Small wind: Marquiss Wind Power gets funding for 'Ducted Wind Turbine'

Marquiss Wind Power said on Friday that it has raised $1.3 million in series A funding to commercialize a rooftop wind turbine aimed at businesses.

Velocity Venture Capital led the funding and was joined by Strategis Early Ventures.

The company's Aeropoint wind turbines don't look like traditional wind turbines. They are 19 feet tall and have a square frame that holds a star-shaped fan inside.

A Ducted Wind Turbine meant for commercial rooftops.

(Credit: Marquiss Wind Power)

This "Ducted Wind Turbine" is designed specifically for rooftops of commercial buildings. To take advantage of gusts and variable wind flows, the structure pivots to face the greatest amount of wind, and thus, power.

The Sacramento, Calif.-area company claims that its turbines will pay for themselves within two to seven years, depending on electricity rates. That's faster than solar power, it says.

There are a handful of companies designing scaled-down wind turbines, unlike the massive multi-megawatt turbines used in large wind farms. Southwest Wind Power has a turbine meant for single homes.

Aerovironment, too, is targeting commercial customers, while Mariah Power has a vertical axis turbine that it says works on people's roofs.