Think-Dash: Wind Turbines with Solar Panels Coming Soon?

Wind Turbines with Solar Panels Coming Soon?: "

Here’s one a number of folks have probably thought of but not many have ventured to pursue: wind turbines that have solar panels on the blades. Yeah, don’t even know what kind of name to give these. Well, the researchers at the University of Liverpool who have developed a prototype wind turbine like this are calling theirs “Heat Waver” — not bad, but think someone could come up with something catchier.

So, a little more info?

Dr. Joe King and his team came up with this innovative idea in order to make even more use of wind turbines and maybe quiet the claims of those who don’t want society’s energy system to ever progress and so love to point out that the wind doesn’t blow all the time and wind turbines are thus not perfect.

Of course, practically speaking, if this turbine design works, it could have a tremendous impact.

“While we are no strangers to windy weather here in the UK, it can be intermittent in other regions. Solar panels may only be useful here during our ten days of summer or an occasional heatwave, but in countries such as Morocco, Italy and Spain they could make a real difference,” Dr. King Said.

Some Initial Problems with the Turbine Design

As you might have thought just from looking at the image above, what about the glare? Well, yeah, that was a problem intitally. And not only that — the researchers concluded that the panels could even create “lethal” solar rays that could potentially set buildings on fire if concentrated. To avoid that, and blinding pilots and passers by, the researchers came up with a “tinted” solar panel that doesn’t reflect sun beams.

Ireland to Get the Solar Wind Turbine Prototype?

The team is looking to install their Heat Waver prototype soon (maybe this summer) but needs to nail down a good location for it. Ireland may be that place. England is too gray for it, Dr. King thinks, but he considers Ireland’s strong winds and “wonderful summers” a good fit for it, “plus my family live there so I can go visit!”

Is this a Transformational Technology?

The research team is pretty convinced this could have a major impact on the renewable energy market, especially in certain locations.

“We still have several tests to run,” Dr. King said, “but we are confident we can transform the world’s renewable energy needs. Just think what our turbines could do in countries like Australia.”

What do you all think? (I know we have some very insightful and critically-minded folks on here.)

h/t Inhabitat