Cleanfield Energy
Cleanfield Energy was an erstwhile Hamilton, Ontario manufacturer of small, fixed-blade, Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs). I hadn’t written much about them publicly until I edited my private notes for a section on them in my new book Wind Energy for the Rest of Us. As seen in the extract from my book below, I did not think highly of them or their product. They lasted longer than most flash-in-the-pan VAWT promoters, but eventually they too went defunct, stiffing turbines owners, investors, and vendors. One vendor said they installed some 70 turbines mostly in Canada. I have not verified that.
I thought the matter was dead until one of Cleanfield’s suppliers contacted me. Despite Cleanfield’s demise, the vendor remained a die-hard VAWT advocate. This becomes almost religious to some. For that reason I am posting some links and documents on the company for those who need another case study of hubris and hustle in the small VAWT sweepstakes.
Small-scale wind turbines in cities and suburbs
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Presentation at the CanWEA conference i 2007 by S. Tullis at McMaster University.
Product Brochure for Cleanfield 3.5 kW VAWT
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Product brochure by a British company for Cleanfield’s 3.5 kW VAWT shown on an unusual monopole tower. To my knowledge the Cleanfield turbine was never certified under the British FIT program. This brochure is unusual because it shows both an expected power curve and an energy curve–data hard to come by in North America at the time.
Youtube Videos of Cleanfield Energy VAWT
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Two videos of Cleanfield VAWTs spinning. The first shows two of its small VAWT on the roof of a what looks like a school in Ontario, Canada. The second shows a group of five turbines at an airport in Northern Ontario.
Press Release: Cleanfield Energy Announces Hiring of Wind Energy Specialist
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Press release touting the hiring of an engineer from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario as a specialist in wind energy in urban areas.
Small-scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbines: Wind tunnel testing results
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Cleanfield’s first prototype small-scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) has been tested in the wind tunnel at National Resources Canada’s laboratory in Ottawa.
Wind Turbines for use in Cities and Suburbs: Basic Wind Physics
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Stephen Tullis
Presentation by Stephen Tullis, McMaster University.
