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.
75th Anniversary of Connecting the Smith-Putnam Wind Turbine to the Grid
By
Paul Gipe
On this date in 1941, the first commercial-scale wind turbine was connected to the electrical grid in the United States. It was a milestone in the development of wind energy. The giant Smith-Putnam turbine proved that a wind turbine could be used to generate commercially quantities of electricity in parallel with other forms of generation in North America.
Fluttering Flags, Can-can, & the Big Men of Wind Energy
By
Paul Gipe
No. That title isn’t click bate. Long ago, in a land far away, I had to give a speech on the future of wind energy. That’s not noteworthy; I do it all the time. What was noteworthy, though, was that I had to compete with can-can dancers. If this was fiction, no one would believe it.
Denmark’s Agricco: History’s First Interconnected Wind Turbine
By
Paul Gipe
In 1919 the utility installed a wind turbine at Buddinge and connected it to its lines—a first worldwide, a full two decades before the Smith-Putnam machine in Vermont was connected to the grid.
Buchenwald’s Liberation and What It Says about the Development of Wind Energy
By
Paul Gipe
Today marks the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945 by the 6th armored division of the US Third Army. Buchenwald is significant for several reasons. 56,000 people died in the camp, some one-quarter of those imprisoned.
Everything You Need to Know about Wind Energy Was Written in 1957!
By
Paul Gipe
In the research for my new book, Wind Energy for the Rest of Us, I came across several unsung heroes of wind energy development. One of those was French engineer Louis Vadot.
New Photo of Anderson’s Charles E Miller’s Four-Blade Wind Turbine in 1926
By
Paul Gipe
The Madison County (Indiana) Historical Society was able to locate the photo that I’d seen on display in mid 2015 of Charles E Miller’s 1926 wind turbine in Anderson, Indiana.
