| Vertical axis windmills have been around ever since | | | | swivel to the direction on which the wind is coming |
| the 9th century when early Persians used it to | | | | from, and while the blades are tracking the wind no |
| harness the power of the wind to pump water and | | | | electricity is being produced. The Savonius design is |
| grind their grains. This design has stood the test of | | | | much more efficient because of its vertical |
| time and is still being used today in the form of the | | | | orientation it can always collect the passing breeze |
| Savonius wind turbine. | | | | which the horizontal design might miss, no matter |
| Around the turn of the century a Finnish engineer by | | | | how weak the wind might be. |
| the name of Sigurd J. Savonius introduced the vertical | | | | Another nice advantage of the Savonius windmill is |
| axis wind turbines or VAWT, a revolutionary design | | | | that the shaft of the generator can be placed nearer |
| of wind turbine that is not only reliable but is also | | | | to the ground, meaning there is less weight at the |
| very easy to build. It was previously used for | | | | top of the tower. Because of the lower centre of |
| installations that requires generator that produces | | | | gravity there is little need for the tower to be |
| small amounts of electricity that is very dependable. | | | | stabilized. |
| This design of wind turbine is the most used for | | | | Because of its simple design you can save a lot of |
| modern anemometers as well as sea buoys that only | | | | time and money as compared to the standard |
| require a bit of power for maintenance. | | | | horizontal installation because it needs less hardware |
| The Savonius wind turbine is also the design of | | | | to secure it properly, thus resulting in a lower cost, |
| choice when choosing wind turbines to supply | | | | which means you can regain your initial investment |
| renewable energy for common households. This is | | | | faster and will cut your electricity bill to just a fraction |
| because as compared to the horizontal axis wind | | | | of what it was before. |
| turbines the Savonius design is quieter, which means | | | | And as with most machines, if there are fewer |
| you won't get any calls from the homeowners | | | | moving parts there is a lesser chance of the windmill |
| association telling you to take down your noisemaker | | | | breaking down. And if it does need a bit of |
| of a generator. And also because of the compact | | | | preventive maintenance it can be done easier |
| blade design it poses less of a threat to birds and | | | | because of the vertical shaft that allows the |
| other flying creatures. | | | | generator to be placed at ground level. |
| And since the blades are mounted on a vertical | | | | Having a windmill to utilize the wind's power to |
| position it can catch the wind that comes from any | | | | generate electricity for your home is a very |
| direction, so there's no need to rotate the thing | | | | earth-friendly thing to do, but if you really want to |
| whenever the wind changes direction. Horizontal wind | | | | get the most out of this renewable source of energy |
| generators are mounted on a pivot which allows it to | | | | then you should choose the Savonius wind turbine. |