A British business offering turnkey solutions for micro wind power is aiming to become one of the top five producers in the world by 2016. Its innovative new design will provide a fully installed wind turbine for as little as $7000, according to the company’s CEO.

Totempower is planning to produce 15,000 wind turbines each year by 2016 which will be “as easy to install as a (natural) gas boiler”. “There will be no huge excavations in your garden,” the company promises, and “any maintenance is a matter of minutes rather than hours”.

It almost sounds too good to be true .. is it?

At the heart of the company’s ambitions is the Passive Air Jet Vortex Generator (PAVOG), a patented technology researched at City University in London, UK.

PAVOG is a form of blade configuration which allows the turbine to operate at far lower wind speeds than conventional turbines, increasing efficiency by up to 20 per cent. This also means it can be sited at lower elevations and on free standing masts. Hence the company’s claims about installation and maintenance.

The free standing nature of the masts also means they can be developed using more environmentally friendly materials: no concrete foundations and a mast made from natural fibres instead of the traditional steel. The company believes these innovations alone will cut each turbine’s carbon footprint by a staggering 90%.

The domestic version of the turbine is expected to produce 2,000 kWh per year, while a larger version will produce 15,000 kWh per year. The company believes customers will see a return on their investment within six years, meaning the turbine will be able to survive without subsidies or tax credits.

The company has only recently been spun out of City University and is currently negotiating $3m investment for final prototyping and production work. For further details see the Totempower website.

cleantechnica.com