A spin-out from a Massachusetts aerospace company has come up with a novel wind turbine that it says can harvest two to three times the amount of power from the wind than conventional turbines.
The FloDesign Wind Turbine is based around the design of jet engines, something that its parent company FloDesign designs. (Some of FloDesign’s ideas are incorporated into the Gulfstream II, a jet I have never been inside of.) The system effectively channels wind into a vortex, which then spins a kitchen-fan like set of blades that then help convert wind to power. Conventional turbines can’t really suck air in like this. The FloDesign can also harvest power in low-wind conditions. The design in some ways is similar to a tidal turbine touted by Ireland’s OpenHydro.
FloDesign hopes to have a prototype running in about 18 months.
If it works, it could ameliorate some of the NIMBY problems surrounding wind power. Neighborhood groups often oppose the construction of wind turbines because they are tall and the blades can present problems for birds. (Investment banks and manufacturers, however, love to put wind turbines in their alt energy ads.) The wingspan on some offshore turbines is as long as the wingspan of a jet. FloDesign’s turbines are less obtrusive and safer for wildlife, the company says. They also aren’t as noisy.
And if it harvests wind like the company says it can, it could allow the price of wind power to drop even more. Now, wind power is the renewable closest in cost to conventional electricity, according to some estimates and the location where the turbines are placed.
Like the solar industry, the wind industry right now is suffering from a backlog of orders. Put in an order for turbines now, and you might not get them until 2010. If FloDesign can begin to mass produce turbines, particularly with fewer raw materials, it could help out wind farm developers. The technology, though, will likely have to undergo several tests before developers start buying.
The company won two technology awards this week from MIT (netting it $300,000) and is reportedly speaking to Kleiner, Perkins about a $10 million investment, according to Xconomy.
