Double the voltage/wattage of any VAWT with this theory

[Caleb Saseen]

Hello all, I would like to share a theory and show a working prototype that proved this theory.

By controlling the wind before it hits the VAWT you can double the Voltage/Wattage of any VAWT.

you simply funnel the wind and direct it to the push side of any VAWT.

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I would love your thoughts on this as i am only a backyard scientist.

[Rob Beckers]

Hi Caleb,

Yup, funnels work! It's something that comes up every now and then. I have a picture I've seen in my mind of a Persian windmill that incorporated a funnel, a design of a few thousand years ago, I can't find the picture just now though. In essence a funnel increases the swept area of the turbine (the air that is "processed" by the turbine, and energy is extracted from). Because there are losses to this, the air going through any type of funnel will encounter resistance and has pressure distributions that may be less than optimal, you don't quite get the overall swept area of the funnel as far as effective area for energy.

There are also (large) downsides to funnels: They add material cost. For HAWT they are downright impractical (I've seen some really funky designs for those!). In many cases it's simply easier to put larger blades on the turbine.

Thinking this through, they may have practical value for a VAWT, while not so much for a HAWT. But then again I don't know of any really practical VAWT; it's not that they don't work but to make them work as well as a HAWT of similar energy production they end up being very much more expensive.

-RoB-

[Dave Schwartz]

To use Rob's (and mine) favorite acronym, TANSTAAFL - there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

In all cases, you have to consider the cost of all resources input versus the value of the output (energy).

For a VAWT to generate useful energy, its going to be fairly tall and wide in the first place. To design your omni-directional funnel around it, you're going to have to consider all weather conditions and maximum wind speeds. At the end of the day, that's probably going to mean some fairly expensive materials and enough weight that you'll probably need to install a foundation for it.

At the end of the day, you may have a VAWT that might produce twice as much energy as the VAWT alone but at such a cost that you would have been better off putting in something designed to produce that energy without external help.

[Caleb Saseen]

Thank you for your input. I have thought about all of these things and fully agree. However let's look at the other side. VAWTs are making major strides. GE just released 1. you can look it up.

1 On a large scale I think it would cost way to much, now. But like i said I'm a backyard scientist. I'm thinking small scale to start. I'm building 1 now out of common waste. Think about people in remote parts of the world that could use that type of info.

2 Since I house the turbine you get some positives. 1 you can add mesh, netting or chicken wire to prevent birds from hitting the turbine. I read between 500,000 to 1,000,000 birds die each year from flying into turbines. that's a liability for the owners of these turbines. Oil companies have been fined for death of wild life. Endangered birds die by turbines. This could save there lives. 2 Many people complain about the noise. this could muffle out noise. Some turbines shut down because of too much noise. How much is that costing? 3 since the turbine would be housed that means it less subjected the the elements. Meaning less maintenance. Maintenance is always a factor when building turbines. HAWTs need lots of maintenance. If you factor these things in, it might even out the cost a little bit.

3 You can take advantage of the same space the turbine uses and add solar panels on top.

I do thank you for your thoughts. And I want more. I believe that you can learn something from everyone you meet if your willing :) Hello my name is Caleb and I am willing. and thanks Rob. I knew someone else had to of come up with this before me. It was too simple. But I couldn't find anything online.

Looking for more comments good or bad. thanks all