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.
Darrieus Wind Turbine Assessment Vol 2: Figures and Appendices (1994)
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The report was prepared by Lawrence Schienbein Associates, Kennewick, Washington.
Modern History of Vertical-Axis (Darrieus) Wind Turbines Published
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Paul Gipe
Elsevier has published an extensive survey of attempts at building commercial Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines on its digital platform. The print version of the survey by Swedish academic Erik Möllerström will appear in the May 2019 issue of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
A historical review of vertical axis wind turbines rated 100 kW and above
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Erik Möllerström, Paul Gipe, Jos Beurskens, Fredric Ottermo
Since the 1970s, there have been several VAWT projects with installed turbines of significant size, either as attempts to commercialize VAWTs, or as university led research projects, or as a combination of the two. Most have involved Darrieus turbines built in North America during the 1980s. However, H-rotors, which have always been a favored concept in Europe, have seen a revival during the 2010s.
Sask. appeal court upholds extradition of man charged in wind turbine sales fraud to U.S.
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Thia James
James Rowan, whose wind turbine venture attracted the attention of celebrities, now awaits extradition to the U.S. to be tried on fraud-related charges.
New Page Added on VAWTPower at Clines Corner
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Paul Gipe
I’ve added a new page on photos of historical Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines to include VAWTPower Management’s prototypes at Clines Corner, New Mexico.
VAWT Wind turbines are tourist ‘must-see’
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Chen Kuan-pei and Sherry Hsiao
A wind farm comprised of 432 vertical-axis wind turbines on the coast of Changhua County’s Fangyuan Township (芳苑) has become the county’s latest tourist attraction. The turbines look like egg beaters, and standing in the middle of the turbines feels like being on a different planet, a resident of the county’s Lugang Township (鹿港), surnamed Hsu, said on Monday.
