Siting - Wind Energy: Renewable Energy and the Environment - page 177

A unique concept is a wind cooperative of small wind turbines for farms, ranches, and public and
private facilities in the Northwest United States [6]. Ten 10 kW wind turbines have been installed,
and the map gives the location for each site. There are photos, comments from the owners, and
details on wind turbines, wind resource, anticipated and actual performance, and interconnection.
Is there such a concept as wind rights if a neighbor erects a tall structure that obstructs the flow
of wind to your turbine. From a visual standpoint, a wind turbine in every backyard in a residential
neighborhood is much different than a PV panel on the roof of every home.
The American Wind Energy Association [7] and the Canadian Wind Energy Association [8]
have sections for small wind turbines, which include information on siting. A guide for small wind
turbines is available from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) [9] with information
on siting similar to the information presented above. The British Wind Energy Association section
on small wind [10] includes information on a wind speed database and map (annual mean wind
speed at 25 m height), small wind technologies, planning, and case studies. National wind energy
associations in other countries probably have sections on small wind turbines.
There have been a number of designs by architects and inventors and even people selling wind
systems (most not built or tested) to integrate wind turbines into the building structure in urban
areas. The designs usually tout the increase of wind speed due to the building; however, in the
real world, incorporating wind turbines into buildings is a difficult choice, due to noise, vibration,
and safety concerns. In some concepts of installations on buildings, the wind turbines have to be
mounted perpendicular to the predominant wind direction, as the wind turbines are fixed in yaw.
The estimated energy production is in the range of 1.7-5.0 TWh in the built environment (tur-
bines in urban areas, turbines mounted on buildings, turbines integrated into buildings) in the
United Kingdom [11]. The technical feasibility and various configurations are also discussed. There
is an Internet site for urban wind [12] with downloads available: European Urban Wind Turbine
Catalogue ; Urban Wind Turbines, Technology Review , a companion text to EU UWT Catalogue ;
and urban wind turbine guideline for small wind turbines in the built environment and windy cities,
and wind energy for the urban environment. The wind turbine guidelines include images of flow
over buildings and example projects.
A newspaper in Clearwater, Florida, had a stacked Darrieus next to the building. It consisted
of three Darrieus turbines, 4.5 m diameter, 6 m tall, 4 kW each ( Figure 9.4 ) . Fortis mounted three
wind turbines (5 m diameter, at 2 kW rather than the nominal 5 kW) on a factory/office building.
There was a small problem with vibration at high wind speeds due to the flexibility of the roof. The
Aeroturbine has a helical rotor mounted in a 1.8 by 3 m frame, rated power of 1 kW [13]. A build-
ing in Chicago has eight units mounted horizontally on top of a building ( Figure 9.5 ), while other
buildings have units mounted vertically. Two 6 kW wind turbines were mounted on the roof of a
civic center in the United Kingdom, which is described in a case study [14]. A different concept
mounts a number of small wind turbines on the parapets [15] of urban and suburban buildings. The
horizontal-axis wind turbine has a rated power of 1 kW mounted in modular housing (approxi-
mately 1.2 by 1.2 m). Fourteen wind turbines are on the corner of the Energy Adventure Aquarium
building ( Figure 9.6 ) in California, resulting in a kinetic sculpture.
The most spectacular structure with integrated large wind turbines is the Bahrain World Trade
Center, where the two 240 m towers with sail silhouettes have three cross bridges that have wind
turbines [16]. The wind turbines are 29 m diameter, 225 kW, and predicted to generate around
1,100-1,300 MWh/year, 11-15% of the energy needed by the buildings. The aerodynamic design of
the towers funnels the prevailing onshore Gulf breeze into the path of the wind turbines.
9.1.1 N OISE
Although zoning is an institutional issue, the regulations will affect the possibility of erecting a
small wind turbine and, if possible, then the size of the wind turbine, tower height, how much space
is needed around the tower, and the possibility of the effect of noise and even visual concerns of