The Turby Wind Turbine Design - Why a Helical Blade is Best For Urban Wind Conditions

The Turby Wind Turbine is the generic term for anyRooftop mounted solar panels that convert sunlight
vertical axis windmill that has a helical shaped blade. Itdirectly to electricity are often an ideal compliment to
was specifically designed to address the uniquewind turbines. Regardless of the wind conditions they
problems associated with producing electricity in urbanwill still produce clean power.
or suburban areas where often a horizontal windOf course, the drawback to solar energy is that
becomes vertical when encountering a building. Thisoften there isn't quite enough rooftop real estate to
type of wind renders any roof mounted horizontal orsupport enough solar cells to cover all the needs of a
propeller type of wind turbine useless.typical home. Dark stormy days also cut down their
Why the Turby is Uniqueproductivity.
Vertical axis turbines like the Turby have been usedWhat Happens When Too much Electricity Is
for centuries and offer several advantages over theirProduced?
horizontal axis cousins in both cost and efficiency. ItsThis is a great problem because often power
helical shaped blade is cleverly designed to quietlycompanies will set up the electric meter to run
utilize vertical or horizontal wind bursts coming frombackwards if power is being added to the grid. In
any direction. This makes it nearly ideal for rooftopother situations the payment is rendered in the form
electricity production.of credits for future electricity or even a check. The
Don't Fight the Windkey is to check with the individual power company
Most other vertical turbine designs utilize a blade orfor their specific policy.
wind scoop that captures the passing wind byHow long Does It Take To Pay Off The
blocking it and thereby spinning the rotor. TheInvestment?
drawback to this style of design is that the very factThis, of course, depends on many factors such as
that the scoop is solid means that as it spins it has towind conditions, the cost of electricity and the cost
move air out of the way. This action creates dragof the turbine plus installation. The cost, in rough
and actually wastes energy.numbers, is about $10,000 - $15,000 USD and it will
Non-Turby designs also suffer from a high rotationaltake about 8 years to pay for itself in electricity
threshold. Simply put, these windmills need a strongersavings.
wind to start their rotations. This means that they willBuild Your Own Windmill Options To The Rescue
miss a portion of the passing wind if it is below aIn an effort to counter the high initial cost and
certain speed. It also means that even the wind theyrelatively long payback times, a movement of
do catch is not fully converted to power since somedetermined individuals has taken the steps to build
is wasted in getting them to start spinning.their own horizontal axis wind turbines for as little as
How Much Electricity Will The Turby Wind Turbinea few hundred dollars using recycled and used parts.
Produce?The wonderful thing about this option is that besides
Theoretically it can produce enough electrical energycutting your electrical bill using renewable, non-polluting
to run an entire household. In reality it depends onwind energy is that the payback can be in as little as
the consistency and intensity of the wind. This willjust a month with the right conditions. The downside
vary greatly depending on where in the world youis that it is less efficient and can generate more
live as well as the shape and position of surroundingnoise.
buildings. Obviously on windless days windmills will notIt will be exciting when the Turby vertical wind
produce any power.turbines are found on every rooftop and cost no
Solar Power Assistancemore than an average kitchen appliance.