Micro-turbines output micro-electricity for Hong Kong's micro-apartments

It's not just the fitness club types in Hong Kong attempting to generate a bit of renewable energy, inventor Lucien Gambarota -- the very man responsible for converting all that cardio into voltage -- is showing off some micro-wind turbines for even more power bill relief. There's currently only a single wind turbine on a small outer island providing energy to Hong Kong, the rest of the city just doesn't get enough wind for traditional turbines to do any good. Not so with Gambarota's new micro-turbines, which can generate electricity with as little as 2 mph of wind, and keep turning at all times from the slightest of breezes. The little windmills are actually gearwheels, mounted in a array. They can be arranged in different shapes and sizes, from two to thousands of square meters. The energy is put into a battery, which then powers appliances in the building. Currently the micro-turbines go for about $25 for a set of 20 gearwheels, but that price should drop considerably once they begin to be mass produced.

[Thanks, nvyseal]

[David Chesne @ Mar 20th 2007 8:34PM]

Pretty interesting - I wonder how much electricity the typical apartment/home sized arrary can generate...

[LukeA @ Mar 20th 2007 8:34PM]

I want those.That looks like a very efficient way to capture wind in a rectangular space.

[onihanju @ Mar 20th 2007 8:46PM]

According to the material on their website, it looks like power generation can be easily calculated. See the example below:

(http://www.motorwavegroup.com/new/motorwindpressmaterial)

"if my monthly bill is about 50 kWh (approx 6 US$ or 50 HK$ or 5 euro ) that means my daily need is approx 1.5 kWh .

i need approx 4 square meter of turbines (80 turbines = 4 x 20 turbines sets ) if the wind average is about 4m/s

i need approx 1.5 square meter of turbine (30 turbines) if the wind is about 5 to 6 m/s

i need approx 0.4 square meter of turbine (8 turbines) if the wind is about 10m/s

if my monthly bill is about 250 kWh(approx 30 US$ or 250 HK$ or 25 euro ) that means my daily need is approx 8 kWh .

i need 5 times more than the above ."

[onihanju @ Mar 20th 2007 8:46PM]

According to the material on their website, it looks like power generation can be easily calculated. See the example below:

(http://www.motorwavegroup.com/new/motorwindpressmaterial)

"if my monthly bill is about 50 kWh (approx 6 US$ or 50 HK$ or 5 euro ) that means my daily need is approx 1.5 kWh .

i need approx 4 square meter of turbines (80 turbines = 4 x 20 turbines sets ) if the wind average is about 4m/s

i need approx 1.5 square meter of turbine (30 turbines) if the wind is about 5 to 6 m/s

i need approx 0.4 square meter of turbine (8 turbines) if the wind is about 10m/s

if my monthly bill is about 250 kWh(approx 30 US$ or 250 HK$ or 25 euro ) that means my daily need is approx 8 kWh .

i need 5 times more than the above ."

[the_13th_saint @ Mar 20th 2007 9:01PM]

I'd buy some and install em'

[synthaxx @ Mar 20th 2007 9:09PM]

Sign me up for these, they sound like a great low cost way to save money.
Anyone know if they have a distributer yet?

[Thomas S @ Mar 20th 2007 9:24PM]

Yeah but how much power do they produce? As in how many watts? I am real skeptical on this one.

[AlanAudio @ Mar 20th 2007 10:07PM]

Does anybody know how these arrays of gear wheels turn to face the wind direction, of does the designer assume that the wind always blows from one direction ?

[gambarota @ Mar 21st 2007 1:38PM]

our Micro turbines can take wind from about 120 degrees angle and from both side .
any other questions ?.
Lucien Gambarota
www.motorwavegroup.com

[Scooter @ Mar 20th 2007 10:52PM]

Very doubtful. Kinetic energy of wind is the same as all other forms: .5m v squared. The v means high velocity needed. The torque placed on the turbine is based on the force * half the radius (assuming uniform distribution). Therefore power comes from fast wind and large diameter turbines. The engineers (I am one) tend to get these things right. To power a house and provide enough current to pay for all the no-wind times you draw from the net, I have no idea but I'd guess at a minimum one of those big hobby windmills(20 ft diameter) way up in the air. Solar power is more appropriate (and less intrusive) for home applications in a suburban setting.

