To some people, electric cars can seem a little pointless. That electricity you’re using instead of gas is often produced by gas, coal, or another similar method. But what if you could charge your car on wind energy?

Driving Like the Wind

A similar turbine to the ones that will be installed at the park. Image credit Sun Sentinal

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, powering up your car might not mean a trip to the gas station. By the end of the year, residents will be able to plug in their vehicles at a wind-powered charging station next to Mills Pond Park. The turbines used are a vertical model with intertwining blades, reaching as high as 55 feet in the air. The design is beautiful as well as functional, meaning it will actually add to the look of the park. And since the blades are vertical, they offer no risk to the park’s avian wildlife.

This isn’t the first charging station in the area, but it’s the first one powered by wind. The reason it’s next to a park is pretty simple: while you’re waiting for your car to charge up, you can take a walk, have a picnic, or even take advantage of the wind by flying a kite.

Technically, the turbines won’t directly be powering the charging station – they’ll be feeding into the park’s overall electrical system. This helps ensure that excess energy won’t get wasted, and that a backup supply will still let you charge your car, even if there’s been a shortage of wind. For Fort Lauderdale residents, it’s a win-win situation.

Combining Function and Appearance

Last week’s post discussed the importance (or unimportance) of the way a turbine looks. In urban settings, the design of a turbine can have a huge impact on the success of an installation. In the Fort Lauderdale case, the turbines are being installed in a public park – which means that the look needs to actively enhance the recreational area.

Vertical turbines are a great choice for this kind of installation, since they are safe for wildlife, quiet, and tend to look better in an urban setting. If Fort Lauderdale’s turbine-based charging system works out, there’s a good chance that we’ll start seeing turbines in many more parks in the future.

There’s a reason you don’t see light bulbs hovering in the middle of nowhere. Anything electrical that isn’t sustaining itself off of battery power has to be plugged in. This means that street lights, telephone poles, and even billboards have to be connected to the electrical “grid.”

So what if you could take a billboard off that grid, and save electricity at the same time?

The Verdegy Billboard

Image credit Verdegey>/a>

The trickiest part of any marketing effort is proving that you’re actually as good at what you do as you say you are. In some cases, your reputation for customer service is enough. But sometimes, a small gimmick can actually make your point for you.

That’s the case with Verdegy’s new, completely off-the-grid billlboard. The company, which specializes in the use of green energy, decided to show off their potential by powering their billboard with two vertical turbines and a handful of solar panels.

Verdegy uses HI-VAWT technology. These small, vertical-access turbines are easy to use for projects that don’t require a mammoth turbine that could generate enough power for 500 homes. The billboard itself is fun, grabs attention, and is completely self-sustaining.

Thinking Small

Using turbines to power a billboard could save an immense amount of energy, and open up more possibilities for advertising and road signs. Imagine if you didn’t have to run an electrical wire to every important highway sign or light; you could illuminate dark mountain roads, or add lit road signs to areas where it is too dangerous or simply too expensive to create an electrical grid.

Large turbines can have a huge impact on the area they are used in. But even if you don’t live near a huge wind farm, you can still enjoy the benefits of sustainable energy. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to take a look at the many smaller uses of wind turbines, from individual projects to powering your home.

Got a small VAWT project you’d like to see us talk about? Drop us a line in the comments!