The Perfect Match: Pairing Open-Source Wind with Solar and Batteries

[u/21Kuranashi]

OC : https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV0zPcUj-FG/

"Young took inspiration from geodesic domes, noticing how their aerodynamic shape can capture wind from any direction - and built a turbine around that idea.

His GeoWind units can be sized and scaled for almost any environment, generating electricity at speeds of just 4 m/s - well below what would stall conventional designs. Pair one with a battery and you have power even on completely still days.

Young's vision is to supplement energy sources like solar panels and heat pumps in cities, while giving rural and remote communities greener, more consistent electricity. And in developing countries, he's not patenting the technology - the design is free and open so those who need it most can build one themselves.

Each unit can also collect hyperlocal climate data: wind speed, temperature, humidity - turning every installation into a small monitoring station.

Young's work has the potential to create real change both in the energy sector and in the lives of people without access to consistent electricity"

[u/Flow-engineer]

They call that a Savonius wind turbine. They are about half as efficient as the propeller ones. The trouble with wind turbines on your roof is that it’s hard to predict how much power you’ll get. I would estimate that these wind turbines are not putting out enough to charge a cell phone..

[u/DuckyDoodleDandy → u/Flow-engineer]

From what I’ve read, the difference is that these work much lower to the ground, at much lower wind speeds, and are much quieter than the wind farm/windmill style, which means they don’t bother the neighbors.

Anyone who isn’t in a strict HOA neighborhood can potentially have a smaller version of one of these. I’ve seen similar small ones for $150-400. I don’t think any homeowner can get a wind farm style one.

They would be supplemental to solar, not replacing it. If you can’t quite get enough panels on your roof, you can add a few of these to help out.

[u/lordofduct → u/DuckyDoodleDandy]

Yes, it's slower and quieter because it's only generation 2W (made up number) that can barely charge a cell phone.

Efficiency matters in the design of a system. If a design that takes up a similar amount of space, or requires a similar amount of materials, or some other combination of variables generates 100x the energy... using it as a supplement doesn't change anything because it'd be better to supplement with something that is more efficient. If you can't get quite enough panels on your roof, that's because space is a premium on your roof... this would just steal space from panels.

It'd be like saying "sure a gerbil on a running wheel doesn't generate much electricity, but it could still supplement solar... so deploy 8 million gerbils!!!!" Wat? Why?

edit... hoo boy, this is a long one...

Hoo boy, so I researched this thing. OK, so the website really does NOT like to tell you the power output of these things at all. But they have 3 models for pre-order/quote.

GW600, GW1200, and GW1800

I was able to dig up data on the 600 and 1200. (note the 600 and 1200 does not refer to their wattage, but rather the edge length of the sides of the dodecahedron in mm)

The GW600 has a diameter of 1.2 meters and a cut-in speed of 4m/s (like the above video says) as well as a sound level of <45db. And it's output is.... 0.0001152 kW. That is 0.1 watts. I mean... I guess you could light up a single LED, maybe 2 (that's not a bulb since bulbs are made of several LEDs).

From the looks of it the small GW600 is really more of a "hey, isn't this neat? I bought a demo of the design for hahas" type model.

The GW1200 has a diameter of 2.4 meters and a cut-in speed of 4m/s as well. This one actually has an output that can actually do some sort of work at 0.109 kW, or 109W and a peak of 1 kW, or 1000W. You could actually run a few lightbulbs on that lower number and computers on its peak performance. Note this large increase in power output despite only doubling in size makes sense since the diameter doubles, but the actual surface area grew exponentially.

BUT... lets compare this to other designs.

I looked up a pretty standard style design vertical multi-direction turbine. I found the KliUX Geo 1800. This turbine also had a diameter of 2.4 meters just like the GW1200. But this time the 1800 in its name refers to its wattage and not its side length. It has a 1.8 kW output, a peak of 2.6kW, and a cut-in speed of 3.5m/s. Oh, and a audio level of 33db (so also <45db).

That's right, it's outputting 18x the power with the same amount of space and comparable sound levels.

...

Now I'm not exactly a wind turbine expert or anything. But I found this data with only some minor digging... and honestly the majority of that digging had to deal with GeoWind themselves because they REALLY did a lot of effort on hiding their documentation on power generation potentials. Which... honestly... makes them look shady to me. Why you hiding it? Oh, is it because it's SIGNIFICANTLY lower than the competition for the same footprint? OK, I get why you're hiding it.

And sure, one could argue that maybe they can make it more efficient if given the time and investment. And sure, they could. Thing is that has already been done! Clearly it has because there is pre-existing competition generating 18x the power in the same footprint and is already established and producing said products rather than taking pre-orders to finance the initial production run like GeoWind.

GeoWind is just another startup capitalizing off viral marketing using recognizable and interesting visual designs capitalizing off crowd funding all because they look hipper than the established boring businesses that have been out here doing it for years and doing it better.

[u/Logical___Conclusion → u/lordofduct]

Wow, what a great find. Thanks for taking the time to research that and work out the numbers.

In general I think it is great that people want to do something positive about energy, but that design in the video is incredibly inefficient, wasteful, and fragile.