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This page compares the instantaneous power produced by wind turbines with a max output of between 3.5kW and 6.5kW. These are the size machines that in a good site will make a major contribution to the electricity consumed by a typical household, and in many cases produce a surplus that can be sold back to the grid. This group of turbines includes stalwarts like the Proven 6kW, which is the machine with the longest track record and most units in the field. Contenders such as the Iskra/Evance R9000 and the French-made Eoltec Sirocco, according to this data, can extract more power at a given wind speed than the Proven machine. New entrants to our list are the Chinese-made HY 5kW and Airforce 4.1 and the Russian Breeze 5000 - which all look good on paper but do not have the track record of the other machines. Trailing behind the others is the Whisper 500, and following up the rear is the power curve from the Quiet Revolution vertical axis wind turbine, which has captured the imagination of many but like all vertical axis machines is less efficient in a given wind speed. See the separate vertical axis page for more info. 
Click links below to find out more about each turbine.
The data shown here is drawn from the power curves as published by the respective manufacturers. Some of these are calculated in different ways. When the MCS standards, are launched (hopefully soon) we will have a fairer way of comparing the power curves of wind turbines. The outputs shown towards the right of the graph represent what you would get in gale force wind speeds, so look towards the left to get an idea of the instantaneous power outputs you might get at your site. This graph can't be used to predict actual annual outputs, since many other local factors will affect the performance of a turbine. Reliability and installed cost should be a major consideration. To find out more about assessing the potential of your site for wind turbines and working out what you could actually generate, check out our Power Predictor device.
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