Windbelt Micro-wind, 10 Times Cheaper Wind Energy!!

[Run time: 2:05 min]  I hope you enjoy this short video of Shawn Frayne, a young inventor that has created this device to generate, on the micro-scale, energy for LED lights and radios in developing countries.  This is the first approach that uses aeroelastic flutter to create super cheap electricity.  We're talking about changing the way wind energy is harvested and captured.  Frayne won a 2007 Breakthrough Award from Popular Mechanics, and he deserves it.  This incredible technology is 10-30 times more efficient than the best micro-turbines.  So, Frayne hopes to fund third-world distribution of the Windbelt through sales in first-world applications.  So inspiring ... 

UPDATE:  EcoGeek reports that Shawn Frayne has launched the website for Humdinger Wind Energy.  Soon, according to the website, developer kits are going to be available for schools, researchers, and independents.

Here's a different video of Shawn Frayne talking about the Windbelt technology.

Comments

[Carlo]

I think I have all the parts to make one right now. That's just ingenious.

[Tom Konrad]

Very cool.

[jeff]

He's gonna change the earth. A man that points out the oveous. Candy from god. Brilliant!!!

[Anonymous]

Perhaps if less people wasted away watching the tele we'd have more awesome ideas like this.

Hats off.

[ERM?]

Er, im pretty sure that this wouldnt work? the reason why the tacoma narrows bridge collapsed was because the wind flowed over/under it at a very specific speed, causing it to vibrate at its resonant frequency which is why you get such a high amplitude of oscillation.

Similarly, with this product, the band is only going to oscillate like that when you have a very specific air velocity flowing over it. If you have any other velocity it wont set up mechanical resonance and so the band wont oscillate and produce energy.

This means that you cant just take one of these bands and stick it somewhere windy because the likelihood is the air speed will not be the right one for resonance to occur.

So all in all a pretty useless piece of equipment...

[jimihendrix]

you can tune a string to amazing new wavelengths.

[also]

also, this is aeroelastic flutter, not resonance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroelasticity

[Rhia]

Wow, that's awesome, and a really interesting idea. It sounds like he's from Vancouver? :D

[Lars Simonsen]

To the skeptic: Engineers have to work hard to make bridges that DON'T shake themselves to pieces in the wind. So if they used their brain power to make something that DOES vibrate in various wind velocities, why would they not succeed?

[Reality Check]

It won't work because it won't be 'ten times cheaper' than conventional HAWTs...

http://www.scoraigwind.com/CAT04/

Look at how much that cost - next to nothing, and yet it will produce REAL amounts of useful electricity.

But of course, it would be beyond the 'geniuses' that make up the population of that wonderful country, 'Haiti'... And remember - Haiti is a third world shithole NOT because of the 'wonderful' people who live there... Oh no... it's because of the COUNTRY itself! Yes, it's the LAND MASS that MAKES the people who live there into selfish, violent, sociopathic losers...

I mean, it couldn't POSSIBLY be the other way around, could it?

[Preston]

Hey everyone, thanks for the digg and stumble love. I guess I'm not aggressive enough on the social front ... I was underdugg by a bigger blog that gave me a link back, but that is now on the front page of digg. Gotta know the right people to get your story up there first, I guess.

**This has happened at least three times from the same blog. Here's how it works: They like the idea from a post on my blog. They write about it on their bigger blog. Some digg team pushes it up faster than me. They get to front page. Each of these three articles has received over 40,000 hits. Each. Needless to say, it's starting to get old.**

Regardless, the idea in the article is incredible. Guys like this deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, they're on the front lines figuring out actual ways to solve the world's problems sans powerpoint. I hope Shawn Frayne's 15 minutes last a lot longer than 15 minutes.

[deepcryo]

Nice. The aeroelastic flutter can easily be adjusted to compensate for various windspeeds by tensioning. A simple feedback loop from sensed windspeed, could tension on the known curve, providing variable and optimal oscillation. This would require negligible power which could easily be stored in a capacitor. This is a classic application for a low cost microchip/electric motor pair.

