Small wind: Mariah Power lands cash for spire-shaped turbine

Mariah Power said on Wednesday that it has raised additional funding to bring its small wind turbine to market.

The company said it has secured $500,000 in funding from venture capital firm Big Sky Partners. As part of the investment, Michael Schwab of Big Sky Partners will join Mariah Power's board.

Mariah Power's vertical-axis wind turbine called the Windspire.

(Credit: Mariah Power)

Mariah Power, based in Reno, Nev., makes a ground-mounted vertical-axis wind turbine that is designed for people's homes or businesses. It's expected to be available later this month for about $4,000.

Company Mike Hess told Greentech Media that its forthcoming spire-shaped Windspire turbine can generate one third of the home's electricity use.

The business of building wind farms with giant turbines is booming. But the world of small wind is getting more attention.

Marquiss Wind Power in January raised a Series A round to build up its square-shaped turbine meant for placement on top of the flat roofs of commercial buildings.

Southwest Wind Power, which raised a series B round of $6.5 million last year, makes a ground-mounted propeller-type turbine for individual homes or business.

[WindEnergy7-com]

I work for WindEnergy7 and we have interest in vertical wind turbines and their development. Thus far, in all the designs we reviewed the performance is not as robust as the standard HAWT turbines. Mariah has contacted us about getting involved with sales of the Windspire in our business. WindEnergy7.com is mainly are involved in projects of development, manufacture, service, and marketing of small and medium sized wind turbines. It's an interesting design idea and I wish them luck with their business. Nice to see forward thinking investors take part in development of small wind turbine technology. Anyone with an acre or more and a wind condition averaging over 10mph should be getting a residential wind turbine IMO.

[ecoPedro]

I agree. Mariah Power's Windspire will also come in 2 sizes: 1.2 kW and 3 kW and will go into full scale production in March. Great news for renewable energy! (http://mariahpower.com)