Perhaps you're considering a vertical wind turbine

The Horizontal Wind Turbine - These are the units typicaly thought of when you hear "wind turbine".  They come in many sizes, from the ultra-small to massive.  A horizontal wind turbine has a set of blades coupled to a generator and possibly a transmission.  These parts are all at the top of a all tower.  The entire assembly weathervanes into the wind.  Small units do this as a function of their shape. Larger units have a sensor that signals a motor to move the unit into the wind.

 

The Vertical Wind Turbine - This type of unt is more of an anomaly these days.  Still viable, and with a few advantages, the vertical wind turbine usualy fills a special need, and as such isn't quite as popular as its horizontal cousin.  In the vertical wind turbine arrangement, the blade is often a strange shape (not usually fairly straight). The torque from this blade is cetered downward, through a shaft, to a generator which is mounted at the base of the tower.  This makes for easy acessability when repairs are needed.  However, reports of pulsating torque are a persistent problem.  When the blade is positioned into the wind, torque results.  When it is crossing the path of the wind, drag is an issue.  Also, they are tyically not as easy to mount to the top of a tower as a horizontal wind turbine, so they tend to be lower to the ground, resulting in not as much access to the high-speed, high-power wind found further up above the ground.

 

 

Wind Speed and Height Above Ground 

 

Perhaps not particularly obvious to most people is that it the level above the ground, even in an area that you might think of as free of obstructions can make a dramatic difference in the wind speeds that reach a generator. That's why the vertical wind turbine isn't always the most popular. It tends to not be able to be mounted on a tower that is that high, and hence can't access those ultra-fast winds aloft.

 

Most wind speed data books will note explicetly the height above ground that the wind was measured from. You'll want to take note of this when planning your wind projects. If the height of measurement is not given, it is safe to assume that it was taken at 10 meters (the near-default height).

 

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