Vertical Axis Wind Turbines
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) can be either small or large. Regardless, they are not the mainstay of the wind industry. Very few exist and even fewer than those work. For many years, I kept these pages as subcategory of small wind turbines. However, this arrangement no longer worked well with the current web site design so I’ve put them under the main category of wind turbines even though most serious work on the technology ceased years if not decades ago.
Chapter 6. Vertical-Axis and Darrieus Wind Turbines, of my book Wind Energy for the Rest of Us: A Comprehensive Guide to Wind Power and How to Use It, has an extensive discussion of the technology–all in one place.
There is also an extensive collection of archival and recent photographs of VAWTs and various forms of Darrieus turbines on the Photos section of this site. There you can find photos of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines.
Sandia 1982 Proceedings of VAWT Design Seminar—Some Brief Comments
By
Paul Gipe
It is unlikely that any “modern” reinvention of Darrieus designs can perform any better than the experimental turbines Sandia and its contractors developed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. . .
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.
Market, cost, and technical analysis of vertical and horizontal axis wind turbines—A review
By
Paul Gipe
“For all wind turbines, other than those used for more decorative purposes, the cost of energy is important.”
Sandia’s Retrospective of VAWT Technology—A Review
By
Paul Gipe
This review was a case of cleaning my desktop and before electronically filing away Sandia’s year-old report on its work …
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Revival?
By
Paul Gipe
Since Wind Energy Basics was first published in 1999, there has been an explosion of interest in new vertical-axis wind turbines. In that edition, the conclusion illustrating one photograph was stark–“Practically no one is working with vertical axis wind turbines today.” The text went even further when describing the difficulties that “new” or “novel” designs face. . .
FloWind: The World’s Most Successful VAWT (Vertical Axis Wind Turbine)
By
Paul Gipe
Note: The following is an excerpt from my 2009 book Wind Energy Basics Revised: A Guide to Home- and Community-scale …
