The improvements in wind energy technology are leading the renewable energy sector to unprecedented heights. We really need this because we are losing our ability to make power from the fossil fuels that we have come to totally depend on. Much of the electricity that has been supplied in this century has come from fossil fuels and we’re finding that there are not limitless storehouses of those fuels on the planet. When they are gone we will not have any more of them at all.
These are the areas where we can expect to see improvement in the coming years…
Blade efficiency – The efficiency of the blade shall make a big difference in the amount of power that can be extracted from the wind around your home. There’s a lot of emphasis being put in R&D work on the improvement of the blade aerodynamics as well as the weights and performance characteristics of these rotor systems. There’s always a trade-off between various aspects of the system of blades. While it is certainly true that lighter weight materials and more drag inducing aerodynamics will produce lower speeds at which you can make power, it is also true these lightweight designs will not produce the amount of power that is possible in steady, strong wind conditions. So, the challenge for the designer of the blade systems is to understand wind patterns for which the particular blade design is designed for.
Installation efficiency – The easier these devices are to put into action, the better their sales will be. The hassle factor associated with installing a wind turbine kit device at your home is a major factor dissuading a lot of people from going into renewable energy sources in the first place. By making these devices very simple to put together and install, you will be giving homeowners a real incentive to go and take the first step.
Lower prices – As the technology improves and more and more people buy these units, economies of scale will cause the prices to decline. As more and more raw materials can be purchased in bulk in order to make the devices, the price of the overall unit will go down because the manufacturers will be able to pass on the scale economies to other downstream participants in the transaction.
In conclusion, wind energy technology is improving at a very rapid pace because of the huge demand for wind turbines now.