And while it's becoming more and more common to see solar panels on rooftops, residential wind turbines are still quite a rare sight. If Rotterdam-based tech company The Archimedes can prove the viability of its...

And while it's becoming more and more common to see solar panels on rooftops, residential wind turbines are still quite a rare sight. If Rotterdam-based tech company The Archimedes can prove its viability, the home landscape may soon change. On May 27, the company officially unveiled its Liam F1 Urban Wind Turbine, which they claim has a power output of 80 percent of the theoretically possible maximum. That's a pretty bold claim, given that most commercial wind turbines are averaging 25 to 50 percent of their technology maximum.

The turbine weighs 75 kg (165 pounds), has a diameter of 1.5 meters (5 feet), and clearly does not look like a typical windmill. In shape, it resembles a nautilus and a screw pump invented by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse.

This form factor reportedly results in minimal mechanical resistance, which allows the turbine to spin freely and silently - it is the noise from the blades that is the main obstacle to installing turbines on the roofs of buildings. In addition, the turbine is designed to always be upwind for maximum performance.

Along with its promise that the turbine is able to reach 80 percent of the Betz's law limit, Archimedes claims that The Liam F1 generates an average of 1,500 kilowatt-hours of energy per year, with a wind speed of 5 m/s, which is half the power consumed. average household. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see what independent testing has to say. The company says it has tested The Liam F1 more than 50 times to prove its effectiveness and has already sold 7,000 turbines in 14 countries.

The wind turbine, according to the creators, will become much more efficient than most existing wind turbines.

However, the Liam F1 Urban Wind Turbine will only be officially available for sale from July 1st. However, the prices are already known today - on the official website of the company there is an announcement that their cost will be €3999 (about $5450).

Turbine Liam F1 Urban Wind Turbine in action

"Wind lenses" - an innovative development of Japanese scientists. The wind lens functions similarly to a magnifying glass, except instead of focusing the light, the wind lens, which is an inwardly curved ring around the perimeter of the circle described by the turbine blades as they rotate, focuses the airflow, directing and accelerating the air as it enters the area of ​​the blades. . The lens diameter is 112 meters.

The wind lens consists of an inlet guide nozzle, a diffuser and an outer edge. The strong eddy currents created by the diffuser and the outer edge of the wind lens form a low pressure area outside the turbine. This increases the pressure difference, which allows more wind to be directed into the wind lens. More air gives more energy. The researchers claim that this method is able to increase the power produced by the wind turbine while reducing noise.

In an attempt to promote the idea of ​​using wind lenses on the high seas, the development team created hexagon-shaped floating platforms to support them. The platforms can be combined into a beehive-shaped structure.

Fig.6.3. wind lenses

Placement of wind lenses on floating platforms off the coast of Japan will allow a significant increase in electricity generation in the near future. In March 2011, on the campus of Japan's Kyushu University, tests began on "wind lenses" - an innovative system of wind turbines that can generate 2-3 times more electricity than traditional wind turbines and significantly reduce the price of "wind electricity". This technology reduces the price of wind below the cost of nuclear fuel and coal without additional subsidies.

Wind generator without blades

Wind generator without blades - one of the main advantages of the novelty, according to its creators, is the ability to operate in a very wide range of wind speeds. Another advantage is compactness. (Fig. 6.4.)

Rice. 6.4. 10 kW sample

The unusual windmill, according to the manufacturer, will cost a third cheaper than classic wind turbines of the same capacity, and the price of energy from the new turbine will be comparable to the cost of electricity from the outlet.

The inventor of the bladeless windmill, the owner of the patent, is Solar Aero President Howard Fuller. The company is calling the new plant the Fuller Wind Turbine.

This device is based on a somewhat augmented Tesla turbine, invented in 1913.

Tesla Turbine is a set of many thin metal discs separated by small gaps. The flow of the working fluid or gas comes from the outer edge of the disks and passes through the gaps to the center, twisting and entraining the disks themselves due to the effect of the boundary layer. In the center, the flow exits through the axial hole.

In a Fuller turbine, the disks are separated by wing-shaped spacers, which improves flow and also creates additional torque on the shaft. The turbine itself is installed in a box that captures air in order to bring down its flow onto rotating disks.

The company estimates that the Fuller Wind Turbine will cost about $1.5 per watt of output power in mass production, and the electricity from such a plant will cost the buyer about $0.12 per kilowatt hour.

The bladeless Fuller turbine was created by the American company Solar Aero Research. According to the company, the invention is compact and low cost - 1/3 cheaper than classic wind turbines of the same capacity.

The wind turbine is based on a modified Tesla turbine(Tesla turbine), invented in 1913 to generate power from steam or compressed air. Tesla Turbine- this is a set of thin metal disks separated by small gaps. The flow of the working fluid or gas enters from the outer edge of the disks and passes through the gaps to the center, twisting and entraining the disks themselves due to the boundary layer effect. In the center, the flow exits through the axial hole.

In a Fuller Wind Turbine (Tesla turbine) the discs are separated by wing-shaped spacers - this improves the flow and creates additional torque on the shaft. The turbine itself is installed in a box that captures air to bring down its flow onto rotating disks.

