12 Small Windmills Put To the Test In Holland

tuna writes "A real-world test by the Dutch province of Zeeland (a very windy place) demonstrates that small windmills are a fundamentally flawed technology (PDF of tests results in Dutch, English summary). Twelve much-hyped micro wind turbines were placed in a row on an open plain. Their energy yield was measured over a period of one year (April 1, 2008 — March 31, 2009), the average wind velocity during these 12 months was 3.8 meters per second, slightly higher than average. Three windmills broke. The others recorded ridiculously low yields, in spite of the optimal conditions. It would take up to 141 small windmills to power an average American household entirely using wind energy, for a total cost of 780,000 dollars. The test results show clearly that energy return is closely tied to rotor diameter, and that the design of the windmill hardly matters."

Windmills in Holland??

[paintballer1087]

... What will they think of next?

But the electricity

[caluml]

But the electricity needed to power the average American household would power a medium-sized Dutch city, right?

Why don't they install tidal turbines instead

[SupremoMan]

Why don't the Dutch install tidal turbines in their fields instead, and wait for their country to flood.

Oh I kid, I kid

Re:Slow

[YrWrstNtmr]

3.8 meters/second average is not a windy area, infact it's a Class 1 [doe.gov] wind speed. There are many places in the U.S. that are Class 3 or better, and you'd get much different results from those areas.

Yeah. You'd have ALL of them break.

Re:Obvious?

[memorycardfull]

Maybee zie posteer kann no sprechen oder reeden die Dutchenzeelandspache so gut.

I would have thought theory to be flawlesss!

[Zero__Kelvin]

Dutch experiment proves theory doesn't map to practice. Film at 11 ...

Re:Design hardly matters...?

[vlm]

The folks that got screwed where the buggy whip makers. There just aren't many ways to modify a buggy whip into something that meets a need in another market.

Ummm, try the booming erotic services market.

Re:Obvious?

[superppl]

Hey! Don't generalize. Morons come from all around the world, they aren't exclusive to the US. It's just that our country happens to produce the most.

The "English summary link" might be informative

[j_w_d]

You really should check things like article links more carefully if you want to quibble about "news" versus "discussion." The summary link: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2009/04/small-windmills-test-results.html [lowtechmagazine.com], astonishingly is to a "journal." It is the author of the journal article that asserts that "small" windmills "are a swindle." The references to "design" by the OP also appear to derive from an uncited link: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/09/urban-windmills.html [lowtechmagazine.com], to another journal article that debunked small windmills as a poor investment, or as the authors of the linked article put it "fundamentally flawed." There is in fact apparently nothing in the summary by the OP that does not appear to derive from a "journal" source, if you consider that important. So, evidently it really IS news, wouldn't you say?

Re:Actually, it would take 6 windmills

[Anonymous Coward]

"I live in south florida and am without power every other year, so I recognize the benefit of being able to generate electricity for myself..."

And, if you get a windmill, you'll _still_ be without power about every other year. ...and have to buy new windmills to boot.

Re:Obvious?

[memorycardfull]

I only took one season of Benny Hill German in high school. My apologies to the Dutch.

Re:Slow

[mdarksbane]

Don't worry, once word gets out that Ontario has vast reserves of untapped wind power, we'll be invading them within the month.

Re:De-facto benchmark

[linzeal]

I thought all your hippy orgies in your communes would keep you warm you socailists.

Re:Obvious?

[Jurily]

Wow, reading more I see how blatantly WRONG this summary is.

1. You RTFA
2. You assume the summary is right

What's wrong with you?

Re:HMmm. I am curious

[FiloEleven]

Yes, but they're both square-ish and have roofs, stairs for multiple floors, ceilings and doors usually high enough so you don't have to duck, places to cook and to poop and to sleep, furniture...man, I had no idea I'd find so much alike when I started this list!

Anyway, all those things clearly outnumber your little difference that you hardly even notice when inside them. Let's not make a mountain out of a molehill, eh?

All these propellers

[ignavus]

With all these propellers spinning, don't they make the earth rotate faster?

Re:Slow

[shutdown -p now]

Careful there, wouldn't want to get the White House burned down again.

Re:Obvious?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you don't have the energy requirements of an "average American household". Try adding 4 televisions, three large fridges, two air conditioners per apartment and you'll be halfway there.

Yeah! And we all drive three SUVs at the same time, to maximize our baby-seal-running-over potential.

I see what went wrong:

[Stenchwarrior]

The problem is that they didn't paint the windmills orange. Surely, this was a smashing success...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Dutch_Leopard_2_painted_orange.jpg [wikipedia.org]

There's really nothing left to say.