Residential Wind Turbine: 3 Most Important Design Considerations

Residential wind turbine power is becoming one of the key forces in worldwide energy production. As more and more people buy into this energy type, prices are coming down and the design efficiencies are improving dramatically. This is an exciting time to be around renewables of all types. As the technology grows, more and more people are taking advantage of free sources of energy that have been around them all along. Although most residential wind turbine products already operate a very high level of efficiency, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

We are seeing wind turbine companies in record numbers enter this market. As they become more proficient at their craft, wind turbine efficiencies are rising quickly.

These are the design considerations and the areas where we will witness the most improvement going forward...

Blade materials and aerodynamics - the materials the blades are made of makes a lot of difference as does the aerodynamic properties of the blade curvature. There is considerable energy being placed on this area of improvement in residential wind turbine companies. The aerodynamics here are not the same at all as those for an aircraft. Although there are similar factors in both disciplines, the science is quite different.

Power conversion - a home wind turbine is really just a device designed to convert the mechanical power of the wind turning the blades to the electrical power created by the rotor shaft turning inside the motor. The more efficiently the shaft can be turned, the more power it can create.

Being able to extract power from a very low wind - this is likely the most potentially fruitful area of work. The lower the wind speed at which the blades will start turning, the more power can be extracted from the wind. This can be a real advantage for wind power companies trying to create energy for the broadest number of people. The lower the initial wind speed to get the rotors turning, the more power a device will create. However, there is a trade-off in that the lower the wind speed which power starts to be made, the lower the inertia in the system. Meaning that it will take a longer time and sustained wind to extract the same amount of power as a larger device that does not depend on a low wind speed can achieve.

In conclusion, residential wind turbine products are efficient now but they have a lot of room for improvement. As more and more these units get into the field and people give turbine manufacturing companies feedback, these designs will improve markedly.