Quiet Revolution's QR5 addresses wind turbine issues

If you ask a person on the street what they think about wind turbines in general terms then the reaction will in most cases be favorable. Ask what they think if someone was about to place wind turbines within direct sight of their home, and the response probably won't be one of glee. Common concerns often include the whooshing sound that regular turbines produce, as well as their divisive visual aesthetics -- some love it, some loath it. A new type of wind turbine intended to address both of these issues is Quiet Revolution's QR5 Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, or VAWT for shawt. The QR5 is smaller, quieter, and way better looking than your typical windmill, plus it should produce the equivalent of its £25,000 price tag in clean energy within 15 years or less. We're down with the futuristic design and the company's noble aims, but we feel that the QR guys should spice up the name of this particular turbine. Our suggestion? Pigeon Dicer, Mark 5.

[Terry @ Nov 27th 2006 7:23AM]

well if you click on the picture it will take you to the website that has the full picture of it and it is actually not so bad. To tell you the truth, I think its better than the traditional wind turbines because it looks better, it can be disguised with various things without interrupting the turbine. It looks pretty cool to for a design to be put in a park or public place like one of the pictures suggested. Nice Work!

[Amy Taivalkoski @ Nov 27th 2006 8:27PM]

As someone who works in the wind industry I just want to add some facts into this discussion. VAWTs have been around for years and no one has successfully gotten them to work. Why? Extracting energy from the wind is all about capturing as much wind as possible. That means long blades and a big "swept area". It also means the turbine has to be up in the clear wind where there are no trees, buildings, or other obstructions to cause turbulence. The pictures at their web site showing the turbines in a park or on top of a building are ridiculous if they are serious about generating energy. Also, the towers are very expensive (lots of steel) so it is much more economical to put the largest turbine possible on one tower, not many smaller turbines are many towers.

[CB @ Nov 27th 2006 7:38AM]

I've never understood why vertical turbines aren't the de-facto method, the generators on the ground, produces much less noise, doesn't slice the birds up and from a distance the tube style version don't even look like they're spinning, I suspect and have read there is a lot of backhanders going on.

[Keef @ Nov 27th 2006 7:39AM]

These actualy look really cool, and as terry said they can be used in differant places and not look odd or ugly.

I want 1 for my garden now.... haha

[Jason @ Nov 27th 2006 7:47AM]

just to make a small point regarding the pigeon-dicing goodness of this turbine...unfortunately, they forgot to leave that feature in this model. See, vertical axis turbines normally rotate at or only slightly higher than the speed of the wind, such that birds can actually see them as solid objects and don't fly directly into them.

[Niallers @ Nov 27th 2006 7:48AM]

Pigeon Dicer.Mrk 5 ...LOL

[Keef @ Nov 27th 2006 7:49AM]

iv seen birds fly in to solid brick walls......

so we can only hope.............

[Josh @ Nov 27th 2006 8:26AM]

So when's Engadget HQ going to get one? Or do you guys have a solar roof already? Cos running all them gadgets must take a lot of juice, and if you can get it for (theoretically) free, why don't you?

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 27th 2006 8:41AM]

The first time I saw wind turbines up close I was awestruck at the scale and then again at the thought of someone actually DOING it!
(This living the future stuff makes me giddy.)

Like anything else, the methods and materials are going to evolve.

I think I would have to spend alot more time looking at one before delivering the verdict as to if I could live with one in sight/hearing range of my home, however.

A small one to augment my back yard solar lights' charging power however...

[LittleJoe @ Nov 27th 2006 10:00AM]

I agree.

My buddies and I were randomly driving through the Illinois interior when in the middle of nowhere we ran into a wind farm with about 50 turbines. It was quite an incredible sight.

And to be honest... the wind was rocking that day and I really couldn't hear much noise at all.

[PEZ @ Nov 27th 2006 8:45AM]

"VAWT for shawt" that was priceless.

[Alternative Energy Blog @ Nov 27th 2006 9:04AM]

"Ask what they think if someone was about to place wind turbines within direct sight of their home, and the response probably won't be one of glee."

That's not actually true. In opinion polls people who live within one mile of a wind turbine give them the highest approval rating. There will always be NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) objections, but ask yourself would you rather live near:

a) a wind turbine
b) a coal fired power station (mercury, soot etc.)
c) a nuclear power station

[Sasha S. @ Nov 27th 2006 9:16AM]

I am seriously considering purchasing two of those. Each one is producing 6KW and in tandem they could power my house (including heating and airco) and still have enough power to charge up electric car in the future.
Only thing that is missing is ultracapacitor bank for storage of electricity. Perhaps when EESTOR comes to the market with their energy storage devices we will finally have the ability to do something about global warming and energy dependancy (at least one of us living in northern Europe and other windy areas).

I find price a bit too much. Looking at the parts - I am sure the price could be brought down at least by half if not even 2/3 of the current price (with advantages of mass-production that is). Any chinese factory wants to copy this one? ;-)

[Ken @ Nov 27th 2006 9:47AM]

I don't understand why a generator on a stick should cost $60,000 if its made in any reasonable quantity. These should be at most half that price. Funny how economically feasible they'd be at that point.

[bluestate @ Nov 27th 2006 10:39AM]

Uh, $60,000 is a freakin bargain. A traditional wind turbine runs about $1,600,000. Still, at that price, farmers in southern Minnesota will pool their money to purchase a single turbine for one of their farms. After ten or so years of operation they start to turn a profit. It almost certainly won't produce as much energy as the larger, more expensive units, but still � $60K is a price revolution.

[Sean Hattaway @ Nov 27th 2006 11:04AM]

I'm not familiar with the prices for wind turbines... my concern here is more on the ame... I mean, Pigeon Dicer and Mark 5... haha... lol...

[Mark @ Nov 27th 2006 4:17PM]

I like this design that the traditional ones that are all over the north end of the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs). They're graceful, pretty quiet actually, and hey, they're PRODUCING ELECTRICITY. So I'm all for this tech.

[Mark @ Nov 27th 2006 7:15PM]

Oops, meant to say 'and' instead of 'that'.

[v1m @ Nov 28th 2006 3:59AM]

How stupid do you have to be to want a Wal-Mart in your community but not wind turbines?

[Rex @ Nov 28th 2006 4:24AM]

okey, so i must admit, they look cool, even as a free standing structure, and according to the link, there is a pic of a turbine with a cover on it, acting as both advertisement and bird warner, but my q is, are they better then the the traditional ones in the long run? though may be if china mass produced these, then...

[Eddie @ Nov 28th 2006 8:05AM]

It actually looks -- dare I say it -- cool.

I could see these replacing telephone poles.

[Eddie @ Nov 28th 2006 8:06AM]

I could see these replacing telephone poles. the electricity could be beamed directly into homes from their turbine. awesome.

[E @ Nov 28th 2006 5:21PM]

I actually like the look of wind turbines.

Would I mind them in near my home? No.

[j.pickens @ Nov 28th 2006 10:56PM]

The dirty little secret of the wind turbine industry is that the installed base of wind power systems have taken more energy to construct, install, and operate than they will ever generate.
Only perfectly situated turbines are able to reach energy breakeven.
Don't believe me? Just try getting actual net energy balance data from an operator of these systems. Good luck, I've tried. They only report predicted or calculated figures, not actual data.
Pseudoenviromental BS.