Typically generating just enough power to meet the demands of a home, farm or small business, small wind energy systems belong to a renewables genre that continues to grow in stature. Commercial customers, particularly small and medium enterprises (SME), have cottoned on to their many benefits - and not just to the bottom line of a balance sheet. Small wind extols a business's Green credentials, exudes corporate correctness, and engages investors in a way few other trappings of commercial endeavour can muster.Ranging from 400 W to 100 kW (or up to 500 kW, depending on whose definition of 'small' you choose to believe) systems consist of a vertical or horizontal axis turbine installed either on- or off-grid.Recent years have seen significant technological advances made at the utility-scale end of the wind power spectrum of development, leading to ever-larger, more powerful turbines. Paradoxically, perhaps, many of these advances have trickled down to small wind. Add to these rising energy costs and a string of economic incentives designed to wean industry off fossil fuels and the package becomes all the more compelling for businesses and home owners.
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