Ridgeblade Wind Turbines

Key to this taking off is mechanical noise, first thing people will be cautious about. and then attrition, Canada might not get the kind of wind we get! 🌨️💨😭

The Irish supplier doesn't advertise this as a product on their website, yet i see them popping up all the time on facebook advertising the Huawei Solar PV Roadshow!

On the face of it, I'd buy one - but you'd be mad to be the test pilot here in Ireland. I'd like to see some actual installations along with telemetry for yields, noise, total cost of ownership etc. Knowing the planning approval position for residential. If you lived out in the countryside with the nearest neighbor 250 meters away though, could be a "no brainer" if it works. In the middle of Rathmines or Tallaght.....hmm.

As Jkforde mentions, noise will be the biggest hurdle here. Moving parts, with the best design in the world, will eventually start to squeek. Rotating shafts on the apex of your roof aren't exactly the most accessible, even if it just needs a squirt of WD40.

I can almost imagine the hatred from your neighbours as it sqeeks away at 2:50am.

and just to add, check this out (great channel btw)

I was thinking about one but maintenance costs put me off. You'd want to be using a lot of electricity to justify the price.

It would take me 29 years to break even on my neighbours system.

According to his wife it worked for a few months and the manufacturer couldn't get it going again.

If I was living out the country and had the space down at the end of a long garden, I think I'd give a self-build a go, out of pure enjoyment in getting something to work. Probably a vertical axis one as they are easier to build - (but less efficient). Probably out of a washing machine motor or something. Actually, if you want something truly awe inspiring. This guy.....

(967) How I Built A 3 kW Off Grid Wind Turbine - YouTube

Is on a WHOLE OTHER LEVEL.....I like to think I'm handy enough but nahh, I'm playing with my Thomas the Tank engine toolbox compared to this bloke.

Still while I love the idea of Wind, hard to see beyond solar though. No moving parts, sits quietly there producing away happy-as-larry. ....it's just such a great tech. You have these "magic panels" and slap em' up on your roof and you can watch tv or surf the internet with the power they make. :-)

I know the feeling. I've 5 acres on the side of a mountain but looking at my neighbours one just siting in his back garden for the last few years it puts me, off. And then the cost 😱

Isn't a rooftop turbine exempt from planning permission? I know this is different but in principle it's still a rooftop turbine

I think the major obstacle for this is that it's only going to make sense for urban houses. Anywhere with open space would probably be better installing a ground mounted turbine

In urban environments the air flow isn't great, so any turbine isn't going to perform particularly well. So you'd want the turbine to be very cheap so that it has a chance to pay for itself

This however, looks like it'll be quite expensive

Nope, rooftop turbine isn't exempt sadly. You can read the whole provision yourself here.

Planing Permission for wind turbines - exemptions - Eurecca.ie

Somewhat disappointing but I get it. There's a number of good logical reasons why you wouldn't want to support that by default. Noise and pissing off the neighbors is one, but there's the very real danger of some 200-300Kg thing coming down in the middle of a storm in off the Irish sea/Atlantic. You want that away from any dwelling.

That said, with the way that the ridgeblade has all the fans enclosed, and is mounted fixed to the roof so there isn't large lever forces at play, I think a lot of those concerns are mitigated. Financials as you say are key raisin. With solar just being so convenient, a well known playing field, it's a hard competitor to beat. The great thing about wind though is that it complements solar well. When it's dark and miserable, think Nov....it's quite windy and of course it can generate at 4am. Even if it was 1Kw, being able to do that 24 hrs a day has a lot going for it.

I for one are rooting for them. Hope they can pull it off and come up with a competitive product.

Yeah I hope they work out as well. Where I live there's a fairly steady breeze most of the time, plus the ridge of my roof is just over 6.5m which seems to fit the standard module lengths

It could be a good complement to solar panels, especially for the many overcast days we get. If the price is right

This is a proper turbine about 40 plus feet up. We're on the west coast on a mountain with a wind farm on the ridge.

It's a bit odd tbh. It's a few blades and a bloody motor. It's not as actually alot to get running. I suspect theres more to the story , particularly at the costs involved.