Overview of Building Integrated Wind Energy

Conversion Systems
Ziyad Salameh, Senior Member, IEEE and Chintan Vinod Nandu, Student Member, IEEE

Abstract--In urban areas, where land is costly,

building integrated wind energy conversion systems
can be embedded into the existing infrastructure to
meet an increasing load demand. Recently small scale
wind turbines (less than 10kw) are installed in great
numbers on the roof-top of residential houses,
commercial and high rising buildings. This paper
presents an overview of the current technologies
being implemented around the world with their
technical characteristics summarized.

Index Terms--wind energy, wind turbines, distributed

generation, renewable energy
Figure 1: Total Wind Energy Installed Capacity 1998-2008 [2]

Today, as we see awareness and improvements in

I. INTRODUCTION
Wind is a free, clean and inexhaustible energy
source. Now, when the days of cheap and plentiful
petroleum are drawing to an end and the awareness
among the people is increasing, it is important to develop
new and more effective energy sources. Usage of wind
power and solar power is gradually increasing. Wind
energy is proving to be important in world energy picture
owing to its advantage over other forms of power
sources.
Currently, wind power is a fully established branch
on the electricity market and it is treated accordingly.
The criterion to be considered when installing new wind
turbines are amount of energy to be produced cost
efficiency, the impact on the environment and the impact
on the electric. Political support for and public interest in
renewable energy has caused a massive increase in wind
power utilization and improvement of wind turbine
technology is a natural consequence [1].
technology, it has come to that wind turbines can be set
up on the rooftop of houses, buildings of school,
hospitals, commercial buildings, or even on certain tall
buildings. We see a large increase in interest in market
for Building Integrated Wind Energy Conversion
Systems (BIWECS) for electricity generation due to its
various economic and environmental advantages,
government incentives and public awareness.
Unlike large scale wind farms, BIWECS have the
advantages of:
1. No overhead lines or underground cables
required.
2. Losses are reduced since no transportation of
power is required.
3. Less storage required
4. It is more reliable
5. More efficiently used since it is located right
where the load is.

The annual wind energy installed capacity is on II. TURBINE TYPES

drastic rise as it can be seen from the following graphical
representation. In the coming two years it is expected to
raise up to 200 GigaWatts.
Further below we discuss some of the available
application of BIWECS that are being used today in
categories of residential buildings, commercial buildings
and high rising buildings. These wind turbines could be
further classified into horizontal or vertical axis type,
used alone or as hybrid with photovoltaic systems.

978-1-4244-6551-4/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE

A. RESIDENTIAL BUILDING WIND TURBINES

Lately, there has been a large increase in residential

wind turbines owing largely to government initiatives. At
many places, the power generated can be connected to
the grid and sold back to utility company. This has
encouraged many to have a wind turbine on the roof of
their house (as in figure 1 - 1kW VAWT and figure 2 -
2.4kW HAWT)

Figure 4: 2.4 kW HAWT in backyard [7]

it is also possible to generate from solar source along

with wind. Such systems are called Hybrid Systems.
Figure 5 shows one such system.

Figure 1: 1kW Windterra ECO1200 VAWT on the roof [3],[4]

Figure 2: 2.4kW Skystream3.7 HAWT on the roof

It can be in their backyard (as in figure 3 – 1.2kW

VAWT and figure 4 – 2.4 kW HAWT).

Figure 5: Generation of Wind and Solar Energy together to form a

Hybrid System

Here are the technical specifications of some of the

BIWECS models used:

I. VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINES (VAWT)

a) Windterra turbines: ECO 1200 1 kW VAWT

The Windterra ECO1200 Wind Turbine is a Vertical

Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). The ECO1200 is ideally
suited to both rural and urban installations, generating
green energy from the wind
Figure 3: 1.2 kW Windspire VAWT in backyard [5]
 c) Wind Energy SAL, Lebanon.

