Being able to successfully harvest renewable energy means never having to worry about running out of energy sources. Present technologies allow us to experiment with a variety of concepts and designs, which when perfected, become surprisingly viable. Though the energy generated may not be in league of that produced by fossil fuels in terms of density.
Wind energy, if harvested right, has the potential to power many homes. Designers have created various designs to capture wind energy from huge kites to rooftop installations. But there’s a commonality that most of these designs share i.e. they produce a lot of noise and can be an eye-sore for the nearby residents.
In an effort to put these problems to rest, Heath Evdemon has come up with a new style wind turbine. Called the Wind Harvester, it can be installed anywhere (not necessarily on rooftops that mar the skyline) and produces no sound. In addition, the turbine can also operate under different wind conditions.
The turbine features 1-meter horizontal airfoil blades and can operate even at just half a meter off the ground. This makes it ideal for use on outcrops, hillsides and virtually anywhere else. The Wind Harvester can act as a replacement for those bulky and inconvenient turbines that aren’t feasible to set up in problem areas.
Evdemon has based his creation on reciprocating motion where an airfoil is raised till it hits a certain point after which the blade’s angel changes and is forced downward. The process keeps repeating itself and unlike other turbines whose blades move at various speeds to the central point, the Wind Harvester’s airfoils move at the same speed. It’s believed that this makes the turbine capable of generating energy even at low wind speed. The small system can be scaled up to blades measuring 15 meters and its components can be broken down into small pieces to make installation easier.
Via: Gizmag
