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Vertical windmills aren’t such a recent concept. Desite the fact that horizontal windmills are more commonplace now, the first windmills created were vertical windmills. The first operating ones happened in the 9th century, but over the years the design has been vastly improved to get much higher efficiency.

Vertical windmills have many advantages. One of them is the relatively minor sound they create. One criticism common about horizontal windmills is the noise factor, which can be seen easily in the installed base which is primarily in non residential areas. Because of the quiet nature of vertical windmills, they are excellent for homes, cities, and commercial buildings.

Another great advantage of a vertical windmill is that they usually capture more wind than a conventional horizontal windmill. No matter the direction from which the wind blows, vertical windmills can capture it and transform it into energy. We can’t say the same about the horizontal axis type windmills.

Mantenance on a vertical windmill is much easier to achieve. It is also safer to do it, too. We owe this to the fact that the location of the generator is at the ground level. Because of its more efficient design in some area, it is very uncomplicated to repair which saves a lot of time and energy when maintenance is needed.

Using the vertical windmills’ design also brings benefits for the birds. Birds often fly into the horizontal axis windmill. From this perpective, the vertical axis type of windmill is safer because there is a very low chance birds would fly into the blades.

Vertical windmills can also have a highly esthetical look, as they can be adapted to the surrounding area. They do not use a prefabricated pattern when assembling them. You can see them in various shapes.

The two types of vertical windmills that are mentioned most commonly are the Savonius and the Darrieus. The Savonius windmill is mainly used for pumping the water or for grain grinding. If you look at it from above, you notice that its shape is the one of the letter “S”. The Darrieus windmill is primarily used for electricity generation, and not for pumping water like the Savonius. Its blades are in shape of the letter “C”, providing it the aspect of an eggbeater.

We live in a world where the electricity is not only beginning to become more and more expensive, but we’re also becoming more aware that  some sources that produce it are affecting the environment. Start thinking at building your own vertical or even horizontal axis windmill so you can save money and help save the Earth in the process.

Windmills use as a water draining device is first mentioned in written documents about in 1414. Windmills used for the processing of grain have existed there for 200 years before that. The oldest mention of a windmill can be found in some documents from the year 1274, where they were a priveledge offered to city elite. The feudal senior could give the right of building a windmill, to constrain the workers to bring cereals to his windmill, and to forbid the construction or the planting of trees near the windmill for ensuring the strongest wind.

In the following years, windmills spread over Holland. Old towers that used to be used for keeping gun powder were converted into mills. But the real development of Dutch windmills takes place at the end of the XVI century and the beginning of the next one. Windmills and the many uses started to be utilized more and more. Ships brought in heavy wood from forested areas around the baltic sea to build windmills.

The most abundant and cheapest form of energy available to Dutchmen was wind power. Larger quantities of water can easily be drained using bigger and stronger windmills. That was absolutely essential because the land in Holland is in consistent danger of flooding. Many great cities like Amsterdam and Haarlem which are primarily located beneath sea level are under the constant threat of flooding. Using just 26 windmills, Beemster lake was entirely drained in about 1 year by the power of wind alone.

At or around the year 1850, there were approximately 9000 active windmills in Holland, which is probably the greatest number that had ever existed there. Post this time, the number of windmill begins to decrease. Only 2500 windmills remained by the end of the 19th century.

In 1920, an initiative for creating an association to protect the windmills was beginning to take shape. This association was born in 1923, in Amsterdam. As result of a petition the Dutch society of windmills wrote, in 1924 a letter to the minister of Education, Arts and Science that highlighted the importance of preserving these monuments. Other letters which were similar got sent in 1930 and 1939.

By the 1st of January 1961, an agreement has become operative and according to it, anyone who maintained a working windmill received a subvention from the state. Most of the times, a windmill owned by an old person, who can’t keep it in working conditions, is taken by the authorities and transformed into a historic monument. Most of the time it will be used to shelter a museum or perhaps become an area used to honor foreign guests.

Without the help of windmills to drain off the floodwaters, Holland as we know it would not exist and the growing population would have been forced out.

Is wind powered electricity a good alternative energy solution or should we focus completely on solar powered electricity? With more than one crises in the world (environmental, financial and a fuel shortage) people are looking for energy alternatives. And although a lot of the people with actual power are not yet convinced that this is the best time to go green, the common people understand it and they are searching for energy alternatives. But what alternatives are the best, solar or wind powered electricity?

Reasons to start looking for alternatives:

• Lower or eliminate power bills
• Be self sufficient
• Get of the grid
• Better world for our children
• Better for our health in general
• Fossil fuels like oil should be used as material to create for example plastic and not for energy usage.

Wind powered electricity is not a new alternative

Wind power is used for many centuries, in earlier days windmills where usually used to grind grain but also as lumber mill and for other purposes. Modern windmills are primarily used for wind generated electricity, even in Holland a country that is known for its windmills time has progressed.

There are two types of wind powered electricity, the first is produced by the power companies in large windmill parks and the second are residential wind turbines like the Skystream 3.7. Wind is in both cases an ideal alternative, the amount of energy produced by the spinner blades is enormous. The whole wind powered electricity process is simple and natural and requires even less resources than solar power panels.

Wind powered electricity is very good for the planet

This non polluting renewable energy source is an excellent alternative for fossil fuels and there is no reason why this should not be one of the biggest alternatives we can use. The fact that wind powered electricity is hard to store is the only problem. You just can’t put it in a jar and open it when you need it. However there are already batteries that are good enough and they will improve rapidly the coming few years, they will be better and cheaper quickly. Because of this it will be much easier to store this kind of renewable energy.

Wind powered electricity can be used all over the planet

Another great advantage of wind powered electricity over solar electricity is that it is available in all corners of the world. And each country will be able to supply energy to there own people. This type of wind powered electricity on a large scale also creates jobs in countries because they need to be produced, placed and maintained.

Get off the grid

If you have the opportunity to buy and place your own residential wind turbine it will reduce or even eliminate your energy bills and you are helping the environment at the same time. Wind powered electricity is at least as good as solar power and it depends on the location and personal circumstances what kind of system you choose. There are excellent residential wind turbines like the Skystream 3.7 and that are not difficult to install and that are a perfect solution for many homes that are not urban located.

If you are interested in a residential wind turbine system the best thing you can do is inform yourself with the latest information. At her website UnlikeNormalEnergy.com, Cathy Patterson, will provide you with all kinds of helpful information about alternative sources of energy like for example the Skystream 3.7 wind turbine or Solar Security Light .