Wind turbine farm from California Institute of Technology groups turbines together to increase energy output.

Benefits

  • Increased energy generation
  • Increased efficiency
  • Increased performace

Applications

  • Commercial and industrial energy generation

UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

  • Goal 7: Affordable & Clean Energy

The Challenge

Wind turbines are a reliable source of clean energy but when placed together in a farm, they take up a large amount of space and can negatively interfere with one another.

Innovation Details

Inspired by the way fish can reduce the energetic loss by swimming in a school, vertical axis wind turbines are placed close together so that individual turbines can capture downstream airflow produced by neighboring turbines. This reduces the total area needed for the turbines while increasing energy output by up to 10-fold.

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