This style of wind power looks cool. The WindTree turns small breezes into electricity. Its production varies with the wind speed and its average output ranges between 1,500 kWh and 2,000 kWh. Peak power is 3,500 kWh.
But I don’t see how it can be effective given the large cost. The WindTree is being offered for installation late in 2017 in the USA and Canada at $67,500 – excluding delivery, installation and taxes (they estimate almost $100,000 total). It really seems to me the prices would have to come down by more than 75% to make any real impact in the market.
An average household in the USA uses 901 kWh per month.
The tree is 36 feet tall and 26 feet in width. The first trees were installed in France in 2015, the company is based in France.
It is good to see us investigating numerous ways to generate clean energy. But unless the price of this drastically reduces over time it doesn’t seem likely to contribute much to our energy needs.
Related: Chart of Wind Power Generation Capacity Globally 2005-2012 – Capture Wind Energy with a Tethered Turbine (2007) – Engineering Floating Wind Farms (2010) – Sails for Modern Cargo Ships (2008)