What will renewable energy be like in 10, 20, 100 years?

Spherical solar cell

Imagine that solar power plants would not be made of flat photovoltaic panels, but of shining glass balls. Looks very futuristic, doesn't it? However, the founder of Rawlemon, architect Andre Brossel, did not strive for a purely external effect when creating his “spherical solar generator”. A water-filled glass ball concentrates sunlight on the photovoltaic cells and allows you to increase system performance immediately by 35% compared to a conventional solar panel. If the “sphere” is equipped with an automatic tracker that “tracks” the trajectory of the sun during the day, it will become even more effective. At the same time, the device scales in both directions - from miniature desktop samples for charging gadgets to industrial-scale solar power plants. Glass energy balls can be installed on the roofs of houses and even integrated into the walls of buildings. About a year ago, Brossel launched an Indiegogo fundraising campaign for his invention and has already raised $230,000, almost double the amount needed to start production. However, now his company Rawlemon is in dire need of microelectronics specialists to bring the development to perfection.

Solar panels in orbit

Back in 1966, the English science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke in his book "Future Features" described "traps" for the sun's rays, placed in orbit and transmitting energy to Earth. Then it seemed something incredible. And now, half a century later, the technology is taking on a realistic shape. The Fifth Element has already talked about the successful experiment of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to transmit 10 kW of electricity over 500 meters using microwaves and about a similar experience of the Russian state corporation Rostec. So far, the distances overcome are far from cosmic scales. However, the same Japanese claim that next year they will launch the first satellite into orbit, transmitting solar energy to Earth, and by 2025 they will create a full-fledged orbital energy constellation.

Space "sail" that collects the energy of the solar wind

The production of electricity from the energy of sunlight or the earth's wind is a fait accompli. However, our luminary serves as a source of another powerful, but so far ownerless type of energy - the solar wind. We are talking about a stream of megaionized particles flying out of the solar corona into outer space at a speed of 300–1200 km/s. This thing is "stronger than Goethe's Faust" and certainly more powerful than the stream of photons called sunlight. A few years ago, a group of scientists from Washington State University published an extensive paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology describing the technology for collecting this very “solar wind”. The Americans proposed launching into outer space a system of satellites equipped with special "sails" that attract ionized particles by an electromagnetic field. The field, in turn, is formed around a copper wire up to half a mile long. According to scientists, such satellites themselves will cost many times less than if they were equipped with conventional solar panels, because copper is cheaper than silicon. At the same time, the performance of these aircraft would be simply monstrous - 100 billion times more than our entire planet consumes today. However, so far the implementation of the project is hampered by several unresolved technical problems. First, it is extremely difficult to build and launch solar sails of this size into space. Secondly, modern lasers do not allow transmitting energy over such vast distances.

Wind generator without blades

The expression “New is a well-forgotten and slightly modified old” can be fully attributed to renewable energy. An example of this is the bladeless wind turbine developed by the American company Solar Aero Research. In honor of its creator and head of the company, Howard Fuller, it is called the Fuller Wind Turbine. The wind turbine is based on a slightly modified Nikola Tesla turbine, introduced already in 1913. At one time, Tesla thought of "capturing" the energy of an incoming liquid or gas using thin metal disks separated by small gaps. Fuller provided the disks with wing-shaped spacers, which greatly increased the efficiency of the system. He placed the turbine itself in a box that captures air and directs its flow to the disks.

Why does the Fuller Turbine have the potential to replace traditional windmills and become the future of wind energy? There are several prerequisites for this. Firstly, it is completely silent, secondly, it is safe for birds, and finally, thirdly, with a similar efficiency, it is about a third cheaper.

Converter that collects the energy of slow currents

Until now, it is hydropower that remains the most efficient renewable energy. However, it also has a number of significant shortcomings in its current form. On the one hand, the closure of rivers inevitably affects the environment. On the other hand, modern water turbines are efficient at water speeds of 5-6 knots, while the speed of most ocean and river currents does not exceed two knots. University of Michigan professor Michael Bernitas has developed a device called VIVACE that can "extract" energy from slow currents. The name is curious: VIVACE is both a musical term that prescribes the lively nature of the performance of music, and an abbreviation for Vortex Induced Vibration for Aquatic Clean Energy (the use of vibrations caused by vortex formation to produce clean water energy). But even more curious is the principle of operation of the device. The prototype is a smooth cylinder attached to a spring and suspended in a stream of water. This shape creates turbulence that pushes the cylinder up and down. The mechanical energy of water is converted into electricity. A few of these cylinders would be enough to power an anchored ship, and a few hundred, anchored, say, at the bottom of a river, could power an entire city. At the same time, it would not bring any harm to aquatic flora and fauna. According to Bernitas, if at least 0.1% of the energy of the World Ocean was mastered using this technology, then the issue of mankind's electricity supply would be resolved forever.

In the meantime, the scientist, with the support of the US Department of Energy and a number of scientific foundations, is testing a pilot project on the Detroit River.