Would it be possible for wind farms to be built on top of tall buildings in cities?

Answer 1

There is a ratio of blade length versus height from the ground, and maintenance to be considered. I'd think solar would be a better option for building tops...less weight, no vibration, easier to maintain.

Answer 2

Some buildings such as wind mills have already successfully used this source of power. Other mills used water to power their mills. Solar power appears to be the most power generative source of renewable energy, especially at the top of tall buildings in cities.

I have tried looking for small wind turbines to test this theory out, and there is just nothing there in the shops I have been to. It suggests that the government's plans to get small wind generators on every house appears to be based on some misconstrued lunacy. The facts do not add up, nor does the cost benefit analysis.

There are some small wind power generators which are used in the outback of Australia and America which you can find on the web. However, almost without exception you will find that solar power is adopted over wind in those countries.

I would like to test some small scale rain power generators, (i.e powered be the force of gravity from water, hail, snow falling from the sky), small scale wind power generators, and other small scale electricity generators before I would even consider allowing some expensive contractor to install some nonsense on my roof.

Answer 3

Wind turbines are already built into the structure of some of the newest buildings, so yes it's perfectly possible. Equally, the process of incorporating into the design stage is simpler than retro-fitting as in the case of tall buildings there are a large number of forces to be considered. Cityscapes of the future are quite likely to include wind turbines on rooflines as energy costs continue to rise and employers seek to maintain profit. If you are a large employer and have a significant number of properties on your asset portfolio then you are likely consuming electricity at each location. Micro-generation allows the off-setting of some of that consumption, or in the case of more advanced buildings actually allows the solar gain of the building to produce more electricity than is consumed by the buildings occupants.

Answer 4

Interesting thought. The problem with a city like London is that you have two airports, one is pretty much on the outskirts of the City. So you would have to make sure that planes couldn't him them, and I can see how low these planes are just after take off when they fly over my house and they aren't that high. if a plane hit a wind turbine it would be a disaster; you have parts of the turbine raining down off the tower as well as a plane crashing into densely populated areas.

You'd also need to have a way to distribute the electricity which would mean lots of cables being laid, and I expect the top couple of floors of the tower would need to be given over to the turbine to stabilise it, to house the generator, etc. It would probably be easier to use solar panels to generate electricity than use wind turbines.

Answer 5

Wind farms no, one or two wind generators per building - for sure.

Obviously there're things like aircraft to worry about (Big flashing lights norally sorts that out) and the structural design of the building, etc.

And I suppose there asthetic issues as well, but less of a priorirty really.

Big building to cause strange things to happen with airflow, so that would also need to be considered.

But in essence, we could do a lot more along those lines.

Answer 6

Yes, but wind turbines have an unpleasant sound effect and would be a risk to planes/helicopters, and only one wind turbine on each building. the other thing is that you save very little since wind turbines are built on turrets that are a little longer than the blades, so building wind turbines outside cities will be cheaper.

Answer 7

Turbines already are placed on some buildings. I think they would be best placed in the sea around our coasts, this is where most wind seems to be. The companys making them wouldnt be so keen on this though as it would cut their profits, but it would give us the most energy. And cause least disruption to wildlife and beautifull landscapes.

Answer 8

Yes with Solar panels too. Power Companies should be thinking about this more. They still have to manage the system, Just burn less fuel

Answer 9

So long as the necessary safety precautions regarding weight, strength and solidarity are taken, I can only see one thing to stop the idea being put into practise: People!

Answer 10

Easily.