William Atkins
Sunday, 29 November 2009 21:34
Science -
Energy
Page 1 of 2
Vertical-axis wind turbine technology is taking a cue from the movements of schools of fish, or even the drafting of bicycle racers. They are bunched together to improve the efficiency of the trailing wind turbines, while reducing impacts from migrating birds.
According to Phil Berardelli, the author of the 11/24/2009
ScienceNow Daily News article
Wind Turbines Take a Lesson From Lance Armstrong, “
Arranging wind turbines like a school of fish could reduce the amount of land they take up by 100-fold while maintaining their electrical output, say researchers.”
Berardelli adds,
“Wind farms based on the approach might also be considerably safer for migrating birds.”
Most current wind turbines are the familiarly seen horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) technology that looks like a child’s pinwheel.
However, bunching together these HAWTs, reduces the efficiency of the trailing turbines. So, they are widely set apart, which some people say is an eyesore.
A familiar case is the disagreement over the past few years with the wind turbine project, called
Cape Wind, proposed for Nantucket Sound off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
However, vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) technology doesn’t have this problem of reduced wind efficiency when bunched together.
The VAWTs are described as
“… giant versions of the lawn ornaments that gardeners install to scare away birds and other veggie-loving critters.” [ScienceNow]
In VAWTs the main rotor shaft runs across, or traverse, to the line of wind flow, so it is parallel to the horizon and the flow of wind.
See an example of vertical-axis wind turbine, at
WePower.us.
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