If you don't mind placing an object that looks like an egg beater on your roof, you might someday be able to use a personal wind turbine like this to make your electric meter spin backwards. Ben Storan's design won a $6302 British Standards Institute (BSI) Sustainability Design Award, praised for its efficiency and quietude.
What makes it so special? The odd-looking configuration can be quickly removed from a roof, saving it from hurricane force winds and such, and it uses unusual vertically oriented turbine blades and lightweight materials to enhance its efficiency. The result of this unconventional design is a power generator that can produce 1.2-kW of electricity in a 12-meter-per-second wind, and that's three times more efficient than competing designs.
British Standards Institute, via Oh Gizmo
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By murcielago05 at 7:25 PM ON 07/03/07
not very good looking...but still. the average home uses 1.2kw...so this could be a big hit IF its priced right.
Meaning dont price it at 10 grand or some crazy high figure like that.
By Ian Gordon at 6:04 AM ON 03/15/08
I'd certainly buy one since if you look at roofs in any big city they're certainly ugly anyway, so no great loss. If it's priced right I'd include it in an Integrated Community Development (ICD) project.
By raja zahid at 5:25 AM ON 10/13/08
need wind turbine blade structre