Harnessing the best potential of nature, lies in the hands of humans. It has been proved time and again. With the possibilities and probabilities of conventional sources of energy depleting, one has to resort to renewable sources of energy.
Large wind turbines have been in use to generate electricity, then came the micro wind turbines and better versions of them.
The Zephyr Airdolphin wind turbine is one such innovation by Zephyr Corporation, Japan. The Airdolphin generates 1kW energy at a wind speed of 26mph (12 m/s) winds with a cut-in wind speed of 5.5mph (2.5 m/s). The improved feature is that, this micro turbine can generate energy at wind speeds of upto 110kW before it gets cut-out unlike the other turbines that stops once a threshold wind speed is exceeded.
Besides, Zephyr claims Airdolphin to be lightest weight of the turbines in the world.
The rudder has been designed to increase the cumulative electric energy. It moves in a fashion like a fish does against strong water currents keeping th propellers functional against strong winds and hence the name Airdolphin.
In order to maintain a uniform efficiency at varied wind speeds, the rotor has been specially designed to be extra light. At high speed winds, when the output reaches 2kW, the turbine automatically adjusts itself to produce only 60% of the power until the ouput is reduced to 600W.
The Airdolphin’s blades are light weight, thin and has grooves cut in to minimise the noise produced.
Zephyr recommends and provides 6-12meter galvanised tilt towers to erect the windturbine that they guarantee would last 25 years. This is an added advantage in that vibration caused by these running wind turbines when installed on domestic properties is greatly reduced.
By all means, the Airdlophin seems to be best suited not only in open spaces and uniform wind but also in urban areas. Small things come in big packages. Airdolphin is not cheap, but in the long run it looks like a beneficial investment.
A standard residential package costs $6000 to $7000. However, once installed, it is said to cut the electricity charges as much as 30% to 50% of the conventional electricity charges.
via: REUK
