Think of wind energy and you probably conjure up an image of giant turbines. But students in Cornell’s Vibro-Wind Research Group have a different model of wind power in mind. They’re working on an ultra-efficient, cheap method to transform vibrations from wind into clean energy with a $100,000 grant from the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future’s Academic Venture Fund.
Undergraduate students at Cornell have been working on the design, which consists of a panel mounted with foam oscillators, for the past semester. The conversion from mechanical to electric energy was achieved using a a piezoelectric transducer–a ceramic or polymer device that releases electrons when stressed.
No word on when the students’ design might be commercialized, but eventually the group hopes that vibro-wind setups could be placed on buildings that might not have room–or money–for traditional turbines. We’ll be watching to see what else these enterprising students come up with.
This is really great to see that this kind of innovation will reduce the total carbon generated in the world. World is moving toward the balance of power generated from fossil and renewable energy sources. This kind of development instilled more enthusiasm.