Next Generation Wind Power: Electricity Tower Turbines
The two greatest criticisms of wind power farms are their construction costs and the visual drain they pose on otherwise natural environments. Suppose, however, there was a way to cut building costs by using existing infrastructure– and to add these eyesores to existing eyesores. A group of enterprising, eco-conscious thinkers have dreamed up a plan where existing electricity towers are used as wind power sources. The “Wind It” project by Nicola Delon, Julien Choppin, and Raphael Menard proposes a string of the tower-ported wind turbines to be placed in wind-sensitive areas, then feeding this freely-generated power directly back into the grid. While the project was conceived for France, the team insists that this technology could be employed in China, in the US and otherwise. We wouldn’t mind this tech powering our homes… would you? [via inhabitat]
Electricity Tower Wind Turbine Gallery:
It’s a great idea but I’m not sure the necessary technology is ready yet. Those big power lines carry really high voltage. Today’s wind turbines do not natively generate really high voltage. So each tower (or set) would need high voltage transformers. Plus with today’s AC lines you need sophisticated electronics to synchronize the phase of your new power with that on the lines. I’d bet that these electronics are prohibitively expensive to install per tower today, especially for high voltage. Nothing research and investment can’t fix, but I don’t think this elegant solution is feasible today.
Wind power is good although it looks a bit bulkier compared to solar cells. i am trying to build a small wind generator at home too.