Broadstar’s AeroCam Breaks the Wind-Watt Barrier

Amid veritable fields of wind turbine options the Broadstar AeroCam stands out with an innovative design that packs a powerful turbine into a compact form factor. Constructed to spin on a horizontal axis, the micro-turbine’s multiple aerodynamic blades cut a profile similar to a water wheel and allow it to intuitively track the path of the wind as it rotates. The turbine is the industry’s first to shatter the $1/watt cost barrier, and Broadstar aims to make its AeroCam turbines a go-to option for rural, urban, and wind farm in-fill applications.

Since solar panels are finally starting to see an influx of small-scale and residential applications, we couldn’t be happier with the growing crop of micro-turbines that aim to make wind power an option in areas less inclined to sunshine.

Broadstar’s turbines aim to provide more power and choice of location than conventional turbines as well as “a lower total cost of acquisition and ownership and a faster payback period. The AeroCam has the potential to equip almost every local community, business and government building with its own renewable energy power station and it can supplement existing turbines.”

The AeroCam’s unique design allows Broadstar to manufacture, transport, and install, and maintain it at lower costs than conventional turbines. A 250kW system will retail for $250,000, making it the world’s first turbine to break the $1/watt cost barrier. The AeroCam is designed to operate smoothly in wind-speeds from 4-80 mph, and these low rotational speeds mean that it produces a negligible amount of noise.

Since Broadstar turbines are optimized to function at lower wind speeds, they are perfect for small-scale residential and commercial applications, and they also would be excellent at filling the niches between towering propellers in wind fields. Broadstar Wind Systems have produced a working prototype and are currently in negotiations to place the product with two Fortune 100 companies

http://www.broadstarwindsystems.com/home.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/06/broadstar-wind-turbine.php

by Mike Chino