Less Material, More Energy
By Nick May 18, 2008
Doug Selsam found a way to use less materials and get more energy from wind power. This method consists of using dozens of smaller rotors on the same shaft and linked to the same generator. He got his idea for the first time in the 1980’s at a fluid-dynamics class at the University of California, when he read in the textbook that the “single-rotor turbine design is the most power you can get”. He realised then that more rotors equals more energy.
In 1999 he dedicated full-time to wind development, and four years later he obtained a $75,000 grant from the California Energy Commission for the purpose of creating a 3,000-watt turbine. Until now, he has already sold to homeowners 20 of his 2,000-watt dual-rotor turbines, all made in his garage. Selsam says that this could prove to be the most powerful way to obtain energy from the wind, and he hopes that one day he’ll see miles of multi-rotor turbines covering the sky.
Topics: Energy |
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