new kind of wind power?

[HoffaLives]

this looks deceptively simple. i wonder if they have larger versions?
http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/...per-cheap.html

[Sasha_V]

Nice prototype...It would get a lot more complex in order to be of practical use. Firstly there would need to be a system that controlled tension so that it could vibrate at an efficient frequency in relation to wind-speed.
you still need at least one bearing to allow the thing to pivot so as to present its flat face to the wind (which means adding a tail-plane)...On the bright side, you would not have just one belt vibrating per unit...think in terms of six or ten or an entire venetian blind type effect...

Downside....Has the potential for major noise as a byproduct.


Sasha

[Valiente]

Interesting. The thread comments seem moronic, though.

I wonder what the output curve is like? You could mount big ones on a pole, and have them weathercock into the wind. The main problem I see is that they would quickly corrode in sea air...I don't know how you could keep the vibrating membrane (does it induce electricity in coils? It's unclear how mylar is part of this to me) moving freely and yet keep the coils and the conductive bits dry.

[nsheehan615]

the mylar is used to move the button magnet (just like in those cool LED flashlights that you shake back in forth) Mylar is great in a sea environment, the problem would be UV. As for as the coils dry, I don't know??

[Valiente]

Oh, I see...the magnet is glued to the trembling mylar, and the magnet movements induce current in the coil.

Why not make a thicker form of magnetic tape (coated with ferrous oxide, just like audio tape) and coat it against the elements?

Damn, I barely grasp the technology and I'm trying to improve it...typical boater.

[AmicaJim]

Very interesting! It could even be delivered as a kit for survival use to power a small transmitter. Like Sasha, when I watched the demo, the first thing that I thought of was noise, much like a humming backstay, but worse.

[Robby Barlow]

Just wondering what speed the fan was running at to produce electricity from that reduced scale model and what type of hurricane you would need to run the full size version.