Husband and wife invent new wind turbine technology

A husband-and-wife team have invented a new type of wind turbine which they are poised to launch later this year.

Jimish and Krupali Patal said their innovation uses “edge wind technology” which is designed to generate electricity closer to the point of use.

The couple have launched a UK company called AirPlus Renewables and will unveil their patented design, named XEVA, later this year when they will present real-time data from deployments in Europe, North America and Saudi Arabia.

“We started AirPlus with a very simple idea,” said Jimish Patel. “Energy should be cost-effective and accessible for anyone and everyone. For us, energy is a necessity, not a luxury.

“XEVA has been developed to bring power production closer to where it’s needed most. It gives organisations a practical way to generate power on site, reduce dependence on the grid and make better use of the spaces they already have.”

Decentralised deployment

Designed for decentralised deployment close to where energy is used, XEVA has been developed to capture both turbulent and non-turbulent wind, which Patel said makes it suitable for commercial settings such as hospitals, data centres, colleges and council buildings, including installations on rooftops and at the edges of buildings.

Planned deployments include a hospital in England and commercial and government buildings in the Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, the US and Canada.

Patel said these sites have been selected not only to demonstrate the technology in real-world settings, but also to test its performance in a range of demanding conditions, from dense urban environments to coastal locations, desert expanses for sand and heat exposure and mountainous terrain for snow and cold exposure.

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He explained that while micro wind turbines are often scaled-down versions of conventional wind systems, his invention “is intended for all environments, but also operates extremely effectively in built up environments, where airflow is shaped by nearby structures, allowing energy generation on site, where it is actually needed.

He explained the term ‘edge wind tech’ which he uses “draws on the idea of edge computing, where processing happens closer to where it is needed and reflects the fact that the turbines can also be strategically positioned at the rooftop edge of buildings to harness accelerated wind flows created by natural building-edge aerodynamics, maximising energy generation efficiency from wind resources that otherwise wouldn’t be used”.  

Speedy setup

For most installations, he said the unit is supplied fully assembled, so it can be lifted into place and connected using a setup like solar installations. The company expects installation of the main product to take around 90 minutes.

“XEVA has been designed to improve the way smaller wind systems capture usable airflow,” said Patel. “By designing and arranging blades to reduce ‘wind blind spots’ and by operating in locations where conventional systems are often less effective, the technology will make fuller use of the wind available in built up environments.”

However, he added: “The most important thing for us now is the data. We have chosen these deployment sites very carefully because they will allow us to see how the technology performs in very different real-world conditions.”

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