Salt Lake City-based startup, Halcium, is working on a small-scale wind turbine designed as a standalone renewable energy system for individual homes or buildings.

Known as the PowerPod, the portable renewable energy device, which has no external moving parts, is a 1 kW wind turbine that potentially produces 3x more power than a regular turbine. The extra power is due to an advanced blade system in the pod, which increases the wind speed by 40%.

The prototype small-scale wind turbine’s design is intended to collect incoming air from 360 degrees and focuses it into an internal blade. The blade is contained entirely within the stationary shell, making it safe for kids, pets, and wildlife. The external shell does not move – it is fixed in place.

Because of its shape and form, which resembles a dustbin, the PowerPod can take wind from any direction, changing directions, or even multiple directions at once. When regular turbines are in such conditions they can shatter – throwing blades at high speeds.

The PowerPod can be placed on a rooftop, fence, or on top of a public building, campervan, sailing boat, or any secure surface to generate electricity.

PowerPod aims to provide a viable wind energy option to those looking for a complete renewable energy system in cities and towns, or those who are unsatisfied with open bladed designs. The alternator inside can hook into a building’s power grid with the same equipment needed for any other wind turbine.

It can also be added to a solar and/or energy storage system with the same equipment used to integrate other wind/solar/storage systems.

PowerPods are still in the early design phase.

Halcium

Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living