Here Comes Wind Power at $1 per Watt
June 12, 2008
Broadstar Wind Systems, a company based in Dallas Texas, has provided the public with not one, but two lofty promises: that their wind turbines can 1) be integrated into almost any location, including cities and 2) are inexpensive, at a cost of $1 per watt.
Older, more traditional wind turbine systems has its drawbacks. They had to be big and tall. You needed at least one acre of clear land. And they couldn’t handle winds from all directions. Broadstar aims to take care of most of these weaknesses with their new turbines.
According to BroadStar, the AeroCam is short, compact and easy-to-install, with parallel rotor blades located much closer to the ground than conventional propeller-based turbines.That low-ground proximity allows the machines to capture surface-wind energy at low rotational speeds.
And it qualifies AeroCam to “infill” existing rural wind farms. Meaning: the small turbines can be stuck between taller and larger propeller-based ones for better power generation.
In urban areas, they can be installed on commercial and residential rooftops, picking up wind drafts that strike buildings, and then moving upwards, catching currents from four to 80 mph.
The kicker?
BroadStar is convinced that its machines will be “manufactured, transported, installed and maintained at lower costs” than any other wind turbine on the planet. And most — if not all — rooftop solar panels. — solveclimate.org
They’ve certainly got their work cut out for them. Their 250,000 kWh machine is priced at $250k. Not exactly cheap, but that’s a boatload of power right there. Enough to power almost 100 homes. Could there be some sort of collective group that sets up this power system and have 100 homes or businesses chip in towards the cost? I don’t see why not. After all, it’s an investment towards energy for a long, long time — unlike regular power which you’d have to pay monthly for.
Sometimes we don’t need the government’s help. We just need to use our minds and our wills to make things happen.
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