The number of designs for vertical wind-power turbines is growing because they're efficient, small, and cheaper to build than regular windmills. One of the companies that seem to be making real headway in this market is Mariah Power, with a propeller-free vertical axis windmill called the WindSpire.

At a height of 30 ft. tall and only 2 feet wide, the WindSpire converts wind energy into measurable electricity through a vertical design, a rotor/generator system (with a low speed giromill and rotating ‘air core’ motors), and a wireless modem that an owner can track on a computer. It produces about 1900 kilowatt hours per year in 12 mile per hour average winds, which is about a quarter of the total energy used by a regular U.S. house.

But the key promise is that if the spire was twice as thick, it could likely produce 100% of the energy needs of a household. This is not the only horizontal wind turbine out there. Companies like Spiral Wind LLC and others are coming up with designs that are just as efficient.

For more information on horizontal wind turbines, please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net