F.A.Q.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

I have house near an ocean, on top of mountain or in a windy area. With the constant wind I am thinking wind power is right for me however, I can't seem to find good info on how much power we can expect from a turbine. What do I need to know?

You need to find out the annual mean wind speed in your area. Check your countries wind association website for links to your local wind map. But beware it may not be completely accurate especially in more protected or less protected areas. However if you believe you live in a more windy spot in your area (for example your property is ocean front with no tree or you are on the very top of a mountain) you can feel more confident that a Master Flo Wind Turbine will produce more energy then expected.

Estimates of energy production at different annual mean wind speeds per sq meter of area will be posted here as they become available.

Please note that any estimate by any company or association are only very good guesses and the annual mean wind speed will vary from year to year, so the annual kWh per year will be different then stated.

What is the capacity factor?

Since wind speed is not constant, a wind turbines annual energy production is never as much as the sum of the generator nameplate ratings multiplied by the total hours in a year. The ratio of actual productivity in a year to this theoretical maximum is called the capacity factor. Typical capacity factors are 20–40%, with values at the upper end of the range in particularly favorable sites. For example, a 1 MW turbine with a capacity factor of 35% will not produce 8,760 MW·h in a year (1 × 24 × 365), but only 1 × 0.35 × 24 × 365 = 3,066 MW·h, averaging to 0.35 MW. The Vortex Wind Turbine capacity factor should be much higher then typical capacity factors.

How do wind turbines compare with other renewable energy technologies?

There is a lot of conflicting information about the various renewable energy technologies. Wind power is generally considered more competitive with solar photovoltaic, geothermal and biomass, but is usually more expensive than hydro or solar heating. Generally speaking, wind power complements these other power sources by providing a least cost approach under certain conditions. In many situations, a hybrid system that combines wind, photovoltaic, and passive solar heating systems would provide the most consistent power at the least cost. However people in non equatorial regions (those above the 40th latitude North and South) will notice that solar power and solar heating fails to provide expectable power in the winter months. The shorten hours of operation and extra power requirements make wind even more attractive.

Will installing a wind turbine really help the environment?

Yes, wind turbines can really help the environment. Wind turbines produce no air, water, or thermal pollution and emit no greenhouse or smog-causing gases unlike some other renewable energy systems. By using wind power you will also be offsetting pollution that would have been generated by your utility company. Over its life, a conventional small residential wind turbine can offset approximately 1.2 tons of air pollutants and 200 tons of greenhouse gas pollutants (carbon dioxide and other gases which cause global warming). Also more small wind turbines can reduce the need for new large scale power facilities to be built and new distributions systems to be developed which does consume resources, creates pollution, and effect animal habitats.

The only caveat to consider is will the wind turbine produce usable power. Far too many small wind turbines (systems rated below 1 kilowatt) produce very little power. For example, a typical 400 watt generator needs wind at the speed of 45 KPH or 27 MPH to produce 400 watts and it only produces 200 watts at 35 KPH or 21 MPH. So in most parts of the world a 400 watt three blade turbine only produces about half of a 100 watt light bulb on average. The environmental cost to manufacturer, ship and install most smaller wind turbines will probably never make environmental sense. The financial cost of very small turbines (less than 1 K) almost always does not make sense.

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VORTEX

How is the Vortex Wind Turbine any different from a normal three blade wind mill?

In a normal grid tied application, the power consumer (home or business) is served simultaneously by the three blade turbine and a local utility. If the wind speeds are below cut-in speed (5-12 mph) which regularly happens in many locations, the utility supplies all the power. Even when following manufacturers guide lines most conventional turbines operate 25% at best. So generally, three blade turbines need to be higher to make sure they can operate above the cut-in speed. The Vortex Wind Funnel cut in speed is just below 6 mph. This gives the vortex two very important advantages. The Vortex Wind Funnel can either be installed at a lower height to save installation costs or it can be installed at the same height and produce power more consistently. Of course, this also means that the Vortex should be producing more power more regularly, and its capacity factor should be higher. Other advantages of the Vortex include:

Lower noise levels. The Vortex design is smaller but even if they were the same size it would make less noise. There is no swoosh sound with Vortex.
A simpler design, the Vortex design does not require a braking or guidance system or a starter.
Lower chance of a bird strike, since the turbine looks solid.
No flickering shadows. The larger the conventional wind turbine, the more likely it will cause a strobe light effect in your house or neighbourhood. On the other hand, the Vortex looks solid so the strobe effect is virtually eliminated.

Why is the Vortex Wind Turbine more efficient then a conventional three Blade wind mill?

