Comment Re:UP TO 30x MORE EFFICIENT !! BUY NOW !! (Score 1) 243
Hi,
Thanks for your comments: I've posted this response on another thread, but I'm trying to nip this in the bud, so here it is again. The Windbelt generator as it's currently sized is 10X more efficient than the current state of the art in microturbines on the same size scales. Importantly, this claim is with reference to 'micro'turbines. Definitely not 10X more efficient than turbines on the large scale. Here are some references from a recent article that you can use to do your own due diligence:
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/Handheld%20windmills%20serve%20as%20electric%20generators.pdf [humdingerwind.com]
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/ApplPhysLett_priya.pdf [humdingerwind.com]
The device noted in these articles (with which I am not affiliated) is the micro-turbine that got a lot of press a few years ago after Nature published a small article about Wind-powered Wi-Fi. I thought this was a good benchmark for comparison purposes.
I do appreciate the hesitation that folks have at first reading the claims. I am absolutely not claiming to have made a "Betz buster". We've used a particular point of reference based on an article in Nature as the "state-of-the-art" in microturbines, and then compared the Windbelt to that reference. Turbines on the large scale have efficiencies slightly higher than the current Windbelt variations we've experimented with in the past. That said, we are presently experimenting with larger scales (1-20W range, 2-3 meter tall belts) which may show different characteristics. Maybe. This is new stuff, and hopefully a lot of folks get their hands into it.
Regardless, as you note, in a rural lighting application, the cost/watt and the entry level price to light something up are the two aspects that matter most, and not the energy efficiency. They are related, definitely, but cost is the name of the game when dealing with these sorts of applications.
I hope this clears things up a bit -- thanks for all your interest, and keep an eye on humdingerwind.com in mid-January 2008, when we plan to post a tech brief of how to make your own Windbelt from scratch. This hopefully will let people do some peer-review on this new technology.
-Shawn Frayne
humdingerwind.com
Thanks for your comments: I've posted this response on another thread, but I'm trying to nip this in the bud, so here it is again. The Windbelt generator as it's currently sized is 10X more efficient than the current state of the art in microturbines on the same size scales. Importantly, this claim is with reference to 'micro'turbines. Definitely not 10X more efficient than turbines on the large scale. Here are some references from a recent article that you can use to do your own due diligence:
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/Handheld%20windmills%20serve%20as%20electric%20generators.pdf [humdingerwind.com]
http://www.humdingerwind.com/docs/ApplPhysLett_priya.pdf [humdingerwind.com]
The device noted in these articles (with which I am not affiliated) is the micro-turbine that got a lot of press a few years ago after Nature published a small article about Wind-powered Wi-Fi. I thought this was a good benchmark for comparison purposes.
I do appreciate the hesitation that folks have at first reading the claims. I am absolutely not claiming to have made a "Betz buster". We've used a particular point of reference based on an article in Nature as the "state-of-the-art" in microturbines, and then compared the Windbelt to that reference. Turbines on the large scale have efficiencies slightly higher than the current Windbelt variations we've experimented with in the past. That said, we are presently experimenting with larger scales (1-20W range, 2-3 meter tall belts) which may show different characteristics. Maybe. This is new stuff, and hopefully a lot of folks get their hands into it.
Regardless, as you note, in a rural lighting application, the cost/watt and the entry level price to light something up are the two aspects that matter most, and not the energy efficiency. They are related, definitely, but cost is the name of the game when dealing with these sorts of applications.
I hope this clears things up a bit -- thanks for all your interest, and keep an eye on humdingerwind.com in mid-January 2008, when we plan to post a tech brief of how to make your own Windbelt from scratch. This hopefully will let people do some peer-review on this new technology.
-Shawn Frayne
humdingerwind.com
