Hi Chris
I must say I am a bit sceptical.
Not needing a tower is purely semantics - the wind disturbance at ground level makes this impossible - other vertical axis generators attest to this. agreed you can keep the generator on the ground - as you can with horizontal axis plants with a simple angle drive.
look at the cross sectional area of the blade supports which do return into the wind and also the support structure - absolutley massive compared to a HAxis tower which only goes to half the height of the swept area.
How many bearings (and only rotating quarter turn and back - hard on them)
As there is no model I would say they haven't built one yet!
No actual performance data (well there would not be if they aren't built.)
quote The cutting-edge horizontal axis generators have a power coefficient close to 0.4, which is still far from Betz’s limit of 0.59.
Our wind generator design has power coefficients that are very close to the theoretical limit laid down by the laws of physics. The conversion of the kinetic energy of the wind into the mechanical energy in the rotor is therefore at its maximum level
Periferal protection is a bunch of crap - metal mesh will impede air flow whether on a VA or HA machine
I'll believe when I see some actual performance data on the site.
Bloody hard being an inventor without the funds to actually build the thing.
Regards
John