Wind and solar charging can reduce the environmental impact of electric cars; but one New York-based company wants to combine them in a power-generating device that could be used for EV charging stations or anywhere a grid buffer system could help limit power outages.
Change Wind Corporation has developed the Wind and Solar Tower, which the company claims is the first to combine wind and solar energy on one site. Each 82-foot-tall tower requires just two square meters of ground, includes a six-blade wind generator with self-cleaning solar panels on top, and can be combined with a 1,000 kWh energy storage array .
Solar and wind power combined generate up to 52.5 kW, for a total annual output of 169,000 kWh, according to Change Wind Corporation. That’s enough to deliver 8,455 EVs per year for a 20 kWh road trip, the company claims. Up to six vehicles can charge at the same time, activated by the internal battery storage.
Wind change – Solar and wind towers, for grid charging/buffering
The company also claims that the design can generate power with only 5 mph winds, compared with the 26 mph minimum for commonly used propeller/pinwheel designs. And what’s more, the company claims, the design doesn’t generate noise or require maintenance on those. It also doesn’t kill birds.
In 2021 Autoline In an interview, Change Wind Corporation CEO Jim Bardia said each tower would cost $484,000 to install before the investment tax credit applies, or $376,660 after the credit. He said that in 30 years when energy costs are equalized, the average cost of electricity will be 6.5 cents per kWh.
The company refused to provide Green car report with the price of the full product today but said it could be lower than that.
Inventor Jim Bardia started the design work in 2010, and Change Wind Corporation first proposed his design many years agobut seems to have run into problems when it comes to commercializing it — including Refusal of trademark registration because the shape is not considered special enough. The company confirmed that two full-generation towers were built in Pennsylvania and tested for five years, but both have now been brought down for design analysis. They have withstood strong storms.
Sanya Skypump – GE
This is also not the first wind-powered charging idea. Revealed just over a decade ago, Sanya Skypump is a 4 kw vertical shaft wind turbine mounted to a 42 foot tall tower.
Even if the turbines aren’t in place, wind can still power EV charging stations. America’s first wind-powered EV charger opened in Chicago in 2010; befits Chicago’s “Windy City” moniker. In 2009, Denmark started testing a grid-connected vehicle system used the vehicle’s battery packs to store excess energy from the country’s wind farms.
Meanwhile, Electrify America has already started the installation Solar charging station. Whether it’s wind or solar (or as Change Wind Corporation hopes, both), renewable energy allows electric vehicles to bypass emissions from fossil fuel-powered power plants, while also reduce the load on the power grid.