[Jay Fretz]

The new issue of GOOD magazine has a great article about MIT's D-lab that focuses on cheap solutions to real problems in undeveloped areas: like using a baby's bottle to test water quality and how to manufacture cleaner burning cooking fuel from local agricultural waste. The world needs more of this kind of ingenuity. Bravo Shayne!

[Ted]

Would it be possible to build these windbelts into standard power and phone lines?

Imagine billions, possible trillions of these windbelts all hooked up directly to our electrical grid, harnessing wind power all over the country.

Each windbelt on its own would have a minuscule impact, much like a single pixel on a monitor. But cumulatively, the electrical output could be enormous.

[Joe]

If this were true, wind power being about $1.50 per watt, costing the average home about $2,000 to power their home (in a minimum 6mph wind). If the initial cost was reduced to 1/10, and it was a system that run on very little wind (unlike a wind generator), that would mean every home could go off the grid for an initial investment of less than $200. Call me skeptical, it's a good idea, but I'm sure there are limitations.

[turkey]

super cool

[Shado]

It might be a bad idea to use power and phone lines. To encourage those lines to move like that, would greatly increase downtime and maintenance needs. I dont want my power to go out more often.

[Lieven]

Great lateral thinking, but couldn't this invention be a very noisy one, vibrating all the time?

[Vibration13]

I'm guessing it would be less noisy than an electric fan. Possibly less noisy than a computer tower fan, it probably just hums. I like it, I'm sure it'll catch on!

[Baz]

Imagine these on a scale similar to conventional windfarms arranged in circles to catch the wind whatever angle & cheaper to maintain. They could be incorporated into legs of bridges or sides of buildings or in huge banks like solar panels.

[Flyer27]

Simply Brilliant!

[Allan]

Its a very interesting device, but wouldn't it be more efficient to just power the LED from the mains, rather than using a fan to make power for the LED?

[Richard Jones]

To the skeptic , I think it DOES work~ and I also think that there are going to be more and more ideas of this nature in the very near future.
As for the naysayers.....your time is past.

[Mr. Candid]

To the skeptics: What is your contribution to society? Other than putting down other peoples ideas? I feel sorry for people like you

[Anonymous2]

Anonymous correctly criticizes this device as being dependent on resonance (the repetition period of the fan probably matches the resonance period of the belt).

As Preston notes, in the presence of truly random wind, by dynamically adjusting the mechanical weighting of the belt it should be possible to get a decent response even if the system is off-resonance. I worry, however, that the range of the adjustment and its rate of change might give problems.

On the other hand, if there were a funnel that pre-treats the wind blown into it, with the funnel having its exit (which would lead to the device itself) tending to open and close at a frequency near that of the belt, then the mechanical adjustment of the belt would have to be much less than without the funnel pre-treatment.

So with a few additions, this device might become viable.

[ben]

How efficient is this? It won't work in the video he had a fan at full power to power 2 LEDS or a clock. That is very in efficient if you ask me. by the looks of things the wind speed will need to be very high in order for the belt to produce any power at all

[Sanchez]

what if you put thousands of these things for example in the pipes of the air conditioning network. there is a remarkable air flow to make these little things to resonate. and you can have electricity for the bulbs for example free.

[J]

As for the post a few back.... Yes it is inefficient. Yes the fan was drawing much more power than the windbelt created. Overunity wasn't the goal. Even a small wind turbine will cost $35 to make. The windbelt costs a couple bucks. Who cares if the efficiency isn't record breaking? It's a 2 dollar device that can generate a small amount of power. Keep in mind the goal of the project. He accomplishes the goal of cheap windpower on a very small scale. It's a simple device that does what it was designed to do with few parts, little complexity, and little cost. I have several hundred dollars tied up in small scale windpower projects. This is a work of art in a simplistic fashion. It's not intended to run a big screen tv or hot tub. It's intended to provide some option for electric power to those who spend a year to save $10.