Three Reasons:

More surface in a more compact system. The Vortex Wind Funnel has a swept area of 7.2 feet with a total surface area of above 35 feet and a comparable three blade is usually double the swept area and has less than 30 feet of surface area.
Dual power source, not only does the wind pushing on the inside help generate power but the wind moving over the outside pushes the blades and creates a positive funnelling effect.
The Vortex design has a terminal velocity built into the design. When the wind gets too strong the turbine core will become saturated and the excessive wind will spill over the edges. The Vortex has terminal velocity of 20 m/s or 45 MPH so it will not need to shut down. What this means is the Vortex does not need a braking system and or guidance system. More importantly, the Vortex should be less expensive to install, easier to fix, generate more power, require less maintenance and should therefore have faster payback.

Whereas for almost all three blades wind turbines, the terminal velocity is past the destruction point. On the contrary conventional three blade wind turbines either require braking systems or guidance systems to turn away from the wind. In some cases they require both which can greatly increase the weight and cost.

I am strictly interested in POWER output, could you be more specific. Why do you think the Vortex Wind Funnel is better then my Whisper HS40 (A three blade wind turbine) which also rated at 1kw?

Based on the test by NREL HS40 power curve is shown against the Master Flo Mini Vortex power curve. However that is not the whole picture. The Instantaneous Power curve shows what should happen at a certain wind speed hitting the wind generator at right direction with normal turbulence. The reality is the Instantaneous wind speed is only a fair gauge of power output at a certain speed in that area that the test was done.

A fairer gauge of power output is the annual power production. However, you can not just say we average 6 m/s (meter and second) wind in this area per year so the wind turbine will make the power output at 6 m/s multiplied by 24 hours and 365 days a year. For example if you did that for the HS40 at 4.5 m/s your total power per year -44 kW (kilowatts). The truth is when the average is 4.5 m/s the wind speed is rarely 4.5 m/s at any one time. It is often slightly higher or lower. We have created a graph that would give a somewhat better picture of the annual power output. As you can see the Mini Vortex can clearly beats the power production of standard three blade wind turbine at speeds below 7 m/s (15 MPH).

Presumably as it extracts more power per unit speed, at high speed it is subject to more stress & strain. How does it stand up to high wind speeds? Historically the issue with wind mills has been that they produce power only 10 to 30 percent of the time and then only in areas that would be considered high wind areas. Clearly that is not what we are trying to do. We are trying to produce usable energy 40 to 60 percent of the time. The area were we are testing the Vortex would be considered a low to very low wind area, which is near obstructions (typical urban environment). Right now, at limited high speed test 100Km per hour we have had no stress or strain issues.

As you may have noticed, the design of the Vortex is similar to a wind sock. The wind sock and vortex design have terminal velocity built into the design. When the wind gets to strong the turbine will become saturated and the excessive wind will spill over the edges. So far Vortex failure speed has yet to be determined and the destruction wind speed may be very high. However we estimate it be over 100 miles an hours 160 KM/H in normal applications.

I have seen evidence that wind turbines kill a fair number of birds. Does the Vortex also kill birds?

Firstly wind mills and wind turbines are not a major killer of birds (no study exists at least). House cats, by contrast, are estimated to kill roughly one billion birds each year in the US alone. Statistically, a single house cat, a window pane, or an automobile is a much greater threat to birds than a wind mill.

Anecdotal evidence indicates that birds occasionally collide with conventional three blade turbines as they do with any other large fast moving object (cars, airplanes etc). However, such events are rare and are very unlikely to have any impact on bird populations.

With regards to the Vortex, it always appears to be solid and should therefore cause fewer hits since it would look like it a solid object to a bird.

Presumably as it extracts more power per unit speed, at high speed it is subject to more stress & strain. How does it stand up to high wind speeds?

Historically the issue with wind mills has been that they produce power only 30 to 40 percent of the time and then only in areas that would be considered high wind areas. Clearly that is not what we are trying to do. We are trying to produce usable energy 80 to 90 percent of the time. The area were we are testing the Vortex would be considered a low to very low wind area, which is near obstructions (typical urban environment). Right now, at limited high speed test 50Km per hour we have had no stress or strain issues.

I've heard about a new wind turbine that starts up and runs at very low wind speeds. Would it be a benefit if a windmill started up at lower speeds?

The conventional answer was no, since the energy available in the wind is a function of the cube of its speed, there is very little energy available to be harvested at wind speeds less than 4 meters per second (m/s) (9 mph). Also historically low speed wind turbines would not produce as much energy at rated wind speed (optimum wind speed).

However Master Flo has developed a new style of wind turbine (patent pending) that starts producing energy at lower wind speeds and produce the same amount energy at rated speed. So Master Flo Vortex has a more efficient design that uses the wind speed more efficiently. Therefore if you are considering the purchase of a wind turbine, the ability to start at lower wind speeds should be consideration factor in selecting a machine, but the most important factor is power it can produce over a year. If a turbine can start producing power at lower wind speeds and produce more power at all wind speeds it will generate more power per year.

Are you looking for dealers and investors?

If you are interested in being a dealer, please email edward@mflo.com.