Mariah Windspire
Mariah and its Windspire will go down in history as another novelty Vertical Axis Wind Turbine that was doomed from the start. Tall and slender, it was, if nothing else, distinctive. Unfortunately, a tall and slender wind turbine mounted on a short tower is still a wind turbine on a short tower. The company soon realized that the design was really only suitable in “architectural” applications that were looking for visual bling. Architectural ornamentation alone is not enough of a market to support a wind turbine manufacturer as Mariah learned to its regret.
If you don’t know why these are bad installations, then please read a good book on wind power. There are dozens of such books now available in English.
Windspire Energy Has Reintroduced the Windspire Concept
By
Paul Gipe
Though the Mariah Windspire Company is defunct, the design has been taken up by another company. Doing business as Windspire Energy, the new company backed by Wisconsin’s Ark Alloy LLC has revisited the design and introduced a series of models based on the Windspire concept.
Gizmag: Are “school of fish” turbine arrays a red herring?
By
Mike Barnard
Following the latest round of coverage, Gizmag takes a deeper look at his concept, and wonders whether the idea of packing turbines into as tight a space as possible might overlook some wind energy fundamentals.
Genoa Township plans to tear down 3-year-old Windspire wind turbines
By
-lindsay Hall, Michigan Radio Newsroom
The Genoa Township Board says the turbines are hazardous and have sent aluminum parts flying into surrounding areas on windy days.
Defunct Windspire Wins Greenwashing Award
By
Paul Gipe
In the annals of greenwashing, no wind turbine company has done more to develop the technique to a fine art. It’s as if the company’s entire business model was built on finding participants who wanted a greenwashing project.
Mariah Windspire VAWT Measured Performance
By
Paul Gipe
There are now several measured power curves of the Mariah Windspire publicly available. This is one of the very few contemporary household-size (small) Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) to complete full testing and certification in the US. . .
Power Performance Test Report for the Windspire by Windward Engineering
By
Paul Gipe
The Windspire is a vertical‐axis gyromill. The H‐rotor is 1.22 m (4 ft) in diameter by 6.1 m (20 ft) tall, capturing a swept area of 7.43 m2 (80 ft2). The data presented in this report was collected during a power performance test conducted by Windward Engineering from 21 October to 28 October 2011. The test was conducted at Windward Engineering’s Spanish Fork, UT test facility.
