Fully enclosed wind turbine should quiet the NIMBY crowd

Wind power has long been a favorite of the tree hugging environmentalists, but as with most great ideas, you’ll also find a NIMBY (not in my back yard) crowd complaining about everything from bird strikes to the swishing noise created by the rotating blades. Personally, I think wind farms are really cool, and they show that we’re actually doing something about energy besides chanting drill baby drill.

The Fuller Wind Turbine from Solar Aero Research addresses most of the anti-wind crowd’s concerns. With a fully enclosed turbine, the Fuller doesn’t draw attention to itself, won’t thwack birds out of the sky, and requires minimal maintenance. Based on a 1913 Nikola Tesla patent, this type of turbine is incredibly efficient, and even a small unit like the prototype shown in the pictures can deliver about 5kW in a 15 knot wind.

This looks like a great solution, but it’s not available yet. Solar Aero is looking to license the design to manufacturers.