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posted by martyb on Monday June 02 2014, @06:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-answer-is-blowin-in-the-wind dept.

A Dutch company has launched a new type of wind turbine that is small enough to fit onto the roof of a house. The turbine looks like a Nautilus shell, and their website explains how it works:

Most today's wind turbines require that a difference in pressure between the front and the rear side of the rotor blades be maintained in order to be effective. However, this difference in pressure also has a negative effect called "drag".

Our turbine rotor captures the kinetic energy of the wind due to its speed, and, by reversing the wind and reducing it to almost zero Beaufort converts it into mechanical energy. By doing this the wind speed's effect (in kinetic energy) on the rotor is maximized and "lift" is obtained by the wind's acceleration over the rotor plane.

 
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  • (Score: 1) by jmc23 on Monday June 02 2014, @07:12PM

    by jmc23 (4142) on Monday June 02 2014, @07:12PM (#50369)

    Did you take a look at how efficient this design is at low wind speeds and/or the average wind speed at 1-2 stories.

    No, you didn't.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 02 2014, @09:23PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 02 2014, @09:23PM (#50412)

    Average 20ft windspeed in american suburbs is 0.6mph -- not much to speak of. Guess you didn't take a look either.

    • (Score: 2) by lhsi on Tuesday June 03 2014, @09:34AM

      by lhsi (711) on Tuesday June 03 2014, @09:34AM (#50575) Journal

      Why do you assume that the only place this is going to be used in is an "american suburb"? You are aware that people live in other places in the world, right?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 03 2014, @03:23PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 03 2014, @03:23PM (#50658)

        Why do you assume that I think it would only be used in american suburbs?
        That would be stupid, wouldn't it?
        Much more sensible - numbers for american suburbs, which cover a vast range of geographic variability, were simply the most accessible. When the OP didn't have any numbers at all, should I have assumed that he thought they would be used in no place at all?