive. If anyone wants to add to this list or edit this list, please do so.
A number of the entries below are reviews I’ve written of books that include the history of wind energy. The original book can usually be reached from the review. Other news items are relevant to the history of wind turbine development.
When is a 1,250 kW Wind Turbine Only 1,000 kW? Setting the Smith-Putnam Record Straight
By
Paul Gipe
French colleague Philippe Bruyerre called my attention to an error I’ve been promulgating for at least four decades. He noted that I’d described the famed 1940’s era Smith-Putnam wind turbine as rated at 1,250 kW. It was not he wrote. It was really only a 1,000 kW wind turbine.
Another Long-Forgotten Wind Turbine–This Time on the Isle of Man
By
Paul Gipe
The research for an article on the history of early wind turbines took me down one fascinating rabbit hole after another. Previously, I mentioned Dimitri Stein and his Nordwind turbine on the Island of Neuwerk in the Wattensee. Another long-forgotten wind turbine I’d never heard of before was off the west coast of England on the Isle of Man.
Who Was Dimitri Stein and was He the First with Wind in Post War Germany?
By
Paul Gipe
While working on an article on the history of early wind turbines, I tumbled down a very deep rabbit hole. How was Dimitri Stein able to work on wind energy in Berlin during the height of World War II? This was post Kristallnacht, and Stein lived and worked right under the nose of the Third Reich.
Smith-Putnam Wind Turbine Virtual Exhibition Goes Live
By
Paul Gipe
The York County History Center’s Virtual Exhibition of the Smith-Putnam wind turbine has gone live. Opening with a stunning photo of five men standing on one of the two blades after the giant turbine was installed in Vermont in 1941. The exhibition celebrates the 80th anniversary of the 175-foot (53-meter) diameter wind turbine feeding electricity into the grid—a first in North America.
80th Anniversary of Smith-Putnam Turbine Going Online
By
Paul Gipe
19 October marks 80 years since testing began of the 1.25 MW Smith-Putnam turbine on Grandpas’ Knob near Rutland, Vermont in 1941. To mark the occasion, the York County History Center in York, Pennsylvania is opening its digital exposition Tuesday, 19 October. The S. Morgan Smith Company, of Smith-Putnam fame, manufactured hydroelectric turbines in York, Pennsylvania before it ventured into wind energy.
La Puissance du Vent (The Power of Wind)–A Review
By
Paul Gipe
La Puissance du Vent: Des moulins á vent aux éoliennes modernes by Philippe Bruyerre is a major work on the history of wind energy particularly in France, but also elsewhere. His book earns a place in French analogous to Matthias Heymann’s masterwork on German wind energy or Rinie van Est’s Winds of Change.
