New Revolution in Wind Power
As soaring oil prices and greenhouse gas emissions fuel the search for cheaper and cleaner sources of energy, a Japanese aerospace manufacturer may have found the right stuff for a solution. It’s a windmill you can call your very own. Yokohama-based aerospace manufacturer, Nippi Corporation, has developed a revolutionary 20 kW wind turbine power generation system that’s turning heads everywhere.
Well known in Japan as a manufacturer of precision aerospace components, Nippi’s launch of this proprietary wind power system marks the company’s first foray into the field of commercial wind power applications. The same cutting-edge ingenuity that goes into its aircraft parts can be seen at work behind the new windmill known as a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). If you’ve never seen a VAWT, imagine one of those fashionable plastic pop bottle wind spinners sported by many a tree throughout suburbia, only a lot bigger and with 20 kW of power, a whole lot better. This is definitely not your garden variety whirligig. Its small, sleek, aerodynamic design makes it the perfect fit for the city landscape with the potential for installations on building rooftops as well as in harbors, parks and maybe even your backyard. You don’t have to worry about the neighbors complaining either. The system’s airfoils rotate at such a low speed, it’s as quiet as can be. Like other VAWTs, the system doesn’t depend on which way the wind is blowing and has a generator and gearbox that sits close to the ground to make repairs and maintenance easy.
Nippi’s wind power system has been up and running at a site located next to Japan’s Nikaho Highland Wind Farm in Aichi Prefecture where Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) will put it to the test before installing it at its Antarctic research station. The NIPR deal is all part of Japan’s goal under the Kyoto Protocol to tap renewable energy sources and bring its greenhouse gas emissions down 6% below 1990 levels. As part of that equation Japan had hoped to produce 3,000 MW of wind power annually by 2010 but with only 1,880 MW of annual output under its belt as of 2008 it is woefully shy of the mark. According to statistics from the Global Wind Energy Council, Japan doesn’t even make it to the top ten list of world wind power producers. Among the major obstacles to wind power in this resource-strapped island nation, including typhoons, grid integration, and red tape, is a dearth of local turbine suppliers. Nippi should give the country a leg up in overcoming that last hurdle as the aerospace company aims to take wind power in Japan to new heights.
Written by J.T. Cassidy
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April 29th, 2009
I like this idea, specially in places where the wind do not blow that much, as for the lucky ones, with more air, they should get 2 or enough to produce all the power to the hole home, that would cool the opec people a bit, today they will bring the price down because people will not travel much because of the flu scare, but tomorrow they will increase supposedly because the stocks went up a bit. That makes me sick and they do not get it, that what they did last year made the hole world sick and started this revolution to depend less and less on their oil.
Francisco
April 29th, 2009
You left out the most important piece of information, the price. We are producing 5Kw for $2000 retail to he end user. Quiet, low profile, efficient, VAWT using good old American sailcloth.
Let the wrest try to beat that.
April 29th, 2009
If things go the way I want them to, there will be wind towers on top of these beautiful WV mountains… all it takes is the grant writer and the right words — wish me luck!
April 29th, 2009
Peter Sharma, How can you be contacted? Are you with Nippi Corporation or one of their distributors?
Question: The article said Nippi’s generator is a Verticla axis wind turbine but the picture is a Horizontal axis wind turbine. Could someone send me a photo of the Nippi turbine.
April 29th, 2009
You can see an image of the actual Nippi wind turbine here:
http://www.khi.co.jp/khi_news/2009data/c3090331-2.htm
April 29th, 2009
The photo and even a video can be seen on Nippi’s website. The turbine is essentially a “Heidelberg” Rotor design which has been in operation for many many years in the German Alps (to my knowledge) and is nothing new. One of the problems with this kind of design is low efficiency being so close to the ground. The Nippi Design with this massive construction to hold the rotor makes this thing in my view not as efficient as it could be and for 20kW turbines there are very efficient low costs horizontal axis designs available.
April 29th, 2009
JT thanks for the link to the picture but it was too small for me to see much detail. My interest was simple curiosity. Do you know what the price of a 5kw Nippi system? Is Peter Sharma talking about a Nippi or something else?
April 29th, 2009
Dan Chance, I am equally interested. The idea is to replace the grid power at my house by mounting a wind turbine at the roof top. As Dan Chance, like to know the details to proceed further.
