Harnessing the Wind
The first ‘modern’ wind turbine turns 50
Seen here in archival photographs at its 1976 installation, the pioneering WF-1 wind turbine, designed and constructed at UMass from 1973–1976, was a significant leap forward in engineering wind-generated electricity.
According to Emeritus Professor James F. Manwell ’77MS, ’81PhD, it was briefly “the largest operating wind turbine in the United States” at the time. Manwell, founding director of the UMass Amherst Wind Energy Center, also notes that features debuted on the WF-1 are hallmarks of today’s “mature” wind turbines, including: “three fiberglass blades, near-optimal blade shape, blade pitch regulation, variable speed operation, and computer control.”
The process of creating the WF-1 became important training for the first generation of wind energy engineers and made UMass itself a generator of technological expertise.
Originally, the WF-1 (short for Wind Furnace-1) was paired with the Solar Habitat, a structure demonstrating new energy-efficient building practices for residential use. Using wind power for home heating didn’t catch on, but utilizing wind energy certainly did—in 2023, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that 10.2 percent of the United States’ electricity is generated by wind. That’s a figure that’s likely to gust upward, with continued UMass innovations helping lead the way.
