Commercial and residential buildings suck up over 60% of the U.S.’s electrical power. Alternative energy solutions are needed for both new and existing buildings. AeroVironment, Inc. a company best known for its unmanned aircraft systems may have one solution, a product they call Architectural Wind. AeroVironment was recently awarded three utility patents, six U.S. design patents and 12 European design patents for the Architectural Wind system designed for rooftop installation on urban buildings.
“Our building-integrated wind energy system is designed to provide these leaders with a fresh and highly visible approach to clean energy generation with a goal of providing a payback that is comparable to or better than that of photovoltaic systems.” said Mike Bissonette, vice president and general manager of AV’s Energy Technology Center.
The AV turbine system possesses some appealing features, including: eliminating the support tower, reducing noise and vibration, and a sleek and adaptable modular housing that installs quickly and easily onto buildings without penetrating the roof.
The units are color-matched to buildings, efficient, low profile and intended to be easily integrated into an existing structure. The company is touting its design as having inherent visual appeal, whereas photovoltaic systems are typically located on rooftops, out of sight, Architectural Wind is designed to install easily onto the building parapet, typically not penetrating the roof surface, while operating in plain site as an attractive complement to the building’s architecture.
“Additionally, based on its proprietary system design, Architectural Wind turbines rotate at low wind speeds, resulting in a form of “kinetic architecture” that communicates clearly the generation of clean energy.”
Architectural Wind is intended to offer an attractive ROI and cost per kW of installed capacity. Each unit weighs approximately 200 lbs. and can be fitted with a canopy for visual site integration and a front screen to protect our avian friends.
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From a little further research, it appears that the current AV design can only be installed on buildings with a concrete parapet, meaning the top of the concrete walls extend a couple feet above the actual flat surface of the roof. I might be wrong about this, but it appears to me that the current models could not be installed on steel buildings, for example those owned by small manufacturers and warehouses. They do appear to be an excellent choice for downtown high-rises.
Jerome, The ideal building type for this technology is a low profile building of concrete tilt-up or pre-cast concrete construction. Depending upon where you reside, there are many manufacturing facilities, warehouses and distribution centers that are housed in this construction type.
AV has installed systems on masonry and steel-framed buildings installing footings into the structure, while in the UK, AV used a ballasted system. These first dozen or so installations have been technology demonstrators and AV has been making adjustments as learnings occur. At this time AV is not actively engaging downtown high-rises as there is typically a lot of turbulence, which is not conducive to small wind turbines.
What are the sizes of the AV wind turbines?