Click on the question that interests you!
"I'm planning to drift a waste recovery platform at sea. If we put WindBoxes on top of it, will it work?"
"And why not put them on my car so I can charge it while I'm driving?"
"I have a ventilation system on my roof... Do we use it for WindBoxes?"
This is one of the most frequently asked questions in the contact box!
That's right, the air comes out of the ventilation system continuously. What's more, the air speed is sufficient to set the WindBox blades in motion.
BUT, to exploit this air, the WindBox should be positioned as close as possible to the exhaust vent. Indeed, if you move it back, the air is slower and won't produce much. However, this arrangement will create excess pressure in the ventilation motors, which will consume as much or more energy than the turbine would produce at the outlet.
In fact, doing this would be equivalent to :
- Clogging a vacuum cleaner duct
- Install solar panels in front of the windows of south-facing houses.
On paper it looks interesting, but on the ground it's a little trickier.
"It's blowing on the highway... Should we put WindBoxes on?"
The rooftop wind turbines we design work best with "continuous" winds (not a series of gusts). Air movements caused by passing vehicles are by their very nature punctual: they don't last long enough and are too irregular to trigger the WindBox electronics and produce electricity.
Installation on freeways would require the construction of additional infrastructure, and would be costly both financially and environmentally.
"I do traveling events and I'm looking for a renewable electricity production solution".
The dream: to go to a festival that's self-sufficient in electricity!
In theory, a rooftop wind turbine can operate in many different locations, as long as the building complies with our installation conditions. So it's not hard to imagine installing and de-installing modules as events unfold.
In practice, however, the logistics of a touring event are not compatible with WindBoxes.
- On the one hand, provided that each date includes an eligible building, WindBoxes will not produce the same amount of energy depending on their location. An event date in Brest will produce much more than one near Strasbourg.
- Organizing the movement of WindBoxes is also costly, especially as the WindBoxes don't generate any electricity while they're on the move.
The result is variable, unprofitable electricity production, and counter-productive effects linked to the factors we have mentioned.
"Have you thought about putting some on the subway? It blows!"
It's true that it's blowing hard, and in theory a WindBox could work with these air currents. We've never looked into the matter at WIND my ROOF: technically, we'd have to check the intensity of the winds, their frequency and direction, before embarking on the design of an adapted wind turbine.
In practice, where do you put the WindBoxes? Each module occupies four square meters, is 1.60m high and weighs 350kg. To make matters worse, they can be installed in packs of 5.
Public transport is already complicated at the moment, and we don't want to take the place of Ile-de-France Mobilités in the hearts of the people of Ile-de-France.
"Can the installation be done on a tiny-house?"
Today, WIND my ROOF does not equip private homes, which are often :
- not very high ;
- in dense urban areas that block the winds;
- with sloping roofs.
The concept of these "tiny houses" appealed to us: we've had several requests for them, and the resulting lifestyle is atypical. Usually occupying a surface area of 4m² and towable by a vehicle, they are nevertheless too small to accommodate our roof-mounted wind turbines (see our installation criteria).
"Can you cool the air in my neighborhood? "
Over the years, the WindBox has often been mistaken for a VMC, but as you can imagine, it's nothing of the sort. We won't be able to cool your neighborhood, but the question of cooling is nonetheless important for the operation of the WindBox, particularly for the solar panels we place on top of the modules. As for the wind turbine, it doesn't overheat.
Insurers (and fire departments) are increasingly reluctant to install photovoltaic solar panels on roofs, as the risk of fire is too high. By placing the wind turbines below the solar panels, the air flow will cool them down. As the panels are not placed directly on the roof cladding, the associated risk of fire spreading is also reduced.
"Why not stack WindBoxes to gain height?"
Here too, production would not be optimal! In fact, the last WindBox would be the most efficient , because the wind is lazy and chooses the path that requires the least effort. The others would be useless, equivalent to a wall like the rest of the facade.
Going for height, on the other hand, makes sense for producing more energy. That's why technical advances in wind turbines have long focused on their size.
On our side, a larger rotor would also enable us to produce more electricity, but town planning regulations prevent installations that are too high on roofs (for the time being). The size chosen for our first version is an optimum between size, production and acceptability.
Why shouldn't you?
We discussed the correct installation conditions in an article published in December 2022: Installing rooftop wind turbines | WIND my ROOF | Blog. And if your building meets our criteria, send us a message! Our sales team will diagnose your site and start dimensioning an installation.
