Rendered at 22:05:14 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Cloudflare Workers.
hex4def6 31 minutes ago [-]
Many questions.
A couple:
* 1m² = 1x2m? 4m² = 2x4m? etc. I'm confused by this.
* Why 25 m² (5x10 m) = 20.8kW, but 100 m² (10x20 m) = 62.4kW? 4x the size in m², but only ~3x the power? Shouldn't it be 83.2kW, not 62.4kW? It doesn't make sense efficiency would drop....
* You're speccing this as having a 25 year life (with $50/yr maintenance). I'm feeling a bit doubtful that zip-tied tarps under UV and dynamic load are going to last that long, to be honest. The tracking system also seems extremely susceptible to dirt etc.
* This thing looks pretty janky. I'm also not convinced a good 20-year storm wouldn't completely wreck it. Proper wind turbines have the ability to weather-vane into the wind, lock the rotor, etc etc. Again, in it's current incarnation, I'm doubtful it would survive.
* Your "guaranteed Cp of .32" seems... optimistic. Given it looks like you've built actual units, what are your real-world results vs the CFD numbers?
fecal_henge 4 minutes ago [-]
I would guess 1x2 is that the wheel is 1m wide, 2m diameter. This would mean that there is a 1m^2 sized flap* that the wind pushes against.
*technical term
taffydavid 42 minutes ago [-]
The price does seem steep for something so simple it could be modelled with straws in three minutes, but I don't really understand the rest of the negativity.
Don't we want innovation in renewables? Shouldn't we be encouraging this kind of thing, trying out different designs to the traditional windmills and trying to make something easy to build, scale, install and operate?
zdragnar 32 minutes ago [-]
When people are asking for money, it is entirely reasonable to apply some skepticism to the sales pitch.
In this case, they're charging a lot of money for a flimsy-looking product that is unlikely to capture much energy (low wind speeds at ground level).
vardump 60 minutes ago [-]
I’ve been looking for a wind turbine you could deploy on the roof. I’ve got 15 kW of inverter capacity available.
So far my conclusion has been that it’s not yet time for this.
zdragnar 29 minutes ago [-]
https://ridgeblade.com/rb1-residential/ looks like the closest thing that I'd want, but with the storms we get I'd hate to think of what kind of pressure that'd put on the structure of the roof.
jopsen 50 minutes ago [-]
Wouldn't noise be a concern?
And what is the failure mode?
Foivos 48 minutes ago [-]
Also vibrations. Wind turbines are not meant to be close to residential areas.
einpoklum 47 minutes ago [-]
Won't these things just fall off your roof though?
tty456 39 minutes ago [-]
If don't bolt them down, sure
smithkl42 17 minutes ago [-]
Given all the flat surfaces on this, I wonder how much more difficult it would be to turn the flat surfaces from canvas into solar panels.
jamwise 44 minutes ago [-]
Consumer solar has been a game changer, so doing the same for wind would be a huge innovation. But the reasons everyone doesn't already have wind generators on their roof is it's a much harder problem to solve. Not least of which is wind speeds are significantly lower closer to the ground. So I expect their 1kw output has a very narrow "optimal conditions" window. This might work if you live in a desert? Though given enough time with climate change...
walrus01 20 minutes ago [-]
For a single unit project or workshop thing to make, just because, sure... Maybe? But for 4900 euros? What are they smoking? I'm rather skeptical of the rendering shot of dozens of these in a bare field.
The mechanical cost and complexity and maintenance issues will surely be more costly and hassle prone over a 5-10 year time span than buying three 400W PV panels (1200W STC rating) and mounting them using some similar hack job DIY ballasted ground mount.
The rotating/moving thing at ground level also seems like a good way to mangle pets, wildlife and small children.
If you really want a "1kW" wind turbine? There's a reasonable number of different chinese domestic manufacturing sources for vertical axis turbines that are nominally rated at 1kW in a brisk wind. And you can mount them on a thick pole 3 meters off the ground so that nobody can stick their arm into it.
einpoklum 1 hours ago [-]
These people are charging for the f'ing IP! They won't let you just use the design, they want to profit off of you paying them royalties.
bouchard 20 minutes ago [-]
Their "technical validation (CFD)" document looks like AI slop...
metalman 56 minutes ago [-]
There are exceptionaly well understood minimum requirements needed to build wing turbines and other primary power equipment, the thing shown quite clearly meets none of them, and in fact appears to be built like a folding lawn chair, or perhaps an umbrella, but in any case, not the sort of thing you leave to the mercy of the wind.
colechristensen 1 hours ago [-]
1 kW, 4,900€ for what looks like a mediocre high school science fair project?
You could build something as good with duct tape and an old washing machine for the cost of picking it up for free when the owner is trying to get rid of it without paying to have it picked up.
The Vevor 1 kW wind mill that looks like a windmill instead of TechCrunch×MadMax is $300.
chewbacha 43 minutes ago [-]
Looks like AI slop marketing, feels like a scam.
IshKebab 38 minutes ago [-]
Wait 1kW is actually €5k? Lol they have the audacity to describe it as low cost.
Also if you have a real project (which this seems to be), don't get AI to slop out your website. Terrible look.
A couple:
* 1m² = 1x2m? 4m² = 2x4m? etc. I'm confused by this.
* Why 25 m² (5x10 m) = 20.8kW, but 100 m² (10x20 m) = 62.4kW? 4x the size in m², but only ~3x the power? Shouldn't it be 83.2kW, not 62.4kW? It doesn't make sense efficiency would drop....
* You're speccing this as having a 25 year life (with $50/yr maintenance). I'm feeling a bit doubtful that zip-tied tarps under UV and dynamic load are going to last that long, to be honest. The tracking system also seems extremely susceptible to dirt etc.
* This thing looks pretty janky. I'm also not convinced a good 20-year storm wouldn't completely wreck it. Proper wind turbines have the ability to weather-vane into the wind, lock the rotor, etc etc. Again, in it's current incarnation, I'm doubtful it would survive.
* Your "guaranteed Cp of .32" seems... optimistic. Given it looks like you've built actual units, what are your real-world results vs the CFD numbers?
*technical term
Don't we want innovation in renewables? Shouldn't we be encouraging this kind of thing, trying out different designs to the traditional windmills and trying to make something easy to build, scale, install and operate?
In this case, they're charging a lot of money for a flimsy-looking product that is unlikely to capture much energy (low wind speeds at ground level).
So far my conclusion has been that it’s not yet time for this.
And what is the failure mode?
The mechanical cost and complexity and maintenance issues will surely be more costly and hassle prone over a 5-10 year time span than buying three 400W PV panels (1200W STC rating) and mounting them using some similar hack job DIY ballasted ground mount.
The rotating/moving thing at ground level also seems like a good way to mangle pets, wildlife and small children.
If you really want a "1kW" wind turbine? There's a reasonable number of different chinese domestic manufacturing sources for vertical axis turbines that are nominally rated at 1kW in a brisk wind. And you can mount them on a thick pole 3 meters off the ground so that nobody can stick their arm into it.
You could build something as good with duct tape and an old washing machine for the cost of picking it up for free when the owner is trying to get rid of it without paying to have it picked up.
The Vevor 1 kW wind mill that looks like a windmill instead of TechCrunch×MadMax is $300.
Also if you have a real project (which this seems to be), don't get AI to slop out your website. Terrible look.