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.
NREL Wind Turbine Generator System Duration Test Report for the May 2010 Mariah Windspire Wind Turbine
By
Arlinda Huskey, Amy Bowen, and David Jager
This test was conducted in accordance with Clause 9.4 of the International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) standard, Wind turbines -Part 2: Design requirements for small wind turbines, IEC 61400-2 Ed. 2.0:2006-03.
Mariah: Another Performance Report on Windspire VAWT
By
Paul Gipe
The French test site, SEPEN (Site Expérimental pour le Petit Eolien de Narbonne), published a performance report 28 September 2009 …
Mariah In the Running for Worst Small Turbine Install
By
Paul Gipe
You have to give them credit, small turbine manufacturers are a competitive lot, especially small VAWT suppliers. They are tripping over themselves to see who can win the award for worst turbine install.
Worst Turbine Install in History?
By
Paul Gipe
Mike Nelson call this the worst turbine install in history. It certainly ranks right up there with some recent installations by Mariah, a Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine manufacturer.
NREL Wind Turbine Generator System Power Performance Test Report for the Mariah Windspire 1-kW Wind Turbine
By
A. Huskey, A. Bowen, and D. Jager
Again, data collection was not completed with the last wind speed bin (14 m/s) not filled. In both configurations, the inverter experienced failures and the tests were not finished.
NREL Small Wind Turbine Test Project: Mariah Power’s Windspire Wind Turbine Test Chronology
By
A. Huskey and T. Forsyth
One of the small wind turbines selected for testing was Mariah Power’s Windspire Giromill. The Windspire is a 1.2-kW vertical-axis wind turbine. The turbine tower is 9.1 meters tall, and its rotor area is 1.2 x 6.1 meters. The turbine has a permanent-magnet generator with a single-phase output at 120 volts AC.
