Ben Storan just won first prize in BSI’s 2007 Sustainability awards for his design for a shape-shifting, vertical axis personal wind turbine.
The device works very much like the Quiet Revolution wind turbines. The design is less efficient than Quiet Revolution turbines, but much more efficient than other turbines marketed toward homeowners. Plus, this new way of building turbines has other advantages as well.
First, the simplicity of Storan’s design will bring down the costs significantly from other similar personal turbines. Though, were still looking at a fairly expensive energy appliance.
Second, Storan’s turbine can change shape, much like an umbrella, so that it produces the maximum amount of electricity at a wide range of wind speeds and can also be folded up, much like an umbrella, during extremely strong winds. Other turbines have to be locked in place, or even taken down during severe storms.
Beyond Ben’s £3,000 award, we can hope that he’ll begin marketing and selling the design for big bucks in the near future.
Via TreeHugger and BSI
See Also:
–Loopwing Personal Wind Turbine–
–Big Ideas in Small Wind–