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Re:Sheerwind by rpedela on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @03:37AM (#6845716)
600% sounds impressive, but what is the typical output of wind turbines in absolute terms?
Re:Sheerwind by brazzy on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @03:56AM (#6845776)
If I look at http://sheerwind.com/technology/field-data it seems to me the 600% improvement is highly deceptive: that huge funnel tower gives up to 600% (average 300%) more output than the same tiny turbine inside it when it's just placed on top of a pole.

If you want to use this technology to boost the output of a modern 100m diameter turbine by 300%, you'd need to build a funnel tower that's over 1km high. I kinda doubt that's cheapter than building three of those turbines.

Re:Sheerwind by Alex_MJ on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @04:04AM (#6845813)
Also, the longer tube you build the less effective the system becomes because the pressure at the top has to move the entire column of [viscous, turbulent] air down the pipe. I haven't done any math on this but I'd imagine it would not take that much height to hit a point at which point piping losses become overwhelmingly large in proportion to the energy you're producing. The turbine and the inlet need to be close together.
Re:Sheerwind by Gurkenglas on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @04:20AM (#6845866)
Maybe by "the same turbine" they mean the generator at the center, having swapped out the short blades shown on their site for a traditional set.
Re:Sheerwind by brazzy on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @04:25AM (#6845884)
Doesn't look like it, neither in the photo nor the comparison table. Besides, I doubt that it's even built to allow that.
Re:Sheerwind by mschaecher on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @03:58AM (#6845783)
I had to dig into that one too. I lost where I found it, but it's actually "up to 600%." Range is 85%-600% with average of like 315% or something.
Re:Sheerwind by kubiiii on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @03:52AM (#6845757)
If the windspeed is lower than required for the wind turbine to operate, you can get + infinite % more kwh with this technology.
Re:Sheerwind by rpedela on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @03:57AM (#6845780)
Find that hard to believe, and that doesn't answer my question.
Re:Sheerwind by jeena on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @04:03AM (#6845803)
Yes it does, if the wind is too slow for a normal turbine the normal one outputs 0 kw/h and this one more then 0 and therfore if you let it do its job it will naturally produce much more power then the one which doesn't produce anything.