INVELOX: A Wind-energy solution I can fully support

[RegGuheert]

INVELOX (stands for INcreased VELOcity) is a new approach to harvesting wind energy developed by a company in Minnesota called SheerEnergy. It eliminates most of the drawbacks of the current breed of wind turbines while improving both performance and utility.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVxUrAQEA6Q[/youtube]

This technology was recently chosen to provide electricity on a remote island in the South Pacific at a bird sanctuary:

Because Palmyra is home to more than a million nesting seabirds, conventional wind turbines were not an option due to the risk the of bird strikes.

The Conservancy turned to the Minnesota firm SheerWind, which came up with a prototype design resembling an hourglass turned on its side. Extending 83 feet horizontally with big wind scoops at either end, the design uses a Venturi system that increases wind speed three to six times, with nets over the intake and enclosed blades that keep it bird friendly.

 

[RegGuheert]

OTOH, here is an extremely negative review of the technology at CleanTechnica:

Sheerwind makes radically inappropriate comparisons between their long-disproven approach to wind generation and actually useful wind generation. The numbers show that they are likely about eighteen times worse at generating electricity from moving air than a truly equivalent wind turbine would be, and will require an order of magnitude more material to achieve that.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

INVELOX (stands for INcreased VELOcity) is a new approach to harvesting wind energy developed by a company in Minnesota called SheerEnergy. It eliminates most of the drawbacks of the current breed of wind turbines while improving both performance and utility.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVxUrAQEA6Q[/youtube]

This technology was recently chosen to provide electricity on a remote island in the South Pacific at a bird sanctuary:

Because Palmyra is home to more than a million nesting seabirds, conventional wind turbines were not an option due to the risk the of bird strikes.

The Conservancy turned to the Minnesota firm SheerWind, which came up with a prototype design resembling an hourglass turned on its side. Extending 83 feet horizontally with big wind scoops at either end, the design uses a Venturi system that increases wind speed three to six times, with nets over the intake and enclosed blades that keep it bird friendly.

interesting concept but I have doubts. the first picture is taking wind from on high and funneling it downwards which means it must overcome convention forces in warmer climates. the 2nd picture is obviously more effective with wind in a specific direction only.

 

[desiv]

Well, if it's considerably less efficient than standard turbines, but doesn't kill birds, it still might be a good choice for a wind energy solution at a bird sanctuary.. ;-)

desiv

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

sure I think its a best choice for specific applications. We get too centered on only supporting the "best option" when there are simply too many variables out there. Stand alone wind towers have a lot of drawbacks as well so there is no perfect solution or the near term possibility of one. So why not try it?

 

[RegGuheert]

I'm thinking integration of something like this in buildings within a city might be interesting. I know a couple of skyscrapers have incorporated ducted fans, but this could accept wind from any direction. I think this might make sense in urban landscapes which don't even have overly-tall buildings.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I'm thinking integration of something like this in buildings within a city might be interesting. I know a couple of skyscrapers have incorporated ducted fans, but this could accept wind from any direction. I think this might make sense in urban landscapes which don't even have overly-tall buildings.

very true and the claims of effective power generation at 2 mph windspeed (if true) makes location issues non existent. sure its not the best option but in congested urban areas, it might be the ONLY option especially if this design can be scaled down. now how much it will produce is always a question but I think we are coming to a point where we need to get it anywhere we can.

off topic comment; It is amazing to me that desalinization has not received a lot more energy. it is pretty much an inevitable conclusion that that is where we will end up

 

[kikngas]

The company claims the towers can be much shorter, and the ease of not having the generator 150ft off the ground bring a lot of cost savings. Also, because of the extremely low cut-in speed, it produces several fold more energy than a standard turbine. Largely because there are so many more hours per day that it is generating. I've been watching this company for years. Curious why it has not achieved more installs and validated results and had an IPO.

 

[paulgipe]

I am afraid there's no evidence that this will work, or that it will work as advertised. There's is zero data on performance measured to international standards--their claims to the contrary.

Why this "device" is so embarrassing is that they're claiming to soak up 1.2 million from the Nature Conservancy which could use the money elsewhere for a good purpose. When this "product" fails--should it ever operate at all--some heads will roll--or at least they should.

