Inventions & Questionable Turbines

This category is a catchall for all those contraptions that burst on the scene in a blaze of media hype as different from those “other” wind turbines only to eventually disappear. It’s not possible to critique every “invention” that plagues the field of wind energy so only those that have piqued my curiosity, or are particularly egregious, are listed here.

Renewable Devices Swift Azure Magazine May 2007 Jpg

Small Vindication: Renewable Devices Swift Ducted Rooftop Turbine Gone

By

Paul Gipe

I am writing this now to close the book on this sad little turbine and the whole “let’s put them on the roof” phenomenon. Stumbling across an obscure NREL field test report from long ago (see Power Performance Test Report for the SWIFT Wind Turbine) dredged up this dark period in small wind turbine development.

Palm Springs Trip 20160124 0034 Jpg

Ogin Installs Ducted Turbines in the San Gorgonio Pass

By

Paul Gipe

Ogin, the Massachusetts-based ducted turbine company, has installed six of seven turbines in the San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs, California.

Geometric Model Of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

WindStor VAWT: Another Sad Saga of Time & Money Wasted

By

Paul Gipe

In sum, another story of ill-advised “development” of a revolutionary Darrieus wind turbine with all the attendant hubris and hype. The sad saga cost the government of Quebec $350,000—money that could have been used on something far more beneficial to the people of the province.

Flodesign Ogin 20150725 0003 Jpg

FloDesign-Ogin Diffuser Augmented Turbine (DAWT) in the Wild

By

Paul Gipe

What the photos clearly show is that the prototype has abandoned the lobed mixer-ejector feature that was the hallmark of the design—and the justification for the hype that this turbine would be the second coming that we’ve all waited for.

Debunking Wind Turbine Fads

By

Simon Mahan

Fad wind turbines do double duty for anti-renewable energy activists: they perpetuate false negative stereotypes of wind power, and then fail to deliver substantial quantities of clean, cheap power.

Nedwind 250 Tera Kora Curacao 12 Jpg

DLP Wind Turbine Blades Another Idea that Won’t See the Light of Day

By

Paul Gipe

Yes, folks like me who work in the industry typically dismiss these ideas out of hand. We internalize a lot of processes and out comes, “nope, not going to happen.”