Washington: Apart from that perfect view, your balcony can be used for something more valuable-a personal generator that converts wind and sun to power from a balcony.
Industrial designer Jonathan Globerson`s Greenerator design could be a way to preserve the view while reducing reliance on coal, reports Discovery News.
Looking a little like a cross between a double helix and a barber shop pole, the Greenerator design calls for a wind turbine, a half-dome shaped compartment for the generator, a controller, ultracapacitor, inverter and a solar panel attached to a balcony edge with a rail clamp and floor screws.
Globerson`s design calls for magnetic levitation to reduce the wind turbine friction, as well as flexible thin-film solar cells that would require less material than traditional solar panels.
According to his design specs, the Greenerator wouldn`t be powering your whole apartment, but it could reduce the annual cost of electricity by 6 percent.
The Greenerator alone could power a refrigerator or a 32" flat panel TV, which strikes me as being fairly impressive for such a seemingly small generator.
So far, a 1:4 scale prototype of the Greenerator is up and running: According to Globerson`s site, "the prototype turbine works, although from watching the video I think the design will need streamlining to reduce vibration and noise. Plus, I`d want anything metallic that``s attached to my balcony to go through extensive safety testing-not just for humans, but also for wildlife."
ANI