Saturday, December 5, 2009

A More Durable Wind Turbine

Photo: Wheels turning: The blades of CWind's wind turbine move an internal flywheel and several shafts that attach to small generators within the nacelle. In the lower image, a rubber wheel rolls on the inside wall of a flywheel inside a 65-kilowatt prototype turbine. Credit: CWind

From Technology Review:

New design does away with the need for a complex gearbox.

A Canadian startup has developed a small prototype wind turbine that uses friction instead of a gearbox to convert wind energy into electricity. CWind, based in Owen Sound, Ontario, recently began work on a larger two-megawatt prototype. The company claims that its "friction drive" system is more efficient and reliable--and less costly to maintain--than conventional wind turbines, which are prone to expensive gearbox failures.

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