A revolutionary new design for personal wind turbines has won the top prize at the BSI Sustainability Design Awards 2007 in London. Ben Storan from Galway, a student graduating with an MA in Industrial Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art (RCA) London, has been working for the past year in conjunction with Imperial College London to design an affordable personal wind turbine suited to the urban environment.
The result is a unique design, which uses vertical, rather than traditional horizontal, rotation. This feature gives a slower rotational speed, which allows the turbine to capture more energy from turbulent air flow, common to urban environments. It also means quieter operation.
As a result, it is able to generate more energy than domestic models currently on the market. Similarly sized existing personal wind turbines claim to generate 1kW at a wind speed of 12 m/s, but typically produce just 40% of what is claimed. Ben Storan’s design should realistically produce 3 times that (1.2kW).
The clever vertical rotation design uses lightweight materials, which means Ben Storan’s turbine is more stable than other personal turbines leading to better energy capture and making it easier to install.
Speaking of winning the award and 3,000 first prize, Ben Storan said: “I’m delighted to win such a prestigious award. Growing up in the windy west of Ireland, I’ve always been acutely aware of the huge potential in harnessing such a free, clean and renewable source of energy which, along with a spinning clothes line, gave me the idea in the first place.”
Whilst still at the early stages of development, he hopes that his design will be in production in the not too distant future. Before attending the Royal College of Art , London, Ben Storan was a student at the National University of Ireland from 1999-2003 where he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also obtained an Art Portfolio Preparation Certificate for the Galway Institute of Technology in 2005Labels: academy awards, career training, education online, financial aid, free college, free education, scholarship, student loans, study abroad |
