Going Big by Thinking Small

The average wind speed on this planet is 5 m/s. However, as most people in the industry know, conventional wind generators are designed to achieve optimum performance at wind speeds between 12 and 25 m/s. Sites that can provide that kind of wind energy are unusual and everybody seems happy when a wind generator works at least 30 to 35% of the time. The author describes his Motorwind concept, which he thinks will overcome this discrepancy and make wind energy more efficient and more widely available.

By Lucien Gambarota, Motorwave Group, Hong Kong