The latest of which is a new kind of wind turbine that looks like it wouldn’t even work as a weathervane. Alas, this strange design is able to generate up to 400 Watts (W) of electricity without interruption. So, how does this thing work then?
WATCH VIDEO HERE
As you can see, this style of turbine looks like it wouldn’t rotate with much force at all, but in reality it actually cups the air and wind force, thus pushing it quite fast on its axis. But perhaps more importantly, this style of wind turbine can be collapsed to make a contiguous cylinder so as to better resist storms and dangerously fast winds. In fact, the video — posted by Future_Explored — includes footage of a traditional wind turbine getting quickly destroyed by storm winds that are pushing the blades faster than it can handle. Commenters are pointing out that 400W is not a lot of energy generated, however they’re missing a key point. While modern applications of the traditional wind turbine have brakes to prevent damage, they cannot run while a weather event is ongoing. These turbines can operate in a closed position, albeit with lower output, but being able to generate power in an uninterrupted state could prove useful. An uptime of 100% should be appealing, if applied at scale. At any rate, we wouldn’t be surprised at seeing more turbines designed like this, sheerly on account of their more weather-proof design and constant up time.
