Windbelt

The Windbelt is a device for converting wind power to electricity. A windbelt is essentially an aeolian harp except that it exploits the motion of the string produced by the the aeroelastic flutter effect to move a magnet closer and farther from one or more electromagnetic coil(s) and thus inducing current in the wires that make up the coil.

A famous example of aeroelasticity is the fall of Galloping Gertie, the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The film of the collapse is commonly shown to engineering, architecture, and physics students as a cautionary tale.

Prototypes of the device are claimed to be ten-to-thirty times more efficient than wind microturbines. One prototype has successfully powered two LEDs, a radio, and a clock using wind generated from a household fan. The cost of the materials was well under US$10.

A recent improvement on this original prototype increased efficiency hundredfold bringing the cost down to around $2 a watt. There are three sizes in development currently. A 'micro' version that could be used to charge small gadgets this will be able to be put into production in as soon as six months. Additionally there is a 1-meter version that could be used to charge multiple cellphones simultaniously, and most importantly, LED lights for third world areas. This will be able to be put into production within 18 to 24 months. There is an experimental 10-meter iteration that has an unknown completion date.

The Windbelt's inventor, Shawn Frayne, was a winner of the 2007 Breakthrough Award from the publishers of the magazine, Popular Mechanics.