At our last Belmar Council meeting, we heard a presentation on wind turbine technology from former resident Will Heyniger, who is currently a graduate student at Montclair State University. Will’s power point presentation covered a variety of issues, including the difference between “horizontal axis wind turbines” (”HAWT“), the traditional large-scale wind turbine technology that is currently in use in Atlantic City, and “vertical axis wind turbines” (”VAWT“) which are much smaller-scale wind turbines that spin around a vertical shaft like a carousel.

As Will Heyniger explained in his presentation, large scale turbines require a large open land area away from homes because of the noise they generate. They are generally not a realistic option for densely developed communities like Belmar, at least based on current technology. VAWTs, in contrast, are much quieter and smaller in scale. Indeed, some models are designed to be mounted on the roofs of homes and commercial buildings. Unlike HAWTs, which must swivel so their blades can face the wind, VAWTs can capture the wind from any direction with a much smaller footprint. They also can be visually attractive, and some models appear sculpture-like.

The downside of VAWTs is their “power curve.” While they begin to spin in windspeeds as low as 5mph, they do not begin to generate a significant amount of power until windspeed reaches 10-12 mph. (In very high winds, an internal brake automatically prevents the turbine from spinning out of control). Because New Jersey is a “net-metering” state, any amount of renewable electricity generated in your home will help lower your electric bill. Indeed, on a very windy day, the VAWT (like rooftop solar panels on a very sunny day) can generate enough electricity to make your meter spin backwards. So, the more wind, the more electricity the VAWT will generate, and the more quickly a homeowner — or the Borough of Belmar — can pay off the cost of a wind turbine.

During his presentation, Will Heyniger stressed the importance of gathering accurate location-specific wind data. He noted that because nearby buildings and other structures can affect the wind at a site either positively or negatively (e.g., while sometimes a building can block the wind, occasionally the locations of nearby structures can funnel wind in a way that increases the wind flow nearby), the suitability of a potential location can’t be assessed based upon generally available wind data. The best way to assess a location is by installing a commercial grade anenometer at the location that will record accurate data over a period of time. I will be meeting this week with Greg Hart, who is the CEO of start-up The Big Wind, a Sea Girt-based distributor for Urban Green Energy, a manufacturer of vertical axis wind turbines, to discuss placing a series of data-recording anenometers in various public and private locations in Belmar in order to begin gathering data and assessing and comparing the feasibility of various locations in town.

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