Aeroturbine free energy or a cost disaster

Aeroturbine by Aerotecture are being called the future of urban wind energy. Despite of this positive reputation of Aeroturbine many are arguing that the asking price by Aerotecture is a too high. Assuming that one could get 5 KWH per day out of the 1KW 510V model of Aeroturbine and assuming that the value of the KWH is $0.12/KWH, yearly income equivalent would be;

365days/yr x 5KWH/day x $0.12/KWH = $219/year
Therefore payback time in years would be
$15,000/($219/yr) = 68.5 years

Even if you could get 10 kWH per day (which is doubtful because where are you going to have wind blowing at 30mph 10 hours/day), the payback for Aeroturbine would still be about 35 years. However, Bill Becker’s Aeroturbine its self would probably breakdown long before that.

Being a strong supporter of green energy, the cost of Aeroturbine does not disturb me, but Aerotecture should consider a more sensible pricing for Aeroturbine as green technology should be consumer friendly and so that its implementation can be wide spread. Aeroturbine its self is not an expansive set of equipment, in fact it’s simple and cheaper in terms of manicuring compared to the regular wind turbines. Aeroturbine is a light weight easy to install low thought regular yield equipment that should be sold in bulks on more retail grounds.

Aeroturbine by Aerotecture

Aeroturbine was developed by Chicago-based Aerotecture International in 2007 and is a remarkable design in the field of renewable energy. Aeroturbine is known for its innovative design that is perfect for urban wind power generation. The turbines of Aeroturbine are designed for rooftop installation on either commercial or multi-family residences that have access to strong winds. Aerotecture started selling the commercial prototypes of Aeroturbine in late 2007.
Aeroturbine’s design has the interesting aspect of both a vertical prototype for multi-directional wind locations, and a horizontal version for locations with a steady primary wind direction. Aeroturbine has been designed to operate at slow speeds, with little noise and maintenance. The reflective finish and slow turning speed of Aeroturbine reduced the risk to birds and wildlife. A 510V Aeroturbine produces an estimated 1kW of power in 30 mph winds with the 520H produces an estimated 1.8kW from similar wind speeds. Each Aeroturbine is custom fitted to the architecture of the building with a ballpark cost for the 510V of $15,000 and the 520H of $21,000. As Aeroturbine is easy to move and install it can be easily considered as the next generation of wind energy, for our ever urbanizing world.
Potential installation locations for Aeroturbine needs to be 40 feet above ground, unobstructed by trees or other structures, with wind speeds averaging over 10mph. Many are arguing that the asking price is a too high for the Aeroturbine, but tend to forget that the payback time might be too long for Aeroturbine, but is still less then the cost we are and will be paying with our ever increasing carbon foot print.