Review by Choice Review
Gipe's book (1st ed., CH, Nov'93) is a welcome addition to the literature. Gipe has an extensive background in the this technology, which is finally going mainstream; the concept is very old, but the details are daunting. Until very recently, all attempts to scale-up the successful small wind machines failed. But now, Europeans, especially the Danes and Germans, have solved the technical problems and produced viable designs in the 1000-kilowatt range with rotors more than 200 feet in diameter, mounted on towers more than 300 feet high! The book describes how an interesting business has developed where Americans are buying the used "small" machines from Europe, considered obsolete there, and installing them in the US. There is much activity in both the private and public arenas as the technology matures. Very detailed information is presented on siting, estimating output, economic analysis, evaluating the technology (what works and what does not), towers, installation, operation, performance, maintenance, and safety. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All levels. J. C. Comer emeritus, Northern Illinois University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
