This brochure for the Archimedes wind turbine looks pretty cool. Until you read it, that is.
Unfortunately, at normal ground-level wind speeds (5-10mph), it produces negligible power (well under 10% rated). It starts being effective (near 50% rated power) with 20mph winds, but is only rated for 28mph (100/550 watts), and then cuts out at 31mph (140/780 watts).
That's a very narrow window of effectiveness to produce, at best, a few score (small) / hundred (large) watts of power. It doesn't help that the brochure is self-contradictory in places. Do they need a better editor, or better (more consistent) facts?
On the other hand, how many could you fit on the average rooftop? The big one is five feet across, 6¼ feet long, and weighs 620 pounds. The little one is 2.5' x 3.6' and weighs a 'mere' 135 pounds, but only produces about one-fifth the power.
I guess if they get going too fast, they're screwed!
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