What's this, this or this? They are all wind turbines. From this tulip like one — to wind vibrators, and portable micro turbines for your next camping trip. We're all used to these huge wind turbines that look the same everywhere. But there is no shortage of ideas of how else they could look. So why haven't we seen any of these around yet? And do they have a chance? Overall, things are looking pretty good for wind power. In 2022, wind turbines made up just over 7 percent of global electricity production, with the bulk coming from the really big equipment. The first documented windmill-powered machine was a musical organ. That was credited to Greek inventor Hero of Alexandria, likely around 100 AD. Over the following centuries farmers in Persia and China refined wind power technology to boost food production. Since then there have been many ideas about how to harness the wind. While the older models were about 30 meters tall, modern versions started at about 50 meters. Nowadays 250+ meter turbines are becoming standard, powering tens of thousands of homes. In this game, bigger is definitely better. So why bother with the small ones at all? "It's like the small cars and the big trucks. You can't replace big trucks with small private cars because you know they have a different function." Patrick Jüttemann advises businesses and private households on the pros and cons of small wind turbines. "The small wind turbine is for yourself. If you have a windy location you can produce power for yourself, electricity for yourself. This might be an enterprise, it might be a farmer, this might also be a private home." A small wind turbine has a rotor sweep of an area less than 200 square meters. Beyond that, they can be almost anything. But generally, there are two groups: horizontal and vertical. In the first case the rotor shaft is horizontal, and parallel with the direction of the wind. Horizontal wind turbines need to be actively oriented toward the wind, which requires a significant effort. Vertical axis wind turbines flip that, with the rotating shaft perpendicular to the wind. They can capture wind from all directions of the compass at all times. Horizontal turbines are generally more efficient than vertical ones of the same size because horizontal turbines have been aerodynamically optimized to the max. So horizontal turbines have won the sprint to build large scale wind parks by being more efficient and offering a better return on investment. That's why they are also the main players in the small wind turbine business. But vertical turbines might be about to have their own moment in the sun. I mean wind. They have some real advantages: "Mostly vertical turbines are available in such a small scale and also they are not as noisy." This is Alina Wilke from the University of Wuppertal. "It's not so likely that for instance birds or anything that flies in the air gets trapped into these turbines because they have a more visible structure." And they need far less space. That makes them perfect for use in cities, where the buildings, such as here at the United Nations in Vienna, block wind and send it in different directions, making for turbulent conditions. Vertical wind turbines are also easier to maintain with key components like the generator at ground level and not at the top of a very very tall tower. And vertical turbines easily win in terms of creativity: Freud would have chuckled at a few of them. And while it's still not clear which style is most efficient, we do know one thing: unlike their standoff-ish horizontal cousins, vertical turbines love to huddle together and interact. When wind hits the vertical turbines, it swirls around the structures and speeds up. This makes the turbines close by turn faster, generating more energy — and can make a wind farm 60 percent more efficient compared to regular arrays. Still, any alternative to big horizontal turbines will have to compete on cost and efficiency. Smaller projects generally cost more per generated kilowatt than larger ones. The costs and quality of smaller wind turbines varies wildly. "It's quite common that the manufacturers publish unrealistic data — overstated energy yields. Therefore you should pay attention to independent references. Companies can pay to have their products tested for example by the Small Wind Certification Council in the US, which sets specific performance and safety standards for small wind turbines. But innovation is moving fast. On top of the traditional horizontal and new vertical turbines, a third category of omnidirectional turbines are popping up. That means they are designed to work with wind from all directions, even above and below, while still spinning in the one direction. Inspired by NASA's Tumbleweed Rover, which can travel straight despite winds blowing from all directions, the windball might eventually generate power anywhere with chaotic wind patterns. But the technology is still in its infancy. The same goes for those vibrator-like turbines. They are called bladeless wind turbines for obvious reasons. When wind hits the structure, it creates wind vortexes around it that then make the turbine vibrate. Another fascinating idea for harvesting wind from all directions are kite turbines. We have an entire video on that you can check out. Right now, small-scale wind power is still a blip on the global scale. In 2020 it accounted for just 1.8 gigawatts or 0.2 percent of installed wind capacity worldwide. Some analysts have projected the sector to grow at some 9 per cent a year to reach a value of 2.54 billion dollars by 2030. With renewable energy — a key tool in cutting CO2 emissions — small-scale wind power might get a foothold in many niche areas. Such as remote, low-infrastructure regions, where there's no public power grid. Like here at the Princess Elisabeth Research Station in Antarctica. In both remote and more populated areas, small wind power is particularly good when combined with solar. "In Europe you have the dark winter and during the dark winter low solar radiation, but we have lots of wind or this might be also a rainy season, monsoon season with lots of clouds, not that much solar radiation. But you have wind. And I think is really the future of small wind turbines." Then there are all the places that don't have enough space for big turbines. Such as in cities, on roofs, on balconies or on urban infrastructure like transmission masts or streetlights. To complement the larger ones... "So besides having a lot of large turbines wind turbines and solar panels and water turbines and so on, we will probably need in the future to have everything we can get and this is very interesting in this field." In the city and in rural areas. Of course, adding more wind power means we also need to strengthen the grid — as we found out in another Planet A video. Small-scale wind power, like all emerging renewable technologies, needs to drive its costs down. Mass production could be fueled by government incentive programs, to make them available for more people. We'll see whether it will be vertical, horizontal, or something completely new. Have you caught wind of any intriguing innovations in small wind turbines? We'd be blown away by your comments, likes, and subscriptions.
