Author: Kevin WolfPublication: Wind Harvest InternationalYear Published: 1984 Wind Harvest Company’s Windstar 480-4 took the previous iteration, the Windstar 256 model, beefed it up, and increased its size by adding a third module and increased blade length from 8 to 10 feet and thus rotor height from 16 to 30 ft. This model also featured…
Author: Kevin WolfPublication: Wind Harvest InternationalYear Published: 1976 Bob Thomas’ first Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) was a proof of concept model built in 1976. He built it with modest funds and observed it operating in low winds. The test turbine was mounted on a small trailer and pulled out of a hangar at the…
Author: Kevin WolfPublication: Wind Harvest InternationalYear Published: 1979 Wind Harvest Company’s Windstar 256 was a larger model than its predecessor with two stacked “modules” of blades attached to a central rotor mast. These changes were based on what was learned from the previous “Camarillo Model,” built in 1976. The prototype was mounted on a cement…
Author: Kevin WolfPublication: Wind Harvest InternationalYear Published: 1984 Wind Harvest Company’s Windstar 480-4 took the previous iteration, the Windstar 256 model, beefed it up, and increased its size by adding a third module and increased blade length from 8 to 10 feet and thus rotor height from 16 to 30 ft. This model also featured…
Author: Kevin WolfPublication: Wind Harvest InternationalYear Published: 1994 The model 530 was designed for Chinese manufacturing, first starting with a prototype.
Author: Kevin WolfPublication: Wind Harvest InternationalYear Published: 1994 The Model 1066 was designed to be built in Harbin, China. However, the first prototype was made in Los Angeles with an all-Chinese crew from Harbin. The turbine consisted of the following features: Single module, larger than the multi-module Model 530. Blades 3 times longer than the…
Author: Kevin WolfPublication: Wind Harvest InternationalYear Published: 2001 The Windstar 530G was a three turbine array designed to test the coupled vortex effect, a phenomenon first hypothesized by Wind Harvest founder Bob Thomas in the early 1990’s. The array was placed in one of the highly energetic wind farms of San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource…
Author: Kevin WolfPublication: Wind Harvest InternationalYear Published: 2012 Wind Harvest had never tested a three-bladed configuration. There was concern that the longer distance between each blade in the rotor’s circumference would create a problematic “torque ripple” in the energy output. Model 1.0 used the same blade configuration as the 530G with 12 blades essentially placed…