Wind turbines generate more controversy than electricity. While research suggests that some yield less power in the course of a year than it would take to illuminate a lightbulb, your decision to erect one in the garden can have neighbours up in arms. And while local authorities are becoming more amenable to the idea of small-scale renewable energy generation, it is still – technically – necessary to get planning permission before putting one up.

Hopefully things should get easier as more efficient, smaller and quieter models are rolled out. Last year’s BSI Sustainability Design Awards highlighted work in this area, with first place taken by Ben Storan’s radical vertical turbine. Storan (right), an MA graduate in Industrial Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art, developed his more efficient turbine in conjunction with Imperial College, turning traditional designs on their side to take advantage of slower rotational speed.

That’s important in built-up urban areas, which aren’t ideally suited to turbine siting as surrounding buildings impede the free flow of passing air. This new design should generate up to three times the amount of energy put out by a traditional turbine without any increase in wind speed; that’s about 1.2kW with winds of 12 metres per second.

A welcome side effect is far quieter operation, which should do much to ease neighbours’ concerns and smooth the planning application. The design is unusual and fairly attractive, but it’s still not all that small, with an overall height of 4 metres, and a span of 2.5 metres.

Interest in the project has been strong, and by his own admission the last few months have been ‘hectic’ for inventor Storan. He had a show in LA for Wired magazine, and travelled to Peru to shoot the pilot for an American TV show called Imagine This.

He bagged £3000 for taking first place in the BSI Awards, which will be used to research and realise his design, which now forms a part of his Mphil project, alongside research into the design aspects and consumer opinions and usage of domestic wind turbines, particularly in urban areas.

‘I have had a few offers for putting it into production,’ he told Blagger. ‘I am determined to put a thorough phase of testing and evaluation in first. The first prototype should be ready in the coming months.’

If all goes well, that prototype could lead to a modified version of the turbine hitting the market some time next year. It’s enough to have us holding off on investing in a traditional turbine for the next 12 months at least.

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