Webcast - Small Wind and Distributed Generation, May 20, 11am CDT

I have been following a series of webinars sponsored by the wind industry. You can contact RHarry@bcs-hq.com to enroll. Here is his message:

This email is to confirm your registration for the wind webinar covering Small Wind and Distributed Generation beginning at 12PM (10AM Mountain) on Wednesday, May 20.  I will be sending out connection information a few days before the webinar which will detail how to access both the audio and visual portions of the webinar.

Are you concerned about the environment and about the quality of life for successive generations? Concerned also with the rising costs of traditional forms of energy? Well, a wind turbine might be just the thing for your home or business!

There are two types of wind turbines; The HAWT, or horizontal axis wind turbine, and the VAWT, the vertical axis wind turbine.The difference lies in how the rotor is attached to the apparatus – either vertically or horizontally.

Horizontal wind turbines are larger and hence, more useful in rural areas with open spaces. If you are living in an urban or suburban area, you will want to opt for the vertical wind turbine. In fact, vertical wind turbines were specifically designed to address the unique issues associated with electricity production in urban or suburban settings where horizontal winds become vertical when encountering the face of a building. The helical shaped blades of the vertical wind turbine can make use of horizontal or vertical wind bursts blowing in from any direction.

Research has shown vertical wind turbines generate energy at a lower wind threshold than a comparable horizontal turbine. Their larger, helical designed blades are more visible to birds than the thinner propeller style used in a horizontal system. The Savonius style of vertical wind turbines offers magnetic levitation instead of traditional ball bearings in the generator to blade interface, resulting in reduced friction.