Tiny, Plastic Wind Turbines Suitable for City Dwellers
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.19.07
Like many places in the world, Hong Kong does not have strong wind speeds, so wind turbines have not been widely installed there. But now engineers at the University of Hong Kong and a private renewable energy company have developed a new micro wind turbine that can generate electricity even if wind speeds are as low as two meters per second. Lucien Gambarota, the main inventor of the technology, says the small turbines are ideal for crowded cities such as Hong Kong because they can be installed on rooftops and balconies. Their design is simple: plastic gearwheels, each about 25 centimeters in diameter, are linked to one another and turn, moved by the wind. Groups of gearwheels can be arranged in an array of shapes and sizes, ranging from about two up to thousands of square meters, depending on how much energy is needed and how much space is available.
The energy generated by the turbines is stored in a battery, which then powers electrical appliances. The wind turbine is easy to install and comparatively cheap. At the moment, a set of 20 gearwheels costs about $25. Gambarota says the price will go down once the turbines are being mass-produced, making them a good option for consumers who want to cut down on their energy costs. The technology can also help power bigger buildings. Administrators at Hong Kong's Sea School, a secondary school offering basic seaman training, will install the new micro wind-turbines on its roof in April.
:: Via Digital Chosuniblo and Plastics News
I tried to convince my husband that this was a brilliant idea a few years ago, after watching the fan he had in the window spin in the wind (while the fan wasn't on). He likes to poo poo my ideas for some reason (maybe it's a marriage thing...) but I knew it was a pretty good plan. Good to see that someone else had that same idea and went with it. It's not a ton of power, but it's certainly nothing to sneeze at, especially when you've got highly effeicient appliances and don't waste energy on unnecessary things.
So, yay!
Every little bit counts, add it all up! :) Stories like this make my pessimism melt away.
Exactly! Every bit helps. I'd rather have someone generating some wind power than none at all, and this gives people that live in condos/apartments and such a way to use the wind. Very cool.
As a home owner in a subdivision where we cannot put up a tower for wind, this does give me an option. I can certainly see putting up a bunch of these!
Hmm turbines built out of petroleum byproduct, to help reduce reliance on petroleum. How much energy does it generate?
So we get the plastic by recycling... why do people have to try to poke holes in every idea? Can't people just be happy? :)
Remember, smiling takes less energy than frowning. Haha.
Well, I do not think that is a huge amount of plastic. Anyway, if we give the idea time I bet they might develop some sort of organic plastic to replace it, from corn husks, etc.
This is fabulous!! - Where can we buy it????
That is the sweetest invention I've seen in a long time, and so incredibly simple to make. With this sollutions wind power is accessibel even in crowded sities. Wish there was more info though.
A great idea would be to place a grid like that along roads. I suppose the wind often travels faster through these artificial canyons, and when there is no wind at all they can be run from the draft created by passing vehicles.
In the photo this looks like it could not only generate some power but could also be a great not-overpowering (heh heh) privacy screen for those of us living in dense urban centres too! I wonder how much the batteries will cost and how efficient they are? In Ontario, the government announced a program to pay for renewable power that's fed into the grid but to date it's too complicated and expensive for small homeowners like me to get involved...
Took a while to find, but here is the homepage of his firm.
http://www.motorwavegroup.com/ as mentioned here: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/03/18/wind.tech/index.html
In parts of India, this problem is overcome using hybrid solar and wind power systems. Details at http://altenergy.in/windsolarhybrid.html
I went through the motions of ordering this product. The cost of shipping to the US more than doubled the price. It seems a fairly simple invention. We should be able to build it here in the US grass-roots style and not waste the energy shipping it all that way! Any DC motor with generate a charge. The only thing unique about it is it's made out of plastic and it seems to employ gearing somehow. Hmmm.
Josel Wrote- "if we give the idea time I bet they might develop some sort of organic plastic to replace it, from corn husks, etc."
We have had the technology for far superior, organic, non-petroleum plastics (as well as paper, and clothing materials)for decades.
HEMP.
Sorry to be the curmudgeon, but this idea does not really make sense. First, they are non tracking, which lowers their output, second, they are very small, and power output is a square function of rotor diameter, third, they are not simple to mount and align, fourth, they generate DC power, not the AC that appliances require, and last, power output is a cube function of wind speed, a 8M wind has 64 times the energy a 2mph wind has, which is what the inventor is touting.
Might look good on a video, but the practical constraints and laws of physics say it is bogus.
tgis is all great bhut anyone know how one can actually get these?
this is all great but does anyone know where to actually get these?