The Energy Ball http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/five-home-wind-turbines-you-can-actually-buy.php

The Energy Ball
energy ball photo photo: Home Energy

The Energy Ball from Swedish firm Home Energy (whose website is still only in Swedish) is one of the most distinctive looking—and by that I definitely mean cool looking—home wind turbines out there.

There are two models available: The V100 (43” in diameter, 0.5 kW capacity) has a list price of about SKr 30,400 ($3690); and the V200 (78” in diameter, 2.5 kW capacity) which runs about SKr 57,000 ($6900). Both those prices are without mounting materials. Home Energy estimates that the V200 could supply 50% of an average home's energy needs, while its smaller sibling is best seen as a supplement to other energy sources. What’s more, Home Energy claims that the Energy Ball is “completely silent”.

A brief apology/update: How I missed the fact that Home Energy has a website in English (cursing myself for muddling through the Swedish one...), is beyond me. Nonetheless that's the case: . More on the Energy Ball in English.



The Windspire

Though not the highest priced backyard wind turbine out there, the $5000 Windspire from Mariah Power has been around for a bit (we first reported on it back in September of 2007) but nonetheless it just one an award from Popular Science for being among the Best of What’s New ’08

At a rated capacity of 1.2 kilowatts, Mariah Power says that you can probably generate 25-30% of an average home’s power with the Windspire. At 30 feet tall and 2 feet wide, the Windspire probably isn’t suitable for every location—though its noise levels (20 db at 40 feet) won’t disturb anyone—and based on current electric rates it’ll take a while to pay this one off.

That said, it is a cool design, and perhaps now that Mariah Power will have a new factory up and running in Michigan and production ramps up a bit, they’ll be able to drop that price a bit.