Clever: Windbelt, Cheap Generator Alternative, Set to Power Third World

[Tom Higgins]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4224763.html?series=37
By Logan Ward
Video by Virtual Beauty
Video Produced by Allyson Torrisi
Diagram by Dogo
Published in the November 2007 issue.
2007 Breakthrough Awards

Working in Haiti, Shawn Frayne, a 28-year-old inventor based in Mountain
View, Calif., saw the need for small-scale wind power to juice LED lamps
and radios in the homes of the poor. Conventional wind turbines don't
scale down well—there's too much friction in the gearbox and other
components. "With rotary power, there's nothing out there that generates
under 50 watts," Frayne says. So he took a new tack, studying the way
vibrations caused by the wind led to the collapse in 1940 of
Washington's Tacoma Narrows Bridge (aka Galloping Gertie).

Frayne's device, which he calls a Windbelt, is a taut membrane fitted
with a pair of magnets that oscillate between metal coils. Prototypes
have generated 40 milliwatts in 10-mph slivers of wind, making his
device 10 to 30 times as efficient as the best microturbines. Frayne
envisions the Windbelt costing a few dollars and replacing kerosene
lamps in Haitian homes. "Kerosene is smoky and it's a fire hazard," says
Peter Haas, founder of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group,
which helps people in developing countries to get environmentally sound
access to clean water, sanitation and energy. "If Shawn's innovation
breaks, locals can fix it. If a solar panel breaks, the family is out a
panel."

Frayne hopes to help fund third-world distribution of his Windbelt with
revenue from first-world applications—such as replacing the batteries
used to power temperature and humidity sensors in buildings. "There's
not a huge amount of innovation being done for people making $2 to $4
per day," Haas says. "Shawn's work is definitely needed."

In a conventional wind generator, gears help transfer the motion of the
spinning blades to a turbine where an electric current is induced. The
Windbelt is simpler and more efficient in light breezes—a magnet mounted
on a vibrating membrane simply oscillates between wire coils.