Slashdot Mirror
Microwind Generator For Low Power Systems
An anonymous reader wrote in to say that "Shawn Frayne, has developed Windbelt,
efficient, cheap lowpower wind generator built out of taut kite fabric." Everyone has seen the video where the suspension bridge is ripped apart by wind- his idea was to use the same thing to generate power. I doubt I'll be running my desktop off it any time soon, but it's a cool idea.
What did they teach it? Um, Editors, I think the word you're looking for is 'taut'.
You can learn a lot about a person if you just take the time to inject them with sodium pentathol
I like how you're faulting "western" inventors. Are you American by any chance? Or at least from a western nation yourself?
I've seen your kind of reaction turn up in the Slashdot discussions about the OLPC project. Here's a summary of what I see as being your argument:
"This is a waste of time -- a worthless solution -- because it doesn't provide the power and performance that I, as a westerner, demand from technology."
If that's an accurate summary, I have news for you: if you've spent a lifetime living on the edge of civilization, having a power source that can turn on a few LEDs at night or run a radio, or having a "worthless, underpowered laptop" can mean a real improvement in your life.
I'm sorry if this windbelt doesn't provide you with enough power to run your home's AC unit, your 62 inch plasma display, your 100+ halogen and assorted incandescent light bulbs, and that server room in your basement. The thing is, this solution isn't meant for you. I know that's hard to handle -- that someone might be thinking about people other than yourself -- but please try to accept that possibility. If you find that overly taxing, just crack open another beer and take your Hummer out for a drive to the gas station.
Believe it or not, there are people out there who can get by with a lot less than you, and for them, something like this will be a big deal.
What he didn't mention is that this would run at night too, as opposed to a solar panel that only works during the day.
Sure, but this will only run when there is wind. In any case you are going to need some kind of energy storage, whether batteries for small scale use, or pumped water for larger scale.
With a small scale system like this, you could also combine it with solar panels and a battery and get luggable power generation that would work in most places.
I'm thinking about building one myself to get some numbers and see how well it scales
Cool! I'm sure a lot of people would love to see a project page for a DIY wind generator of this sort!
They are certainly not the only ones doing pioneering work in this field:
:)
Laddermill from the Technical University of Delft is also working on it for a number of years now:
http://www.lr.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=8d16d19a-e942-45aa-9b52-48deb9312e92&lang=en
Publications:
http://www.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=fe263f84-29af-4010-8222-2f1112c8f223&lang=en
The more alternatives for environmentally friendly energy sources the better!
I'll steer clear of the efficiency claims, but the cost would definitely be a bargain.
All thing else being considered equal, compare a modern turbine:
-Mast
-At least two (Usually three) airfoil blades (engineered composite materials)
-Gearbox (fairly complex device)
-Generator head (fairly complex device)
To this thing:
-Mast with gap in middle
-Length of strong, flexible material (metal, plastic)
-Permanent magnet
-Coils of wire
That's dead simple and could probably be supplied in kit form and assembled with absolutely minimum tools... like nothing but a large hex wrench.
=Smidge=
Or, as C.S. Lewis put it, the world is "divided between wolves who do not understand, and sheep who cannot defend, the things which make life desirable."