The U.S. is full of areas with high average winds but many of these places are also heaviliy populated and large wind farms would be controversial. Engineers are finding that a wider range of sites with less wind can be effectively developed for wind power if the bades are larger and slower.CNET News GreenTech reports:
"So some wind-turbine makers are shifting their focus toward building bigger wind turbines that can harvest the lower-speed winds that are more readily available. This next generation of wind turbines is no small matter: their rotors have a diameter the size of a football field.
In general, wind turbines get more powerful and efficient with taller turbine towers and larger areas swept by the blades, according to the American Wind Energy Association. A turbine's swept area is a key indicator in how much power output potential the turbine has.
'Lower wind-speed turbines certainly open up more land for development,' said Rich Reno, platform leader for General Electric's new 2.5-megawatt wind turbine. "Larger turbines open up the opportunity to get more megawatts out of a given piece of land." See full article:
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