Wind Energy Without Turbines – Is this the Model T of Wind?

Is it possible to make wind energy without a wind turbine?  Thousands of years of spinning blades have taught us to think only one way in terms of harvesting the power of the wind, but could there be another?

Basing their design on the physics of thunderstorms, Accio Energy, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, (named for a spell frequently cast by characters in the Harry Potter books) has a “flat panel” wind generator design, that, like a solar panel, could be produced as modules, and deployed in arrays that could be as big, or as small, as the task and the site demand. The so-called “Aerovoltaic” technology harvests energy by using the wind to move electrically charged particles against a voltage gradient. The panels would be designed to create double the amount of power a solar module of the same size would create.

Inventor David Carmein based the technology on a flash of insight, that he has since learned was not completely new. The idea was proven back in the 1960s, but never brought to market due to cost reasons, and the patent expired.

From Crain’s Detroit Business:
Accio makes an electrokinetic wind generator, or what it has trademarked as an “Aerovoltaic” system. Picture something akin to a large car radiator that can link to other components to scale electrical generation as needed.

Each component is made up of recycled aluminum tubes and has no moving parts. Water is pumped in as wind blows through, forcing a mist of tiny water droplets out pinholes in the aluminum. The flow of water creates a charge, just as it does in thunderheads as water droplets rise and fall on wind currents.

Instead of forming bolts of electricity, though, the plan is that enough electrons will be collected and fed into the electrical grid that it will make sense for large utilities or corporate users to become customers.

Accio, which has two patents in the works and others planned, has three generations of working models in its Ann Arbor laboratory, with the current iteration producing more energy than it takes to run the device.

The technology already has shown enough promise to get about $2 million in seed and ramp-up funding in the way of angel investing, grants and institutional investments.

Last year, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Accio a grant of $250,000. In July, it was announced that the company had received an investment of $250,000 from Troy-based Automation Alley. Other funding includes an investment of $80,000 from the student-run Frankel Commercialization Fund at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and grants from the National Science Foundation and the Michigan Public Service Commission.