By Sustainable Business – Matter Network

The U.S. market for small wind turbines–those with capacities of 100 kilowatts (kW) and less–grew 78% in 2008, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

With a total of 17.3 megawatts (MW) of new installed capacity, consumer demand for clean energy options is on the rise, the Association said.

U.S. manufacturers sold about half of all small wind turbines installed worldwide last year. U.S. market share amounted to $77 million of the $156 million global total. (Worldwide, about 38.7 MW of new small wind capacity was installed in 2008.)

“The U.S. wind industry is a growing bright spot in our domestic economy, and the small wind sector is no exception,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “Strong federal policies like the federal investment tax credit for small wind are critical to future growth, just as adoption of a federal renewable electricity standard (RES) is essential to growth in the utility-scale market.”

By Shawna Mac

We will create 3 categories for wind power systems. We will primarily discuss the small size but all three have some similarities.

-Large: commercial grade Wind Turbines
-Medium: Windmill
-Small: Long Fan blade

How do wind power systems work?

A fan blade system is installed on top of a tower or on the roof of your home and collects kinetic energy and converts it to electricity to be used by your home.