by Mike Chino
From costly installations to strict city ordinances, there’s a number of factors that have limited the growth of wind power in urban environments. Now, Aerovironment is ushering in an era of urban wind power with a sleek series of small, silent turbines that eschew the need for a tower. Dubbed ‘Architectural Wind’, the system seamlessly integrates into the parapets of buildings, taking advantage of aerodynamics to catch wind as its speed escalates up a structure’s side. The turbine’s innovative approach boasts up to a 30% increase in energy production, and their adaptable, modular assembly makes installation a snap.
Aerovironment’s website states: “Architectural Wind is designed to install easily onto the building parapet, operating in plain sight as an attractive complement to the building’s architecture. Additionally, based on its proprietary system design, Architectural Wind turbines rotate at low wind speeds, resulting in a form of ‘kinetic architecture’ that communicates clearly the generation of clean energy. Working alone or in tandem with other renewable energy technologies, Architectural Wind is designed to offer an attractive ROI and cost per kW of installed capacity.”
Installations have little or no structural impact upon existing buildings and are easily scalable starting at 6KW. Each module weighs approximately 200 pounds, measures 4 feet tall by 4 feet wide, and features a bird screen.
We’re excited to find more and more microturbines cropping up in the alternative energy world, since they offer a variety of advantages over traditional turbine towers, especially in urban applications.
Via designboom.com
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