This is a specification page. Better Generation do not sell this product.
The Gaia 11kW is a serious-sized, Danish designed turbine with more than 150 machines already in operation.
In 2006 the Gaia Wind passed into new ownership, and is now headquartered in Glasgow, UK. The first UK Gaia turbine is now operational, and the company achieved government Clear Skies accreditation, which means it is eligible for all applicable UK government grants.
If you are interested in purchasing the Gaia in Italy Blu Mini Power supply and install the turbine.
Wind turbines
Swept area
The Gaia 11kW has a blade diameter of 13.00 metres. This means it has a swept area, or capture area of 132.73 square metres. This is all important when comparing wind turbines, since it directly relates to the amount of passing wind energy
the turbine blades can intercept.
Gaia 11kW power output curve
The graph below shows the power produced (in watts) for the Gaia 11kW at different wind speeds, based on
data supplied by the manufacturer.
The green line shows the actual output that the wind turbine achieves at the given wind speed,
according to the manufacturers.The dashed line in the graph shows the theoretical maximum energy that this turbine could extract from the wind,
according to Betz's Law (59.3%). At a typical wind speed of 5 m/s, the Gaia 11kW is extracting
2210 Watts of power from the wind, which is an efficiency of 21.66%.
Wind turbines can only convert some of the energy in the wind into electricity. The graph here shows how efficient the
turbine is across the range of wind speeds you might get.
The orange line in the above graph shows the efficiency ranging from 0 to 1. The grey line is the previously mentioned maximum efficiency - The Betz Limit. If this limit is exceeded, the manufacturer's claims are not to be trusted!
While these graphs give an indication of the instantaneous power and efficiencies you might expect from the Gaia 11kW turbine, working out annual power production is more complex.
The Gaia 11kW has achieved MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) accreditation.
This means that this turbine's performance has been independently verified and any new installations of this device will be eligible to benefit from the UK's feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme.
The Gaia 11kW wind turbine in action
Gaia wind promotional video by the manufacturers, showing installation and operation.
video credit: wla37
Power output
This turbine is very much at the serious end of the spectrum. Assuming you have a half-decent wind resource, this is going to produce at least as much power as would be required by a family home, and probably have plenty left over to export to your local grid.
Cost
Segen are offering full installation at £44000 +VAT excluding ground works. This does not include the Low Carbon Buildings Programme grant that is available.
Blu Mini Power in Italy will install the Gaia for €50,000.
Blade diameter
13.00 metres
Rated output (W)
11000
UK grants available?
Yes
Warranty
Gaia turbines are designed for a minimum 20 year life providing they are annually serviced. Gaia offer a 2 year manufacturing fault guarantee.
According to the manufacturers, at a distance of 30m this turbine will produce roughly 50db of noise, equivalent to conversational speech or a car driving at 40mph from 100m away. At 60m it produces 45db equivalent to a whisper. At 100m or over it you probably won't hear it all over background noise.
Mine is not producing anything like what is should and the company don't want to know. It's a great turbine design, but my impression is that the company who bought it over are behaving like a fly by night operation, which doesn't instill confidence with such a big outlay.
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... written by x,
February 01, 2010
They have now increased the price again by another 10%
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... written by Gary Wilks,
July 17, 2009
The Exchange Rate- Euro v Pound might have something to do with the price increase
Good machine for low to medium windspeed sites, originally the installed price was £35k + vat when they came into the UK so who knows what justifies the extra cost.
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