A French company, NewWind, has produced several working models of a "Wind Tree", (L’Arbre à Vent), a windmill the size and shape of a tree sporting multiple independent leaf-shaped vertical axis wind turbines. Each tree could produce 3.1 kW of power with winds as light as 4.4 mph (2 meters/second).
The trees stand 26 to 36 feet tall, and can be configured in various shapes. Installation can be on street corners, parks, or parking lots, or near individual homes, wherever there is an opportunity to capture local winds. The power can be used for lighting purposes or electric vehicle recharging, and several trees can be connected in parallel.
They operate silently, and each "leaf" is a turbine: a vertical synchronous permanent magnet machine (PMSM) direct drive, gearless, generator as the inventor calls them.
The Wind Tree was designed to last over time (over 25 years) and withstand storms (wind class 3).
Over 40 units, all pre-mass-production models have already been sold and, and a formal installation will be in March through May of this year at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
The Company's web site (in French) has YouTube videos of several of the prototypes in operation.
Cost is said to be $36 thousand dollars, which mass production should bring down substantially. Even at this cost, payout is expected within "a few years", or as little as one year in open spaces with an average wind speed of 7.8 mph.
[Ed's note: Corrected typos.]
(Score: 4, Informative) by hemocyanin on Thursday January 08 2015, @11:50PM
What the hell?
"scaveng"
another headline just below has:
"reminents"
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Friday January 09 2015, @12:24AM
And what they hell is...
The Company's" rel="url2html-7870">http://www.arbre-a-vent.fr/Arbre-vent_31.html>Company's web site
...that?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday January 09 2015, @12:56AM
(you know it makes sense. *grin*)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday January 09 2015, @01:14AM
All of these are my fault, I accidentally hit the submit button before my second proofreading. My bad.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday January 09 2015, @02:48AM
However, one wonders what does an editor do when s/he's not editing even if s/he should be editing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Funny) by frojack on Friday January 09 2015, @06:13AM
That may be your original sin.
I assure you, that wasn't the first.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday January 09 2015, @12:59AM
coming down onto one of these for the surprise of their life.
If someone sees it, I hope they have their camera ready. I betcha it would go viral on YouTube.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 09 2015, @01:07AM
So, if I were to spend $37K on a wind turbine of any size or shape, I'd want it to be as productive as possible. Putting these turbines "below the treetops" means they will get a fraction of the wind that they would if they were located above the treetops.
Would you choose to generate electricity 2500 hours a year at street level, or would you rather hoist it up on a 10m tall pole and generate electricity 5000+ hours a year at the same location?
Sure, it looks cool disguised as a (rather high maintenance, I'd guess) tree - but if this thing is about efficient electrical power generation and not art, it really should get relocated to the elevation where the wind blows much more - like on the Parisian 4 story apartment building roofs.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Friday January 09 2015, @01:23AM
Go view the videos. They aren't necessarily used in dense city streets where wind would be blocked all the time.
However, if you've been to Chicago this time of year, you could see where this might work even in such streets.
The idea here is not to engineer some ugly construct that is so far up in the air that maintenance becomes a huge issue, but rather have it close to the ground to take advantage of laminar flows, and easier maintenance while fitting in with the surroundings.
I don't think these were meant to teach the French how to design wind farms. They seem to have that well in hand [thewindpower.net].
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 09 2015, @01:56AM
...where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.
Besides Chicago, there is lots of wind available to be harnessed in lots of places in the USA. [sagessite.com]
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 09 2015, @10:07AM
Well, having a less effective one built may still be preferable to having a more efficient one denied by the NIMBYs around you.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday January 09 2015, @05:21PM
If you've got lots of tall buildings along a street, there tends to be a constant wind (in one of two directions). The buildings seem to *create* a thermal imbalance, though I don't really know if that's what's going on.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by hoochiecoochieman on Friday January 09 2015, @10:48AM
How much would that be in Burmese measurement units?
Why do the trees have 26 to 36 feet? If they have so many feet, they're centipedes, not trees.
Are those Metric or Imperial years?
(Score: 1) by WillAdams on Friday January 09 2015, @01:01PM
This time billed as a "green" solution.
Please tell me that these things are going to have motion sensors and only come on as needed.
If not, they shouldn't be installed until they are so equipped.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 09 2015, @04:07PM
Well, if you had actually read the summary, you would know that the "trees" don't emit light. They just generate electricity which you could use for lighting (as well as for other purposes; basically "lighting" gives you an idea about the power output of those devices).
(Score: 2) by jimshatt on Friday January 09 2015, @01:35PM
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday January 09 2015, @09:15PM
I think the birds and other depositers of solid waste will have a big and fast detrimental effect on the moving parts.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Friday January 09 2015, @04:20PM
Windtree is the marketing name. At product development it was called "The Eliminator" and it proved without a shadow of a doubt that birds do in face, blend.