VAWT (Vertical Axis Wind Turbines) coming in the near future

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) could become a reality for us all in 2012. As the name implies these are a wind turbine with the axis turned vertically, unlike the wind turbines of present.

The largest advantage of VAWT is that they are able to produce electricity in much lower wind speed than a traditional wind turbine does. Here is a picture of a VAWT, compliments of the folks over at Wikipedia:

This particular VAWT is installed in Cap-Chat, Quebec Canada. I see nothing in this article which tells us what its output rating is. VAWT's are more specifically called 'transverse axis wind turbine', the other advantage to using this design is that the gearbox and generator are near the ground and thus much, much easier to work on than the traditional wind turbines are.

Now that I have discussed the advantages to having a VAWT, I would not feel a though I have done a thorough job unless I talk about the disadvantages of such. VAWTs have been known to stall in gusty conditions and have been prone to blade failure. Currently scientist are working to satisfy this blade breaking problem. They are actually using computer simulations to try to determine the root cause of VAWT blade failure and I for one hope they are successful in doing so. I will now show you a 5kw wind turbine again thanks to Wikipedia for this one also:

Do these not look much more aesthetically pleasing to you? They sure do to me and I hope that we can get the PTC extended and install many more of these residentially! VAWT's are a thing of the future.