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Innovative Wind Turbine Smaller Than a Penny Could Power Your Smartphone
Brandon Baker | January 13, 2014 10:40 am | Comments

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Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington have developed a renewable energy technology smaller than our smallest form of currency, yet capable of charging smartphones.

The micro-windmills designed by electrical engineering professor Dr. J.-C. Chiao and research associate Smitha Rao are so tiny that a single grain of rice could hold about 10 of them, according to a news release from the university. The duo envision embedding hundreds of micro-windmills in a sleeve for a cell phone. Users could generate electricity for the phone’s battery by waving it in the air or by holding it up to an open window on a windy day.

“Imagine that they can be cheaply made on the surfaces of portable electronics,” Chiao said, “so you can place them on a sleeve for your smart phone.

“When the phone is out of battery power, all you need to do is to put on the sleeve, wave the phone in the air for a few minutes and you can use the phone again.”

One of the micro-windmills is placed on a penny. Researchers in Texas envision embedding hundreds of them in a smartphone sleeve to provide a charge with the wind. Photo credit: University of Texas at Arlington

Taiwanese fabrication foundry WinMEMS Technologies is exploring ways to commercialize the turbines. The university has applied for a provisional patent.

At its widest point, one of the micro-turbines measures 1.8 millimeters. According to Chiao and Rao, the turbines tested well in September amid strong, artificial winds because of their nickel alloy and aerodynamic design.

“The micro-windmills work well because the metal alloy is flexible and Smitha’s design follows minimalism for functionality.” Chiao said.

Chiao said the technology’s deployment could be extended to home energy. Thousands of turbines could be mounted on home or building walls to produce the energy needed for lighting, security, wireless communication and more. The researchers have also developed gears, inductors, pop-up switches and grippers that are all as small as a fraction of the diameter of a human hair.

“I think we’ve only scratched the surface on how these micro-windmills might be used,” Rao said.

Visit EcoWatch’s RENEWABLES page for more related news on this topic.

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Comments

http://johnturmel.com John C. Turmel, B. Eng.

Thousands of turbines could be mounted on home or building walls to produce the energy needed for lighting, security, wireless communication and more. The researchers have also developed gears, inductors, pop-up switches and grippers that are all as small as a fraction of the diameter of a human hair. “I think we’ve only scratched the surface on how these micro-windmills might be used,” Rao said.
Jct: Ain’t Science Grand!!!

http://aircrap.org/ Dave Murphy

No windmills are bird killers and noise pollution. Massive Fusion Power NOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ1dhxdRXGc

http://www.thealders.net/blogs Doug Alder

You obviously did NOT read the article – the only way you could kill a bird with these windmills is if it ate a few hundred of them. Nice try – thanks for playing -

Rob

Idiot. Or should I say bird brain. “Large” windmills may kill birds. Mass fusion power kills everything!!!

anon

“Thousands of turbines could be mounted on home” Why would that be better than a few big ones ?

Go back and look at the size – ever see a grain of rice? Well you can put about 10 of these on a grain of rice so a hundred grains of rice would give you a thousand – you could put billions of these on a home and still not come near the size of a large windmill while generating more power, that’s why..

miscon2

i am prolly the biggest tree-hugging green energy nerd around, but this just seems laughable.

http://aircrap.org/ Dave Murphy

Ethanol’s African Land Grab | Mother Jones
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/03/ethanols-african-landgrab‎
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massingir is an unremarkable town. The electricity supply here in rural Mozambique is erratic, clean water is hard to come by, and the hotels—well, calling them …
GRAIN — Land grabbing for biofuels must stop
http://www.grain.org/ › Publications › Against the grain‎
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Feb 21, 2013 – (Table 1 below provides a listing of 293 reported land grabs around the … China has banned the further construction of ethanol plants that use …
[PDF]
LAND GRABBING FOR BIOFUELS MUST STOP: – Grain
http://www.grain.org/article/.../4653-land-grabbing-for-biofuels-must-stop.pdf‎
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to add a green veneer to the brutal global land grab that has resulted. Europe is still … of ethanol for export per year on 10,000 ha of land. 8. OECD, Agriculture

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