The INVELOX promises to revolutionise wind power generation via a system that apparently produces 6 times the electrical power than traditional wind turbines. PES asks: will 2014 be the year when the wind industry begins saying farewell to blades?
Daryoush Allaei thinks the wind power industry has it all wrong. Rather than turbines high in the sky, he says, it should bring wind to the ground, in concentrated form. “This is the right track. The industry has been on the wrong track.”
Allaei’s Invelox “wind delivery system” is a large funnel that captures air at the top, and squeezes it through a turbine at the bottom. Wind entering at 10 MPH ends up as fast as 40 MPH, he says – meaning it’s no longer necessary to go to a hilltop for optimum conditions.
According to SheerWind – the company Allaei heads – the funnel can produce 600% more power than a conventional wind device, and with lower installation and maintenance costs.
The company’s patented INVELOX system takes the spinning blades of a turbine out of the sky and puts them safely at or below ground level, eliminating the risk for harming eagles or any wildlife. Not only does it eliminate the immediate issue of birds flying into the blades, it also puts an end to the issues from low frequency airborne vibration from the large turbine blades that have a negative influence on humans, wildlife, and livestock.
“This technology with no rotating blades at the top of a tower, will not harm eagles or any feathered friends,” says Cyndi Lesher, SheerWind’s Executive VP & Chief Administrative Officer and former president and CEO, NSP an Excel Energy Company. “By concentrating and accelerating wind, we create a similar effect to the natural wind corridors used by traditional wind towers. We can also install in low wind conditions, and close to human populations-safely out of the range of eagle flight patterns and nesting sites. With careful design and planning, who knows, the eagles may find an INVELOX tower the perfect place to build a new nest.”
INVELOX technology has been reviewed and validated by a technical advisory board, a team of experts from major research universities and agencies. Prototypes were tested under controlled laboratory conditions, and test results were used to build and validate full-scale computational fluid dynamic models. Field data collected to date has validated results.
The technology requires no subsidies, is price competitive with traditional energy, and has far less environmental impact than turbine-topped towers.
