Helix Wind a Breath of Fresh Air

Innovative Design Fits Many Needs

Helix Wind of San Diego may have come up with a wind power solution for almost any location including cities, suburbs and rural settings.  The vertical, double-helix shaped blades catch wind from any direction, and the minimum height of the tower is only 15 feet.  Best of all, it can generate electricity with wind speeds as low as eight mph.

The company produces models for commercial and residential applications that are both lightweight and relatively inexpensive.  The low wind speed requirement opens up entire areas of the country for wind power development that previously would have been poor candidates for wind energy production.

The Helix Wind commercial version, S594, in action.

The vertical design allows for installations in areas with minimal real estate availability, and multiple installations are possible.  Depending upon the wind conditions at a given location, the spacing between turbines can be as little as six feet.  It’s also possible to mount the commercial version on the side of a building.

Another nice feature of the design is the minimal noise created.  At less than five decibels above background noise, the turbine creates about the same amount of noise as wind moving through a tree or around a building. (see video below) 

Traditional horizontal designs must be aligned with wind direction or be able to pivot to harness wind energy.  The horizontal models also have difficulty operating in turbulent and gusty wind conditions.  The vertical design is unaffected by the above factors. 

The weight of the residential version is only 310 pounds, and the commercial model is 1,400 pounds.  The tower adds about 200 pounds per five-foot section. 

The residential version, S322, is about 10 feet high by 4 feet in diameter.  The commercial model, S594, measures 20 feet high by 4 feet in diameter.  These are quite compact units by wind power standards.

Wind energy is a burgeoning market in the U.S. and abroad.  The total wind energy capacity in the U.S. is more than 19,500 megawatts (MW) installed in 35 states according to the American Wind Energy Association.  Wind installations in 2007 totaled 5,249 MW, which was a 45 percent increase from the prior year, and the estimated energy capacity being installed in 2008 is about 7,500 MW.

While the U.S. trails Germany in wind energy generation capacity by about 3,500 MW, the actual electricity produced is greater in the U.S. because of stronger winds.  China had virtually no wind energy capacity as few as three years ago, but now places fifth in the world with 6,050 MW of capacity, however one-fourth of that number is currently unconnected to the grid because of planning problems.

Wind energy leaders among the states are Texas with 5,605 MW, California produces 2,484 MW and Iowa places third with 1,375 MW.  My own state of New Jersey has a disappointing 8 MW of generation capacity, but Governor Jon Corzine recently committed to an off-shore wind project to produce an additional 345 MW.  The state has additional plans to increase wind generation capacity to 3,000 MW by the year 2020.

The New Jersey effort was touted as a bid to become a world leader in wind energy production, but as the above numbers indicate, that’s a lot of hot air.

I neglected to ask the people at Helix Wind if they have a model that can be powered by politicians, but I’ll be sure to follow up.

It’s difficult to say how the emerging technologies are going to shake out in the coming years, but the simple modular design of Helix Wind turbines is going to be a strong contender for market dominance if for no reason other than its incredibly broad application base.  This design has a solid market niche to exploit.

Thanks to Ariel Schwartz at Green Options for providing the inspiration for this report.