Thread: Wind Power

So this is my first post, I'll be honest I haven't read all of the posts on the site... I know it's shocking but anyways, someone may have asked and/or answered this question already however, how much power could be generated if there was a wind turbine - or as many wind turbines as could fit - on top of every building in NYC that was 30+ storeys?? - I suppose maybe this could fit better in the Math or Physics section...perhaps.

i'm not sure if placing wind turbines on every piece of high rise would actually work - isn't it so that when you set up a wind farm, you have to make sure that you keep the interference between the various turbines to a minimum, which means making sure that each ideally receives an undisturbed air flow

also i have my doubts whether structurally speaking this would be a desirable option on a building of 30+ stories

i think current thinking is to place the turbines either on exposed hillsides, or in offshore wind farms

I only mention 30 storeys because i have heard that once you reach 300' in elevation the wind is consistent and stronger, but you definitely make a good point about too much crowding...

Take a shot at doing some estimates.

How many buildings are there?
How many turbines per building?
Etc

Here's something just to get you started-- a small wind turbine:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...6889_200326889

Bounce your initial assumptions against the crowd in here.

is this in any way related with the following post in the electronics subforum ?

I know basically nothing about wind generators, which makes it tough for me to make comments LOL. I also did not read that post before I made my own... To do a bit of number crunching is becoming frustrating however, I can find few consistencies with what I'm looking for in terms of wind speeds at different altitudes, if anyone can help - what I have come up with is 525 buildings, lets keep it simple, 1 turbine per bldg, I dont know what size of turbine is logical nor the power it would put out, and most frustratingly, the average wind speed at the altitude in question...

A bit of help from a meteorologist.
The simple find.
NEW YORK (LAGUARDIA AP), NY average wind 11.3 mph

More complex is an average wind strength profile with altitude.

Sometime simplified as V' = V * (Z'/Z)^H

Where V' is wind speed in mph at height Z' (in meters)
V is wind speed in mph at reference height Z (say 10m)
and H is something called a Hellman exponent, where 0.1 to 0.2 is typical over a city.

How high are your buildings?
High high is the turbine above the buildings?

Getting the idea?

A Very Interesting Idea, Wind Power is certainly a Very Good Power source, Along with Nuclear Power we could have a very Clean world.

My Question is would the Buildings be able to Support the Windmills?

Good question barnedog!

This is not an answer to the OP but it is related and it is also a very interesting idea . . .

Wind turbines integrated into the design of new buildings with the potential of supplying all the power needed by the entire building:

http://greenprophet.com/2008/09/18/3...ing-in-motion/

http://inventorspot.com/articles/twi...er_itself_5846

http://www.building.co.uk/intl_story...de=3123951&c=3