We have designed a turbine using morphing wing technology to access exactly this niche and those like it. Wind power that can be placed on an end user in a city and provide meaningful outputs. It does this by taking advantage of turbulent winds that are accelerated over structures such as buildings and ships, that were previously unusable by traditional technology. The vision is to be able to create far more power per square meter of roof area than was previously possible, with low noise, low vibration and low visual obstruction.
First tested in 2018 by the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), the system has been proven at full scale. This was possible through partnership with WorleyParsons, one of the world’s top engineering firms. First a single wing was tested in the medium-speed wind tunnel, followed by a full rotary system set up behind the wind tunnel outlet to study the performance in controlled conditions. The testing showed the solution self-started, produced power and rotated stably. The construction issues with the prototype were also highlighted in this process, showing us a clear roadmap to improve performance going forward.