Who: The Howell Family

What: Two Windspires

Where: Pleasant Valley, Nevada

When: September 2009

Why: The Howells decided to take advantage of the robust wind resource in their neighborhood by installing twin Windspires. They believe in tapping into renewable energy resources to help future generations including their grandchildren. Their neighbors have also installed the vertical wind turbines, making six total Windspires in this gusty Washoe Valley neighborhood.

Video:

To date, we have no reported bird incidents with the Windspire wind turbine, and actually have one story of a bird who built a nest below the generator housing.  We believe the slow speed in which the Windspire turbine’s blades spin in comparison to the wind speed, also known as Tip Speed Ratio, allows birds to see the blades so they can fly clear of them.  We don’t have a specific bird safety study to cite, but we think this picture says a whole lot (maybe even 1000 words) on the subject.

Raising the first red Windspire in Reno, NV

Recently, we celebrated the launch of a new green building company in Reno, Nevada with the raising of a Windspire at the home of the new company’s owner.  Better Building Company will perform energy audits for homeowners to help them understand what they can do to make their homes more efficient.  Their team of contractors will make changes to the home and will also be installing Windspires for customers who have a good location with adequate wind that want to use wind power to generate clean energy.  With over 50 people in attendance, we raised the Windspire- custom painted in RED! A representative from the local power company, NV Energy, was on hand to talk about the $3000 rebate the owners will receive once the Windspire is hooked up to their net meter.  With bright sun and a strong 15-18mph wind blowing during the event, it was a great day to celebrate renewable energy.