Figure 6: ECO 1200 1 kW Vertical Axis Wind Turbine [3],[4]

Turbine Specifications [4]

Three-blade Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Rated Power: 1k W at 12m/s (26.8 mph) Figure8: 4kW Wind Energy SAL VAWT [6]
Physical Dimensions: 2.25m (H) x 2.66m (D)
Weight: 292kg (644 lb) Turbine Specification [6]
Rated Power – 4 kW at 12 m/s
Operating Range - 3 - 25 m/s
b) Windspire turbine from Mariah Power Maximum Wind Speed - 50 m/s
Dimension – 2m x 3.5m (78” x 138”)
The Windspire wind system uses its own Tower Height - 5.5m (18’)
engineered poles and structure that are designed for Weight w/o tower - 190kg (425 lbs)
optimal operation of the turbine. It is used in both
residential and commercial applications.
II. HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINES (HAWT)

There are large numbers of companies that have

their product of HAWT. They are available in market for
various ratings, different varieties in design, etc. Here is
one of them:

a) Skystream

Figure 7: 1.2kW Windspire turbine from Mariah Power [5]

Turbine Specifications [5]

Rated Power: 1.2k W @ 5.4 m/s (12 mph)
Unit Height: 9.1 m (30 ft) Figure 9: 2.4kW Skystream HAWT on the roof [7]
Weight: 283kg (624 lb)
Cut in speed: 3.6 m/s (8mph) Turbine Specifications [7]
Max. Wind Speed: 47 m/s (105 mph) Rated Power: 2.4 kW at 13 m/s (29 mph)
Rotor Diameter: 12 ft (3.72 m)
Weight: 77 kg (170 lb)
Cut-in Wind Speed: 3.5 m/s (8 mph)
b) ARI Green Energy Wind Generators B. COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS WIND TURBINES

• ARI-450
I. BIWECS on Gas Station

Figure 10:450 Watts ARI Turbine in Portugal [8]

• ARI-750

Figure 13: 1 kW SWIFT Wind Turbine on a Gas Station [10]

Swift Wind Turbine: Design enables use of turbine in

urban and suburban settings. Quiet mast mounting
technology reduces unwanted vibration to building/home

Turbine Specification [11]

Power Output: 1.0 kW @ 11 m/s (24.6 mph)
Annual Energy Production: 1,900 kWh @ 6 m/s (13.4
Figure 11: 750 Watts ARI Turbine in Texas, USA [8] mph average)
Unit Weight Approximately: 250 lbs
Turbine Specifications [8]: Cut-In Speed: 3.58 m/s (8 mph)
Rated Power: Maximum Designed Wind Speed: 64.8 m/s (145 mph)
• ARI 450: 450W at 12 m/s
• ARI 750: 750W at 12 m/s
• ARI 1000: 1kW at 12 m/s II. BIWECS on Supermarket / Shopping Center
• ARI 2500: 2.5kW at 12 m/s
Cut-in Speed: 2.3 m/s
Diameter: 1.4m (450), 1.8m (750 & 1000), 2.9m (2500)

c) Honeywell WT6500 Wind Turbine

Figure 14: 1 kW SWIFT Wind Turbine on TESCO store [11]

Figure 12: Honeywell Wind turbine [9]

Turbine Specification [9]:

Generation: 2000 kWh/yr
Cut-in Wind Speed: 3.3 m/s
Rotor Diameter: 1.7 m (5.5 ft.)
III. Wind turbine on Schools/Colleges Buildings
An array of 20 - 1 kW wind turbines is installed on
the roof of Logan Airport Office Centre, Boston, USA.
The 20 AeroVironment roof-mounted turbines, which
stand about 12 feet, use blades about three feet long, and
each weighs about 90 pounds. They are projected to
yield a total of about 100,000 kilowatt-hours annually,
equal to the electricity usage of about 17 average-sized
homes [14]. The array of 20 wind turbines forms a multi-
unit connection.