[J]

As for the post a few back.... Yes it is inefficient. Yes the fan was drawing much more power than the windbelt created. Overunity wasn't the goal. Even a small wind turbine will cost $35 to make. The windbelt costs a couple bucks. Who cares if the efficiency isn't record breaking? It's a 2 dollar device that can generate a small amount of power. Keep in mind the goal of the project. He accomplishes the goal of cheap windpower on a very small scale. It's a simple device that does what it was designed to do with few parts, little complexity, and little cost. I have several hundred dollars tied up in small scale windpower projects. This is a work of art in a simplistic fashion. It's not intended to run a big screen tv or hot tub. It's intended to provide some option for electric power to those who spend a year to save $10.

[mj]

How about a simple flap attached to the elastic. The flap deflects with the wind and pulls the elastic tighter. It could be calibrated so that resonant frequency is always achieved.

[Eric]

Very cool video. It is amazing with such a simple thing as a belt moving can generate electricity. Thanks!

[Nate]

Even if this "catches on" and the cost of electricity is cut 1/10 (example: $200/month to quote an earlier comment) that would have a HUG impact on government income.

I don't know a whole lot about economics yet, but I'd say that the government wouldn't want to take away from itself a big source of income.

But then, someone might ask, wouldn't the money saved from maintenance, construction cost, etc. make up for it?
I dunno'.

[Bill]

You'd want to deploy these in groups at different tensions to activate at different wind speeds.

What I wonder about is how they'd protect the belt from damage in a wind storm.

[Chuck]

My first thought regarding a use for this was in recharging batteries in electric cars.
Could you not possibly fill a grill area up with these as a source of recharge energy to extend trip lengths along with the regenerative brakes?
I am on the positive side of this...I think only good can come from thinking like this.

[Dannah]

Wow, this is quite impressive. I can't wait to hear more and possibly try a developer kit.

[MR me]

Why not connect this belt to a large piezoelectric device and let the pull generate the power and do away with the magnets and coils.

[Lin Floyd]

2 points: 1. This is a proof of concept, not a finished product, and I would be betting that Frayne will be able to work out most of these technical problems in scale-up and 2. It is naive to think that we can get totally green power with no downside, no increased cost, no louder noises, no inconvenience. If you want green power, take the hit, if not, live with the consequences!

[BillinDetroit]

Two points for getting even this far in the thinking. I'm hoping that he is able to 'super-size' it to at least home use. No need to take it to 'grid-size', just far enough to make 'off grid' a little more feasible. My Missus & I are looking into geo-thermal for our heating & cooling ... would be nice to get the wind to power the pumps, etc.

[zach @ Pennywise]

I had a similar thought to this a while ago, but this is by far more awesome. Reading the comments inspires me. I didn't realize about the resonance, but I do think that some kind of small flap or "sail" would provide a good enough tensioner to maximize the power production.

* electric vehicle grills: AWESOME idea! But as this is for small power generation, I wonder if it could be used to power AC units on traditional vehicles more efficiently. After all, isn't it AC units and massive electrical needs that diminish fuel economy?

* Lets not forget that the main property occurs in FLUID, not just air. Something like this could potentially massively increase the amount of electricity produces from a hydroelectric power plant, or indeed any location where there is a guaranteed source of fluid flow (rivers, oil pipelines, water mains, sewage lines. Everything!

* This proof-of-concept uses a single, discrete magnet that oscillates betweeen two coils of wire. If I remember right it's possible to "spray paint", or dip the film into some kind of solution for. . . what's the term? Electrophoresis? Electrolysis? The same way that silver-plated stuff is made. Then you could have coils of wire running along the length of the tape, with continuous energy production per inch of tape.

* Couldn't these be deployed as part and parcel of traditional windmills? These could potentially be "streamers", vibrating along the axis of the windmill, producing electricity from the very turning of the windmill (i.e.-- another example of putting it on a place with guaranteed flow of air-- in generally spiral shape).