If vertical wind turbines could be made thin enough and effecient enough, they could be placed on house rooftops and be very discrete (maybe only about 12 inch tall and 12 feet diameter). A top plate could conceal the spinnig blades. The contest could require that the turbines have a max area, max height, and must work for a certain amount of time (months?). On the start date, entrants would build their turbines on a specific site. The organisation(s) sponsoring the contest would get the rights to the generated electricity. The group with the most effecient turbine after the time frame would win the prize money. Entrants would also pay to enter. I think this would be a great opportunity for many engineering universities and for the organisation(s) sponsoring it. It could also lead to MANY new “rooftop” turbine concepts that could help power individual homes, without having the large “windmill tower”. Maybe a similar concept could be used for the most effecient solar panel?
I am talking about a “Savonius Wind Turbine” type…. Google for pictures. It has a vertical axis and the wind turns the blades from the side. But apparently, there is not a “perfect” design for the blades, hence the contest.
