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Wind energy innovators have long dreamed of harvesting wind energy from rooftops, but the going has been slow in terms of mass market adoption. That could be about to change. A US startup has come up with a business model that leverages solar industry know-how to help cut the cost of rooftop wind turbine installations, and it has caught the eye of the US Department of Energy.
The Small Wind Turbine Challenge
Rooftops or not, developing an economical way to harvest energy from slower wind speeds is the main challenge of the small wind turbine field. Instead of tall towers and massive blades that can reach optimal wind speeds far off the ground, small wind turbines have to make the most of whatever wind is available closer to the ground.
Proximity to the ground also constrains the size of the blades, layering on another engineering…
