"A real-world test by the Dutch province of Zeeland (a very windy place)
demonstrates that small windmills are a fundamentally flawed technology.
Twelve much-hyped micro wind turbines were placed in a row on an open
plain. Their energy yield was measured over a period of one year (April 1,
2008 €” March 31, 2009), the average wind velocity during these 12 months
was 3.8 meters per second, slightly higher than average. Three windmills
broke. The others recorded ridiculously low yields, in spite of the
optimal conditions. It would take up to 141 small windmills to power an
average American household entirely using wind energy, for a total cost of
780,000 dollars. The test results show clearly that energy return is
closely tied to rotor diameter, and that the design of the windmill hardly
matters."

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.../04/19/2022214

--
John Stumbles

I'm more non-competitive than you