[Chris @ Mar 20th 2007 11:33PM]

250kwh! guessing no washer dryer, high efficiency everything.

my last bill was 819, with gas heat and hot water in a 1600sq ft house and 2 kids running in and out all day, which I guess is pretty typical. So since I'm on top of a hill and it's fairly windy a lot of the time I'd need like 300 square feet of these things? Something sticking like 10ft up off my roof 30 ft long doesn't sound so, um, attractive. I do wonder if using smaller generators and not having gears would make it enough more efficient to not need so many. get rid of some friction and allow for some to spin faster than others. with his rig if the wind isn't blowing perfectly even then some power will be wasted by pushing the slow side because they all must spin the same speed.

[AnimeEd @ Mar 21st 2007 1:51AM]

"250kwh! guessing no washer dryer, high efficiency everything.

my last bill was 819, with gas heat and hot water in a 1600sq ft house and 2 kids running in and out all day, which I guess is pretty typical"

Keep in mind the average size of an apartment (not much houses there" in Hong Kong is 600 to 700 sq ft. Also, hot water is heated using small electric boilers that are only turned on when someone want to shower.

[gambarota @ Mar 21st 2007 2:38PM]

HI i am Lucien Gambarota .
first you need to know your average wind speed before you can calculate the surface you need .
go to my website and everything will become clear .
www.motorwavegroup.com

regards

[Ayle @ Mar 21st 2007 1:32AM]

Well I think I might buy some of those to power my future dual r600 gaming rig......

[Kip HT @ Mar 21st 2007 5:04AM]

Actually, most hot water heaters are on demand gas heaters. Seems as gas is practically free, these could be great! I would put some up if I had anywhere to put them... I do live on the top floor though.

[Stephan @ Mar 21st 2007 1:49PM]

Uhm the price is $250 for a set of 20!!!!!!! That is a huge difference!

Also they say at 9mph 1 square meter (20 turbines) will generate 15 watts. Yet their graph shows only 8 watts. Are you freaking kidding me 9mph 8 watts for $250, seems a lot more expensive than solar to me (I live in Southern California).

According to
http://www.findsolar.com/
It would cost before tax breaks about $9/watt for solar compared to $30/watt for the microturbine. Of course if you have an average wind speed of 13.5mph then it brings the cost down to $9/watt, but there are no tax breaks with this. I suppose for someone who lives in an area were the wind is in excess of 20+ mph all the time, then this would be good.

[Fred @ Apr 11th 2007 4:20PM]

If you already had solar panels on the roof would it make sense to add these and feed into the same inverter as the panels?

Also, how long do they last.

[Valdez @ Apr 16th 2007 10:38PM]

Since the turbines are a new invention it'd hard for the inventor to predict life span with no timed field tests or existing modules operating. Life span would be based on the destructive effects of UV & heat on whatever plastic used & also based on how well the bearings are sealed against water & airborne dust/grit, the quality of the bearings & the type of bearing races as well. Friction coeficients of bearing lubricants & seals rubbing against the outer race & the inner race enter in. It the turbines just use a bushing set (at a buck a turbine roughly, that's possible!) which is merely lubed then they might not turn as freely, bushings won't last as long as ball bearing races. Does each turbine has a small generator on it or is the last turbine gearwheel the only one that's connected to the generator (for more efficiency, less friction, less cost)?? The web site gives practically no technical info...thinking about adding to it perhaps to break the secrecy?

[Valdez @ Apr 16th 2007 10:40PM]

Another thought, if you built a wind funnel in front of the turbines, that is, made up of 3 panels: 2 side panels + a top panel all connected together to make a wind concentrator. Mount this onto whatever the turbine module mounts. These panels would channel the wind as a concentrator..bottle necking it, squirting it at the module thus increasing the velocity for free (except the initial cost of the panels.) That's if the wind comes from one direction only, which is sometimes true for some locals such as beachside/lakeside homes but for others, not. SO..ya wanna directional capability, eh? OOOOK...

Mount the entire turbine framework "pod" on a sizable (car wheel roller bearing) pivoted turn table carosel (like a record player turntable). Install a hefty enough wind vane mast on the turntable center to keep the turntable & attached turbine pod pointed optimumly into the wind. On the perifery of that turntable affix your 3 wind concentrator vanes like a funnel so that this concentrator always faces the wind correctly as well. Where there's a will there's a way..."the answer my friend is blowin' in the wind..." as the song says.

[Fred @ Apr 16th 2007 11:47PM]

Valdez - I like the concentrator idea! It probably has limits - at some point the wind deflects around the whole setup rather than funneling through. I suppose that could be modeled.

Any ideas on using the same inverter.