At the end of February, Zephyr Corporation began worldwide sales of a small wind turbine with a radical new concept: the Airdolphin Mark-Zero.
The Airdolphin is capable of generating power under conditions ranging from light breeze to gale-force winds. Generating power even in hurricane conditions is something that up until now has been considered too dangerous. The Airdolphin achieves the seemingly contradictory goals of being both a high power as well as a safer and more durable turbine, with non-stop power generation between 2.5 and 50m/s wind speed. Tests have shown that the Airdolphin generates more power in variable wind conditions, even when the average wind speed is small. This finding suggests that the Airdolphin can actually be more cost-effective than large wind turbines. The Airdolphin generates 100–120kWh per month for an average wind speed of 6m/s.