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How Szpur Harnesses Power from the Wind
“I’d like to see my ideas for clean wind power developed. That would really help people.”
Szpur’s idea was to use two cups--set up so the open sides faced each other--to catch the wind instead of regular turbine blades.
Not only does the air swirl smoothly around and through Szpur’s cup design, but the vertical orientation of the cups conserves energy (since they’re not working against gravity) and reduces noise.
In fact, Szpur’s turbine is so efficient that it doesn’t need to be pointed into the wind, as other wind turbines do.
The new turbine will spin and generate electricity no matter which way the wind is blowing.
“I did some experiments with an eggshell, splitting it in half, setting it up cavity facing cavity, and then blowing on it to see how it reacted.
It [helped] to study it in a light breeze or making use of smoke [so I could] see how the wind moved around it. The energy it generated was amazing.
It was a really efficient configuration.”
Szpur has developed 14 different variations of his new wind turbine, which are currently licensed for power production in Japan, China, and Mexico.
He’s also planning on modifying one of the turbines and using it to power a boat. “I’ve bought a catamaran that we’re going to test it on.
We’ll circle around some boats and they’ll look at us and won’t have any idea how we’re able to move around.”
Szpur’s other inventions range from the first non-lens focusing system for lasers to a mechanized waffle-making machine.
“When I can see a machine or a process that’s not working I can begin to come up with ways or ideas for making it better.”
Next: Continue
to next section,“Find Opportunities in Obstacles”›
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