May 7 2010
A novel bladeless, boundary-layer wind turbine of Solar Aero Research has received U.S. Patent No. 7,695,242. An improvement from a 1913 Tesla patent, the novel wind turbine is customized for wind production applications. Hailing from Greenville, New Hampshire Howard J. Fuller, Jr. is the inventor of the new turbine.
While achieving high efficiency rates, the new wind turbine avoids most of the drawbacks encountered with bladed turbines including radar interference, wildlife injuries, visual pollution and noise. The turbine, using a single rotating component and no bulkily loaded bearings, is likely to generate cost-effective power.
The new turbine does not require high maintenance efforts. Moreover, all of the power producing equipment can be placed at the ground, while support for the turbine can be done on magnetic bearings. The turbine is ideal for use in places where maintenance and support infrastructure is minimal. The design of the wind turbine is ideal for use in urban rooftop power generation.