As part of attempts to ensure a clean energy generation project, the Windstalk concept has been introduced in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi. The wind farm consists of about 1,203-carbon fiber-reinforced resin poles that stand 55 meters high and are anchored into the ground in concrete bases. While the entire display appears to be a strange wind farm, the 1200 poles are a shocking spectacle for UAE residents who don’t understand the purpose of this wind farm project.
More about the Windstalk project
Windstalk is a concept for an entirely wind-powered generator that doubles up as a public space. For this project, hints as to the direction in which the wind sways are taken into consideration. To be exact, the Windstalk project in Masdar consists of 1203 stalks anchored 55 meters high above the ground. There are concrete bases that range between 10 to 20 meters in diameter.
The stalks that can be seen are made of carbon fiber-reinforced resin poles that are 30 cm in diameter at the base and 5cm at the top. The very top of the poles are lit up by an LED lamp that has the power to glow or dim depending on how much wind is blowing. When there is no wind, the poles are still, and the light goes dimmer.
Much of the excitement comes from the sight of this strange spectacle in which the bases of the poles touch each other and form a kind of carpet-like fabric. Another interesting fact is that the bases of the stalks are shaped like elliptical vortices. When the rainwater slides down these poles, it slides down the slopes of the bases to collect in the space in between allowing plants to grow wildly.
How do these wind farms work?
Contrary to what is expected, these wind farms don’t solely rely on the wind to turn the turbine to generate electricity. Although when we commonly think of wind farms, we think of farms dominated by wind turbines, it’s time to say goodbye to wind power and wind farms with turbines. With this wind farm, the pole sways in the wind, the stack of piezoelectric discs is compressed generating a current through electrodes. This is all done in a visual way to show how much power the poles are generating. The minute that the wind stops, the LED lamp goes dark.
To further maximize the amount of electricity that the Windstalk farm would generate, a torque generator is placed on the base of the pole. As the poles sway, fluid is forced through the cylinders converting the kinetic energy of the swaying poles into electrical energy. Since the electricity-generating potential of a wind farm ultimately depends on the amount of wind, designers have devised a way to store energy. To compensate for the possible loss of wind energy, a kind of battery or capacitator was devised to store energy.
The beauty of these wind farms
So, while devising a plan to store energy is one part of the equation with these wind farms, another interesting bit is the chambers are shaped like bases of poles but inverted again and again. Due to the structure of an upper chamber and a lower one below, when the wind blows, part of the electricity generated powers a set of pumps. These pumps move water from the lower chambers to the upper ones. In cases where there is no wind, the water from the upper chambers flows downward again turning the pumps into generators.
Despite the evident beauty of this technological advancement, residents living near these wind farms have shared concerns about the aesthetics as well as the low-frequency vibrations that are apparently generated by wind turbines. The Atelier DNA Windstalk Concept is, however, an award-winning one. The concept has taken second prize for combining aesthetic intrigue and artistic concept with clean energy generation and thus there is hope for these wind farms. It’s important to know about all kinds of upside-down wind turbines as they are a new source of energy.