Mr. Bernhard, the question is not the efficiency. Of course it counts. Here it depends on the return of investment. The horizontal version have many restrictions like height, wind speed, mountings, maintenance(at a higher level)etc and of course, the huge investment. Like to know the lowest capacity in this VAWT and the prices. Can any one help me. Thanks.
May 1st, 2009
Yeah, 15m/sec rated power??? You call it a revolution??? At 4m/sec (the annual average where I live) this “Revolutionary” turbine will be producing…hmmm… exactly ZERO watts.
May 1st, 2009
I’m wondering how this is revolutionary. The design is not very new, and placing a windmill in urban areas is not really revolutionary in itself. And 20kW is not very much - should be enough for maybe 3-5 households. This would mean an enormous amount of these built in cities.
I’m wondering how the wind is affected by these windmills - I’ve recently learned that a regular windmill has up to 12km of wind shadow (that is, 12km behind the windmill is affected by the windmill itself, and any windmill placed in this 12km stretch will produce less than optimally).
Also, how do you generate 3,000MW “annually”? 3,000MW is not an amount! 3,000MWh would be an amount. I’m guessing that’s what is meant in the article.
May 1st, 2009
Hey All,
No different from pacwind (and no, I don’t work there).
below is the address to their website (not a link).
http://www.pacwind.net/
May 2nd, 2009
Maybe there is a revolution happening in Wind Power in General, but not about this article, as mention above not much difference in the Pacwind, which you can see on “Living with Ed” on the Discovery Green Channel, on Larry Hagmans house and Jay Lenos Shop.
May 4th, 2009
No, folks…I was not talking about Nippi; I was referring to our device the Sirius Green Windmill. We soon begin retailing a 5Kw turbine for a lower price than any 2-3Kw device on the market.
inv info at pureprophet.com and greenwindmill.com
May 4th, 2009
BTW — Ed Begley has ended his relationship with PacWind. That comes from Ed’s mouth to my ear directly.
May 5th, 2009
The Serius Green Windmill would be good for a park, something suburban or in the country, the Pacwind is better for urban development where design, aesthetic impact and ability to blend generally hold sway over the decision.
Also the Pacwind would be quieter (important in an urban environment). I imagine the sails on your product furling and unfurling would create some noise.
I would guess high winds would be more of an issue for the green windmill than it is for the Pacwind.
I like the idea/design of the green windmill though, it has a place in the design conversation. However, I would want to see/hear it perform in various wind conditions before I would pony up for it.
May 5th, 2009
Addendum,
For third world countries/remote villages, the green windmill is a fantastic idea. I would imagine it’s MUCH cheaper than a standard wind turbine.
May 6th, 2009
You are correct, Boneheaded1, the Sirius Green Windmill is significantly less expensive than any other option on the market.
As to high wind tolerance the design has survived hurricanes, typhoons, ice storms, hail storms, etcetera. It needs no brake or governor and less wind than any other.
On the aesthetic front it can be any colour and is fairly small at 2-3 meters for residential installation yet is completely scalable to any capacity desired. In addition, the turbine is stack-able, allowing for mass produce on a small footprint.
In terms of sound-print, while early full-sail models “popped” upon unfurling, the half-sail model does not and is quieter than any other windmill while producing zero transmitted vibration to the mounting structure.
Unfortunately for PacWind, their device costs so much more to manufacture while delivering so much less electricity it seems that there is no actual comparison between the two. Economically and aesthetically, the Sirius Green Windmill wins the argument in any application scenario.
I hope this clarifies re your misimpressions.
May 7th, 2009
Am I the only one that has noticed that this design looks weak. Ok, I’ll have to take your word for it’s having survived a hurricane but I believe we (the world) can do better than that. If I were on a city council, county commission, or state PSC and were called on to approve installation of these devices I’d want them placed where no one but the coyotes would ever see them. They are a god awful eyesore. That does not mean I would eliminate them from the mix if it were demonstrated that they produce more energy than other designs but Leviathan -something- has just announced a simple structure (looks like a circular berm) around the base of windmills that directs ground air currents upward to the blades making them more efficient - up to 150% more efficient without looking like your grandmother’s laundry on a clothesline in a thunderstorm.