A couple of days ago I had a post about large vs small wind turbine research. Today I have a video of one of the more well-engineered smaller-scale designs, the Helix Wind Turbine. As you can see the blades are…
Small Wind On The Rise
While most of the wind energy press is going to the large-turbine wind farms, more stories these days are focusing on the smaller installations that are privately owned. Last Sunday’s Boston Globe had a spread about a convent that is…
IBM and the Intelligent Power Grid: Accommodating Alternative Energy
If only I had bought $100 in IBM in 1950, today I’d have… The same statement gets made about almost every big corporation: If only I’d known then what I know now. I can’t think of anything else to regret,…
Renewable Energy Wars: Who Will Be The Winners?
Gas prices are down. Credit is drying up. Government subsidies for alternative energy projects are subject to continual reevaluation. The realities of renewable energy are becoming clearer, with big wind projects showing far lower efficiencies than had been hoped for,…
Smart Wind Turbines
Going along with yesterday’s post where I talked about XCel Energy’s unique turbine control design and how it’s being used with large battery systems, today’s Wall Street Journal has an article that ties in one more company, GridPoint, Inc., who…
Better Batteries Bring Bigger Benefits
The photo at left is of a 1-Megawatt sodium-sulfur battery system which can power 500 homes for 7 hours. It’s part of a 11.5-Megawatt wind farm in Luverne, Minnesota. The company, MinWind Energy, is owned by 360 local investors from…