WIND CUBE

‘Wind Cube’ Marks New Phase in Wind Power Amplification
11 May 2009 (The Hot Spring)

"The wind-power generation paradigm is wind turbines turning due to the pressure of oncoming winds. The standard is a single fan with three blades that turns at a relatively slow and constant rate to maximize energy extraction from wind currents passing over the blades and turning the turbine. The ‘WindCube‘, however, fits a wind-amplification paradigm, a possible first-step to a new era in wind-turbine technology.

"The average US household is estimated to use about 11,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. A single installed WindCube turbine is reported to be able to produce up to 160,000 kWh per year with an average wind-speed of 15 mph. In most areas, average wind-speed is not that high, but where it is, the WindCube could be…incredibly effective…"

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"One installation could power 10 homes or run a good-sized small business…The device captures wind that would normally pass beyond the reach of the fan-blades, concentrating the air pressure onto the central fan-blades, allowing the turbine to turn under the pressure of an amplified wind-pressure, yielding more electricity…"

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"…[T]he WindCube can capture enough wind energy at 5 mph speeds to generate a continuous flow of electricity…[The] patented “shroud” … optimizes wind-energy extraction. The shroud is designed to double wind-speed by the time it hits the 5 blades of the rotating turbine. At double the wind-speed, the device is able to produce up to 8 times the electric power generation…[P]laced on the roof of a building, even in crowded urban areas, [this allows for] the efficient, cost-effective, clean generation of renewable energy, which can be resold to the power grid and give industrial companies the freedom to sell carbon credits for additional revenues.

"The ease of application and scalability of this wind-energy system presents one of the first viable opportunities for mass distribution of wind-power generation facilities across the commercial and residential markets."