1.2 million would buy a lot of solar panels--or a decent wind turbine for that matter.

Paul
Books about Wind Power
Book Reviews by Paul Gipe
Inventions & Questionable Turbines

 

[RegGuheert]

Why this "device" is so embarrassing is that they're claiming to soak up 1.2 million from the Nature Conservancy which could use the money elsewhere for a good purpose.

It appears you have misread the press release:

The Nature Conservancy has completed a $1.2 million renewable energy project, installing solar and wind systems that will almost eliminate the use of fossil fuels at Palmyra Atoll.

1.2 million would buy a lot of solar panels...

In fact, it did! 385 of them:

The six-week project saw Conservancy staff and a crew of 30 volunteers install 385 solar panels, a solar hot water system, a deep-cycle battery system to store sunlight for use at night, and a prototype bird-friendly wind turbine — all of it creating a custom 100kW solar micro-grid.

...--or a decent wind turbine for that matter.

By "decent", I'm guessing you are referring to the type which would kill some of the birds which the Nature Conservancy is designed to protect. No, that was not an option for this application:

Because Palmyra is home to more than a million nesting seabirds, conventional wind turbines were not an option due to the risk the of bird strikes.

 

[paulgipe]

You're right Reg. I didn't read the press release. I see press releases like this all the time.

As far as the so-called wind turbine, it's nothing but hype and hot air.

And yes, a real wind turbine was always an option. There are real wind turbines at sanctuaries and parks and have been for years. I've written about them.

The Nature Conservancy has been hornswaggled and someone should lose their job over this.

Paul

 

[paulgipe]

The following is an excerpt from an article I've posted on this topic.

"I’ve avoided comment on SheerWind and its Invelox device previously—I can’t really call it a wind turbine—because I’ve debunked similar claims for other devices many times before. I only mention SheerWind in passing in my 560-page book on wind energy. I include it in a litany of ducted wind turbine flops that failed to meet Carl Sagan’s skeptic’s credo that “extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof.” In this case, SheerWind made extraordinary claims, but offered no proof that its Invelox device could do what it promised—and it still doesn’t.

I wouldn’t have bothered looking into it even now until links to news articles about a furor in Denmark were thrown over my digital transom. Denmark? Surely, they know better? And that was why the flap was resonating in both the local and engineering press. Danes were asking how this could happen in the land where modern wind energy was born. Now SheerWind’s design was more than a “industry-changing” or “revolutionary” invention as such hucksters are won’t to call them. It was an international scandal involving so-called “American” technology. "

In short, the thing doesn't work.

You can read the rest on my web site at SheerWind-Invelox--Is the End Nigh for Another Ducted Turbine?

 

[paulgipe]

Another Ducted Device Dead: SheerWind-Invelox Bankrupt

My inbox saw a flurry of emails 4 January 2018 to inform me that ducted turbine darling SheerWind-Invelox was bankrupt. While the event wasn't much of a surprise, it did take much longer than I'd expected.

While the web site is still live, there has been no activity since August 2017. SheerWind's phone has been disconnected.

In February 2017 I asked Is the End Nigh for Another Ducted Turbine? So, no, I wasn't prescient. I thought they'd be gone by mid-summer when they would fail to meet their contractual obligations to the Michigan National Guard. It's one thing to stiff the Nature Conservancy, but it's quite something else to stiff people with an arsenal of weapons.

Yet it is now official. SheerWind-Invelox is bankrupt with a Chapter 7 filing 29 December 2017. SheerWind will be liquidated. It has zero assets, and liabilities of $3.7 million. Ouch.

You can read the rest of the story at Another Ducted Device Dead: SheerWind-Invelox Bankrupt

. . . SheerWind's liabilities likely don't include the removal of its derelict devices in Minnesota, Michigan, and on Palmyra Atoll in the equatorial Pacific. One of the devices--I don't call them wind turbines--stands forlornly near Chaska, Minnesota. Three of the devices are abandoned at two bases of the Michigan National Guard. One also remains on the Pacific atoll. . .

 

[RegGuheert]

Good call, Paul!