If we’re going to start using alternative energy, why not make an art out of it? It’s what this designer had in mind when he came up with his unusual wind turbine wall.
As far as wind power goes, we’re used to seeing offshore wind energy in the lead, with companies competing in terms of who’s got the biggest blades, largest wind farms, or tallest turbine. The U.K. boasts of its Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm as being the largest one, with its 165 wind turbines (with a capacity of 8 MW) totaling 1.33 GW of clean energy. Danish company Vestas claims its V236-15 MW turbine is the tallest one in the world, being 918 ft (280 m) tall. There’s also MingYang Smart Energy’s hybrid drive wind turbine in China, which is dubbed the world’s largest one. The MySE 16.0-242 turbine has a capacity of 16MW and blades that are 387 ft (118 m) long, featuring a swept area the size of six soccer fields. Its rotor is 794 ft (242 m) in diameter.
But the appearance was not a priority for any of the above, mostly because none of them are things you have to see and live with every day right in front of your house. Joe Doucet’s so-called “kinetic wall” is another story. As argued by the American designer and entrepreneur on his website, wind turbines for homes have encountered very slow uptake due, in part, to their intrusive physicality.
But it doesn’t have to be like that and that’s what Doucet’s wind turbine wall wants to prove, designed to be not just functional but also aesthetically pleasing. The kinetic wall consists of an array of rotary blades, 25 vertical turbines to be more exact. They all spin individually to power a 400W generator each, totaling 10,000W. This created energy could be used to power households, it could be stored in a wall-mounted battery, or capitalized by the owner by being fed back into the national grid.
The designer says the blades are lightweight and silent, producing nothing more than a gentle whirling, while the small generators are almost silent.
While Joe Doucet claims he’s interviewing potential partners to bring his project to life, his invention is still met with a lot of skepticism, with people commenting that the wind turbine wall can’t be efficient enough and it’s just a cool-looking art project meant to generate clout for the designer instead of power. Some doubt that it has enough torque to turn the 400W generators to generate electricity, while others say that a flat panel on a vertical axis translates into a very low efficiency.
There’s currently no production date or pricing revealed for Doucet’s kinetic wall.
Cristina’s always found writing more comfortable to do than speaking, which is why she chose print over broadcast media in college. When she’s not typing, she also loves riding non-motorized two-wheelers, going on hikes with her dog, and rocking her electric guitars. Full profile
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