A 1976 university experiment spun up the U.S. wind industry

(spectrum.ieee.org)

57 points by pseudolus4 days ago

2 comments

  • golem141 hour ago
    No mention of GROWIAN , which in 1976 was conceived to generate 3MW. Not a success, but was providing invaluable lessons for future wind turbine developments.
  • xattt4 hours ago
    Tangential, but what happened to the Darrieus wind turbine? Those seemed so futuristic, but the excitement died down fairly quick.
    • charlesrice3 hours ago
      They are less efficient and require larger/more robust bearings than standard horizontal turbines. They look neat, but a "standard" turbine will produce more power in the same footprint and require less material to produce. One advantage of the vertical axis turbines is that the "business end" is at the bottom, making it easier to maintain without climbing up a tower. They just stink at the one thing they are supposed to do.
    • RealityVoid2 hours ago
      My dad used to work as an electrician at the &quot;Wind Research Institute&quot; in Romania, back when the communists were still in power. So of course, I was regaled with all sorts of stories on wind turbine deployments all throughout childhood.<p>One of them was when this huge vertical axis turbine research prototype suffered a destructive failure while he was in the control room underneath because of a flaw in the emergency braking system. Apparently, when the blades (that normally are under tension) break off they make a loud noise and having that thing fall on you is super dangerous.<p>Only mildly related, but thought I&#x27;d share since only now, as a grownup, I realize it&#x27;s actually interesting, whereas as a small child I really did not appreciate it. And, well, not sure how many times vertical wind turbines come into discussion.<p>Can&#x27;t wait for my kid to roll his eyes at my stories.