Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in
Powering your electric car from your home with wind power?
We are big proponents of the electric car, and for good reason. The majority of Americans could use one for their daily commute without making any concessions at all, even if they don't know it. There are some stumbling blocks for sure, public perception being one of them. Available charging stations being another one. While this invention won't necessarily help with public perception, it might just take a chunk out of the charging problem.
What you are viewing in the video above is the work of Graeme Attey, and is "a modular wind turbine system that sits neatly on a roof to generate power for a home." The idea seems obvious enough, use the power that is already available in the wind to charge up batteries which can then be discharged back into your electric car. According to the source article, five of them could provide enough energy for your entire home, but I am instead choosing to focus on charging just your automobile. Would you put something like this on your garage roof? How about in conjunction with solar panels?
[Source: Engadget and Meta Efficient]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 12:12PM (7/05/2007)
Bring it!
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Bill 4:30PM (7/05/2007)
It doesn't appear to be hooked up to a generator in the video - all I see is a freewheeling drum.
The big issue with residential wind generators is noise.
Traditional designs are NOT quiet.
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Mike Z 5:09PM (7/05/2007)
Putting a wind turbine on top of a house is down right dangerous, there are too many risks of structural damage during high winds. Mounted on a separate town is far better.
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Sebastian 10:51PM (7/05/2007)
How much is it? What is the output?
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Alex84 7:15AM (7/06/2007)
If you don't have gearing in it, or loud cooling fans, it's very quiet..
I work in a windmill company ;)
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TheTom 6:07PM (7/07/2007)
@Sebastian, it's $700 apiece and the video said you'd need 5 of them to provide all the power your home would need.
@MikeZ,wrong. Roofs have to be able to withstand far more strain than having that wind turbine on them could ever cause. Check your local building codes before blathering on so.
@Bill, right and right. There doesn't appear to be anything that would actually generate the power. That's why the inventor needs additional funds, to turn this prototype into a working prototype and then proceed to find funds to eventually manufacture them.
And about the noise, the reason wind turbines make noise is because of the inneficient design of the blades attached to a rotor. This design actually looks very efficient and you may not even hear it if you're standing on your lawn. Time will tell thought.
I want 5 of these gizmos anyway! Sign me up.
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