Figure 15: Rooftop of UMASS Lowell showing its 4 wind turbines and
photovoltaic system [12]

The school building of University of Massachusetts,

Lowell had 3 wind turbines i.e. 1.5kW, 500W and 300W
wind turbines and also 13kW photovoltaic arrays already
in place atop its Ball Hall building in its North Campus.
A fourth wind turbine capable of producing 1.8kW of
electricity has recently been added. [12].
Figure 17: An array of 20 wind turbines also known as multi-unit
Turbine Specifications [13] connection [14]
1. Bergey BWC 1500 Wind Turbine
Rated Power: 1.5 kW at 12.5 m/s
Cut-in Wind Speed: 3.6 m/s V. Wind turbine on roof of Museums
Rotor Diameter: 3 m (10 ft.)
2. Southwest Whisper 100
Rated Power: 500 W at 12.5 m/s
Cut-in Wind Speed: 3.4 m/s
Rotor Diameter: 2.1 m (7 ft.)
3. Air X Marine
Rated Power: 300 W at 12.5 m/s
Cut-in Wind Speed: 3.58 m/s
Rotor Diameter: 1.2 m (4 ft.)
4. Skystream 3.7
Rated Power: 1.8 kW at 13 m/s
Cut-in Wind Speed: 3.5 m/s
Rotor Diameter: 3.72 m (12 ft.)

IV. Turbines on Airports Administration Buildings

(Multi-Unit Connection)

Figure 18: 1.2kW VAWT on roof of Museum of Science in Boston,

Massachusetts [15]

Mariah Power is participating in the nation’s first

rooftop Wind Turbine Lab at the Museum of Science in
Boston, Massachusetts, with the installation of one of its
Figure 16: 1 kW AeroVironment turbine on roof of Logan Airport Windspire vertical axis wind turbines on the Museum’s
Office Centre, Boston [14]. rooftop. Windspire is the only vertical axis turbine
participating in the Wind Turbine Lab, which will
include five different brands of wind turbines of varying
size and power capacity. Mariah Power joined the project
to better understand the viability of rooftop turbine
installations in urban settings [15].
C. WIND TURBINES ON HIGH RISING BUILDINGS
I. Current BIWECS Models
There are very few models presently available for
high rising buildings. Extensive research is being
conducted on BIWECS for high rising buildings. One
place where it can be seen is at the 50 storey, Bahrain
World Trade Center Building. It is an architecturally well
designed with three turbines in between the two 50-
storey buildings. The wind turbines are made by
Denmark based company, Norwin. The angle of building
walls are designed to keep wind source strong and
consistent for all three propellers [16].
Figure 19: 3 wind turbines on Bahrain World Trade Center at ratd
power of 225kW [16]
Turbine Specification [16]
Dimension: 29 m – diameter
Rated power 225 kW, at 60, 98 & 136 m height
Generates 1200 MWh/year
Bridge mounted.
II. Future BIWECS Models
Figure 20: Wind turbines being integrated in the building architecture
in London [17].
This 42-story apartment tower, under construction at
Elephant and Castle in London, will feature a roof with
an array of integrated wind turbines. The three turbines
are each nine meters in diameter and are design to
provide power the building’s lighting systems [17].
III. CONCLUSION
The building integrated wind energy conversion
system is proving to be a major breakthrough in today’s
modern world. It has a great scope in generating
electricity from the easily available renewable source of
energy – ‘Wind’. More modifications can and are being
made to improve the technology. Hybrid systems are
being designed where wind and solar energy resources
are used. Looking at the progress, one can say that we
are moving towards a better and greener tomorrow.
IV. REFERENCES
[1] Wind Energy for Electric Power, A REPP Issue Brief By
Ari Reeves With Fredric Beck, Executive Editor July,
2003 (updated November 2003)
[2] Source: World Wind Energy Association
http://www.wwindea.org/home/images/stories/worldwinde
nergyreport2008_s.pdf
[3] http://www.yourgreenamerica.com/
[4] http://www.windterra.com/
[5] http://www.mariahpower.com/windspire-overview.aspx
[6] http://www.windenergylebanon.com/index.asp
[7] http://www.windenergy.com/
[8] https://www.arigreenenergy.com/
[9] http://www.earthtronics.com/honeywell.aspx
[10] http://www.ashdenawards.org/
[11] http://www.swiftwindturbine.com/
[12] http://www.uml.edu/
[13] http://www.bergey.com/Products/1500.html
http://www.windenergy.com/
[14] http://www.usatoday.com/,
http://www.environmentalleader.com/
[15] http://www.pitchengine.com/
[16] http://www.bahrainwtc.com, http://www.norwin.dk/
[17] http://www.metaefficient.com/, http://www.norwin.dk/