Many businesses all over the world have taken advantage of the environmental and money saving features of vertical axis wind turbines. The problem some businesses face when checking into a possible installation is the lack of room or a lack of wind.
There’s one kind of business that has no shortage of wind, however, and for which wind turbine installation is the perfect solution . . . ski resorts! Located atop high mountains with plenty of cold, gusty winds, a ski resort is the perfect place for a wind turbine installation.
Park City Mountain Resort recently made the news when they installed a Falcon 12kW vertical axis wind turbine developed by WePowerEco. They installed the turbine at the top of the Silverlode chairlift, an area that receives plenty of wind. The turbine, along with a solar panel, generates 30,000 kW hours of electricity per year. This is enough to power approximately three average homes in America.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk44VFBz–8′]
An informational kiosk was installed to allow public spectators to view the power being generated in a real-time setting. Brent Giles, Chief Sustainability Officer of Powdr Corp (Park City’s parent company) says,
“Our goal is for our guests to see a turbine and solar array installation up close and hopefully encourage them to install wind or solar at their home or business. We live, work and recreate in a mountain setting and we want to continue this lifestyle for years to come. Therefore we have adopted a policy to reduce emissions generated by our operations.”
Falcon 12kW similar to the one installed on Park City Mountain:
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBvBuv90Wsk’]
Giles also said that large scale renewable installations are not an option at the ski resort, which purchases wind power renewable energy credits which offset 100% of their power usage- usage that averages 14 million kWhs per year.
