The Wind Turbine That Flaps Its Wings Like Ali
Filed Under: Green Technology on November 7, 2009
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” -Mohammed Ali
These little wind turbines take that to heart. Designed by Green Wavelength, these turbines look to take the “turbine” out of wind capturing technology. They’re calling it the xBee and it debuted at Perfect Pitch 2009.
The wings are nineteen feet in span and made of aluminum and carbon fiber. Instead of spinning, they flap like a bee’s wings, rotating to and fro as they move up and down in bumble bee fashion. Each turbine of this size is capable of creating up to 10kW of power.
The xBee prototype became a top 50 finalist at the Perfect Pitch, putting it in the running as a realistic business model and technology.
Here’s video of the xBee at that event:
