14 DAY TRIAL // Up until now, wind turbines have received quite a lot of complaints: Donald Trump has claimed they are “ugly” and guilty of destroying landscapes, and others have argued that they are noisy and that they kill birds.
As well as this, Stephen Colbert has drawn attention to the so-called “wind turbine” syndrome, a medical condition that sooner or later hits those who are forced to live fairly close to wind farms.
Although it may take a while before anyone manages to do anything about the “ugliness” of wind turbines, one startup from Minnesota now claims that it has succeeded in developing a new type of wind turbine that neither causes noise pollution, nor kills birds.
SheerWind's INVELOX system relies on a funnel system in order to “collect” the wind, which is then fed and accelerated inside a tapering tunnel.
Once accelerated to the required speed, the wind is allowed to pass through a ground-mounted generator, whose only task is that of generating electricity, Tree Hugger explains.
The team of researchers who have designed this ducted turbine system claims that, because of its make-up, the INVELOX can successfully operate in areas where wind speeds are relatively low.
More precisely, the INVELOX system can still generate electricity even when wind speeds are as low as 2 MPH.
SheerWind also claims that, thanks to this new technology, current costs for wind power can be reduced to less than 3 cents per KWH.
“SHEERWIND has developed INVELOX, an innovative wind power generation system that significantly outperforms traditional wind turbines,” reads the company's official website.
Furthermore, “INVELOX delivers superior power output, while solving major issues that have so far undermined the wind industry. With breakthrough performance and reduced costs, SheerWind will transform the wind industry and change the course of power generation.”
For the time being, engineers and specialists are working on testing several demo units in Chaska, Minnesota. It is their hope that the data collected while testing these units will help them figure out just how efficient these innovative wind turbines are out in the field.
Check out the video below for more information.
