The first windmills were developed to automate the tasks of grain-grinding and water-pumping and the earliest-known design is the vertical axis system developed in Persia about 500-900 A.D. then spreading from Persia to the surrounding areas in the Middle East Delta and to Europe where Dutch introduced the first (HAWT) horizontal-axis wind turbine.
500 to 900 AD
Persians innovated windmills that were used to crush grains and pump water
1100s
Wind power began appearing in several regions of Europe during the medieval period. Windmills in Europe were used to crush grain
1300s
The Dutch built windmills that were used to drain water from low-lying regions. These windmills were the first to have a horizontal-axis structure. The technological enhancements of these windmills allowed superior grain grinding and water pumping.
1600s
The Dutch introduced their innovative windmill designs to the New World
1700s
Windmills lost some of their importance during the 1700s due to the Industrial Revolution
1800s
Early 1800s: Windmills started to appear in the Great American Plains as the settlers moved towards the West. The settlers started using windmills to pump water along the western frontier.
1850s: The U.S. Wind Engine Company was established by John Burnham and Daniel Halladay. They build the Halladay Windmill which was designed for the West American landscape.
1887: In July 1887, the first windmill for electricity generation was built by Professor James Blyth in Glasgow, Scotland. Out of the three different turbine designs, the last design is said to have powered the Professor’s home for 25 years.
Towards the end of year, Professor Charles Brush developed a 12kW capacity wind turbine to charge 408 batteries stored in his mansion. The turbine was functional for 20 years and boasted a rotor diameter of 50m and 144 rotor blades.
1890s: Six million windmills were reportedly installed across America. Windmills started using steel blades which boosted efficiency. The Chicago World’s Fair presented 15 windmill companies and their turbine designs.
1900s
1920s: Wind turbines began to provide electricity to thousands of rural regions across the Great Plains
French inventor, Georges Jean Marie Darrieus developed a turbine called the ‘eggbeater’, which stood out for its slender vertical axis turbine
1927: Marcellus and Joe Jacobs establish the Jacobs Wind company. The firm produced wind turbine generators that were used on farms to power lighting and charge batteries.
1931: Russia constructed the first commercial power plant that employed wind turbines to produce electricity
1941: In Vermont, the world’s first megawatt-size wind turbine started operations to combat fuel shortage
1950s: A majority of wind turbines in the U.S. are shut down due to disuse due to the advent of affordable fossile-fuelled stationary engines and widespread of rural electrification
1971: The first offshore wind farm in the world began operations off the coast of Denmark.
The drastic spike in oil prices causes great interest in the renewable energy sector in 1973.
1977: the United States Department of Energy (DOE) is formed. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory begins operations.
1980s
The government in the U.S. delivers tax credits for the use of renewable power
The first wind farm in the world is constructed at New Hampshire in the U.S. However, due to turbine break down and overestimation of wind as a resource, the project is deemed a failure.
1985: A wind farm in California powers around 250,000 homes. However, wind turbine capacities are still inadequate at this time.
1989: Federal funding for wind energy research experienced a decline through the decade, and DOE funding reached a low point in 1989
1990s
Increasing public concerns about environment issues such as global warming raise interest in renewable energy again
1991: The U.K.’s first onshore wind farm is opened in Cornwall. The farm had a capacity of 10 turbines that supplied enough power for 2,700 homes.
1992: The Energy Policy Act in the U.S. announces a production tax credit of 1.5 cents per kWh of wind energy generated electricity. It aims its focus on increasing use of renewable energy.
2000s
2000: The price of electricity generated using wind power was between 4 to 6 cents per kWh
2001: Wind energy capacity reached a total of 24,800 megawatts. The global wind power market generated approximately US$7 billion revenue.
2003: Legal compliance in Europe encouraged the growth of wind energy in this region. Europe boasted a massive 70% of total global wind energy production.
2004: The price of electricity generated using wind power falls to 3 to 4 cents per kWh
2005: The updated Energy Policy Act in the U.S. supports Incentives for renewable energy sources. The total global wind energy production continues to demonstrate an exponential growth.
2006: Global wind power production exceeded 74,000 megawatts
2007: The U.S. wind power capacity climbed by an impressive 45%
2009: Wind energy provided 2% of the total global electricity usage
2010: Cape Wind received approval by the Federal Government as the first offshore wind farm in America
2012: Wind energy powered 15 million homes in the U.S. and became the primary source of renewable electricity
2013: The first offshore wind farm in Canada is planned for coastal British Columbia. 110 turbines are expected to contribute to generate 396 megawatts of power.
RECENT HISTORY
Dozens of innovators have tried various models all but a few based on the Dutch horizontal axis grinding mills. One designer after another copied the horizontal system trying to adopt them to vertical axis system. Vertical-axis designers, instead of innovating blade systems fitting this system, they became entangled with drag and lift aspects of HAWT blade systems, trying to adapt them to vertical axis configuration.
In course of decades Two VAWT designs were tried:
SAVONLUS: It can only use drag therefore cannot harvest sufficient wind energy.
DARREIUS: lagged behind in real-world energy production due to design challenges and limitations.
Neither of these two concepts or similar designs led to an acceptable efficiency and practicality level required for commercial power production.
Vertical axis units tried in high-rise buildings reflected in some recent patents have not resulted in a promising as they have not been able to supply the building power needs alone. Lately a well-financed team with ample budget tried to adopt the best of available techniques of this kind to a high rise in Bahrain only to disappointing results reflected in report to the CTBUH 2010 World conference in Mumbai-“Large Scale Building-integrated Wind Turbines”
