Superpowerful small wind turbines light up the night
May 13, 2008 · Print This Article
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
We’ve seem some impressive wind power tech, but a new breed of small, high-power wind turbines could potentially bring efficient wind power home. Developed by an inventor named Doug Selsam, the new turbines have rotors just 14-18 inches in diameter, but can produce 200 watts in a 20MPH wind, and much more than that at higher wind speeds. The trick is using high-strength carbon-fiber materials that allow several rotors to be hooked up as one — in strong winds a thirteen-rotor system can produce enough juice to blow out a bank of vehicle headlights “like flashbulbs.” That’s pretty impressive — especially since the system is light and balanced enough to be held up with one hand. No word on when or how we might see these hit the public, but we have the ability to see some pretty sweet applications — laptops in the park, anyone
[Thanks, Yocheved]
Most of the electricity in the US is generated by coal, hydro and gas turbine, not oil. Our oil dependency is because of our cars.