Weekend Economists Mark D Day, 2014 June 6-8, 2014

[Demeter]

47. Real Cool Windpower--Engineering Porn!

New silent wind turbine could generate half of a homes electric needs, says company The Archimedes


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/02/1303896/-New-silent-wind-turbine-could-generate-half-of-a-homes-electric-needs-says-company-The-Archimedes?detail=email

A Dutch company called The Archimedes has developed a small, highly efficient, and silent rooftop wind energy generator called the Liam1, which it claims could generate half the power a typical house would need, and which they say would be ideal for combining with solar rooftop PV panels.

The company states that the Liam F1 turbine could generate 1,500 kWh of energy at wind speeds of 5m/s, enough to cover half of an average household's energy use. ... When used in combination with rooftop solar panels, a house could run off grid. "When there is wind you use the energy produced by the wind turbine; when the sun is shining you use the solar cells to produce the energy," The Archimedes CEO Richard Ruijtenbeek said.

The Liam's blades are shaped like a Nautilus shell. The design allows it to point into the wind to capture the most amount of energy, while also producing very little sound. The inventor of the turbine Marinus Mieremet says that the power output is 80 percent of the theoretical maximum energy that could be harnessed from the wind.

“Generally speaking, there is a difference in pressure in front and behind of the rotor blades of a windmill. However, this is not the case with the Liam F1. The difference in pressure is created by the spatial figure in the spiral blade. This results in a much better performance. Even when the wind is blowing at an angle of 60 degrees into the rotor, it will start to spin. We do not require expensive software: because of its conical shape, the wind turbine yaws itself automatically into the optimal wind direction. Just like a wind vane. And because the wind turbine encounters minimal resistance, he is virtually silent," said Mieremet.

The Archimedes is now working on an even smaller turbine that could fit on top of lamposts, boats, and smaller applications.

With the announcement today of the EPA's proposed new standards for reducing carbon emissions, we have all the more reason to look to renewable energy options to supply our energy needs.