Alternative energy is moving in some pretty exciting directions lately, and the AirEnergy 3D is a big step toward making clean, renewable, inexpensive energy available to everyone. The assemble-it-yourself device is a lightweight, portable wind turbine that can be folded up and carried in a backpack.

The AirEnergy 3D is powerful enough to charge several devices at once by plugging them directly into the turbine’s base. However, power can also be stored in an on-board battery for later use – or it can plug right into a home’s power system to provide supplementary electricity. The creators of the project will keep their design open-source, meaning that anyone with a 3D printer and some basic skills can construct their own.

One of the goals behind the project is to provide power where there is no grid, starting with communities in Africa.  Solar power is obviously only available in the daylight hours, but the AirEnergy 3D could continue providing energy long after the sun sets. It generates up to 300 watts of power, which may not sound like much but is enough to charge your phone or MP3 player, power a lamp, and keep your laptop running.

The portable nature of the AirEnergy 3D means that you can move and reposition it to catch the maximum amount of wind. It also fits nicely in a backpack, making it perfect for camping when you don’t want to be entirely removed from civilization. The Kickstarter project for the AirEnergy 3D topped its funding goal, with early adopters getting their own DIY kit for around $480. The initial investment might seem steep, but the money you would save on electricity over time would not only pay for the turbine, but for the 3D printer it was made on as well.

The post Power to Go: Folding Wind Turbine Fits Into a Backpack first appeared on Gajitz.

In the U.S. and many other parts of the world, wind turbine “farms” have become common sights. MIT startup Altaeros Energies is taking wind power in a completely new direction with a helium-filled wind turbine that will harness wind power from 1,000 feet above the ground. The turbine will float above Fairbanks, Alaska for 18 months, providing power to a small number of homes that are currently not on the electrical grid.

At that altitude, wind speeds are five to eight times more powerful than those nearer the ground. Floating turbines like Altaeros Energies BAT (Buoyant Airborne Turbine) can produce twice as much power as their earth-bound counterparts. The floating wind harnesses have a wide potential far beyond just producing electricity; they could also be used to provide data and cellular service in otherwise-inaccessible places.

Floating turbines can also be quickly deployed to disaster sites to provide much-needed communication even when the traditional infrastructures are not functional. For this initial experiment in Fairbanks, Altaeros has been awarded a $1.3 million grant to test, refine, and further develop this very promising concept.

The post First-Ever Floating Turbine Will Power Off-Grid Homes first appeared on Gajitz.

In the early 21st century, solar cell phone chargers were almost unheard of. Now, they’re practically a dime a dozen. But a solar charger has a big design flaw: it needs the sun in order to work. When it’s dark, cloudy, or raining, you’re out of luck. One element that you can almost always count on, though, is the wind.

Minnesota-based company Skajaquoda is betting that there will always be at least a little breeze no matter where you are. Their Trinity Portable Wind Turbine Power Station is a charger that uses the clean energy provided by the wind. It can charge any USB device and is ultra-portable, folding down into a small 12″ long cylinder.

When you need to charge a device, you pull the Trinity’s three legs down and its three blades automatically pop out. The legs can be set lower so that the Trinity rests right on the ground, or pulled together to elevate the Trinity a bit and perhaps catch some more air. There are small holes in each leg so you can tack them down into the ground and prevent the wind from toppling the whole thing.

The spinning blades work with a 15-watt generator to charge a 15,000-mAh lithium-polymer battery, which should be able to charge a phone four to six times. However, if you want to leave the battery at home you can plug your device directly into one of Trinity’s two USB ports and charge it directly from the generator. If you want to go the opposite way and just use Trinity as a portable charger, though, you can charge the internal battery at home via a wall charger.

The Trinity weighs in at a rather bulky four pounds, but that extra weight will help it stay put in the wind. It’s also waterproof so you can charge its internal battery even when it’s raining outside, which is something that solar chargers will never be able to top. As of the time of publication, Skajaquoda is raising money on Kickstarter to produce and ship the first generation of Trinity chargers, and you can get one for a $279 pledge.

The post Charging is a Breeze With a Portable Turbine Phone Charger first appeared on Gajitz.

Although most of us agree that relying (at least partially) on alternative fuel is good for the planet, most of us are still confused about how to go about implementing alternative power sources in our own homes. The Wind Cube concept from designers Liao-Hsun Chen and Wen-Chih Chang would make it easy to convert homes to wind power with little more than a screwdriver.

The little fans attach to the outside of a house with three screws and activate with a power cord and a switch. Just like large wind turbines, they generate power when they turn, then feed it into the house’s power supply.

An array of fifteen of these little fans can provide enough power for the home of a family of four: about 324 KW each month. The array is connected in a honeycomb kind of configuration that makes the entire structure stronger. If ultra-strong winds threaten to rip the turbines right off of the wall, the blades can be pushed in to be nearly flush with the wall, protecting them until calmer weather.

There is no information yet on just how affordable these energy-generating fans would be, but they would definitely provide a significant savings in utility costs. And it has to be said that these futuristic-looking fans would make just about any home exterior look way cool.

The post Dedicated Fan Base: DIY Turbines Power a Family of 4 first appeared on Gajitz.