Turning wind into vibrations and vibrations into electric power.



Wind power is usually seen in the form of larger and larger wind turbines with blades hundreds of feet across, setting atop huge towers jutting into the sky. Beautiful structures, but you know they’re there.

Students at Cornell’s Vibro-Wind Research Group have a better idea. According to Inhabitat, a group of Cornell students are working on a super cheap, simple efficient method to turn wind into vibrations and vibrations into electric power.



With a $100,000 grant from the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future’s Academic Venture Fund behind them, they’ve been working on their design, a panel mounted with foam oscillators, for the past semester.



Here’s how it works: the wind vibrates the foam, just as it rustles the leaves in your yard, and the vibration is converted into electrical energy by using a piezoelectric transducer–a ceramic or polymer device that releases electrons when stressed. This is the same principle that lights your gas BBQ.

Unlike big wind, these panels can generate juice from the smallest breeze- anything that makes them vibrate will generate watts. The research group hopes that their “vibro-wind” panels could be put in places that don’t have the space, money or prevailing winds that traditional wind turbines require. Watch this space- coming to a rooftop near you. Then sit back and feel the good vibrations!