Residential Wind Power

A wind turbine shaped like a jet engine that its designers hope will provide more electricity at a lower cost than conventional windmills has earned FloDesign Inc. a $500,000 loan from the state to develop a prototype.

The Massachusetts state governement has made a great investment in the future by injecting $500,000.00 into FloDesign’s jet-like wind turbine design. The funding is from the state’s economic development agency for renewable energy, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

FloDesign is aiming to build a prototype of the wind turbine over the coming 18 months, said FloDesign’s CEO Stanley Kowalski III.

The majority of wind turbines feature three long blades mounted on a tall pole and spinning about a central point. The FloDesign turbine resembles a jet engine that has been mounted on a pole, with a number of spinning blades enclosed in a casing.

“The reason our turbine has a lower cost is that it is smaller than a conventional wind turbine. This design is around half the diameter of conventional designs. The reason for the increased performance is that it is more efficient,” Kowalski said.

“We estimate it will be 35 to 50 percent cheaper per kilowatt hour than conventional turbines. It will also operate at lower wind speeds than present models, which will open up opportunities in areas that could not use conventional turbines, such as the Plains states,” he said.

FloDesign which was founded in 1990 is a research and development company that adapts aerospace technologies to develop and market new products. The company has developed products for companies such as Rolls Royce, Sikorsky Aircraft, Sound Solutions and Stage III Technologies and employs around 20 people.

The prototype will be 12 feet in diameter and is designed to produce 108 kilowatts of power – a huge increase over the current designs on the market. If the prototype performs as expected models suitable for wind farms will be developed with diameters about 50 feet across and with the capability to produce 700 kilowatts or more of power each which is enough electricity to power around 500 homes.