WindSurf- Smart energy for the 21st century

Conventionally designed wind turbines only operate efficiently in steady, uninterrupted air. For this reason,

most sites are away from customers to take advantage of areas with constant clean wind. Our commercial

partner ( autarkE) reports that many customers want to site turbines close to light industrial operations.

However, they advise them not to, because conventional designs do not work efficiently with the swirling,

variable nature of wind at such sites. We present a radical re-design of vertical axis wind turbine, with key

technological improvements that will allow efficient operation in small-footprint, urban sites. Such sites have

the added advantage that they are close to consumers, minimising transmission losses.

WindSurf is a vertical axis, active pitching wind turbine. Our patented control technology uses servomotors to

continually alter blade pitch. This allows self-starting in windspeeds as low as 3m/s. We seek funding to build a

16.4kW prototype, certify our design and device, establish a production facility and launch it commercially.