Jellyfish Wind Appliance: Plug-In Wind Power

Seattle, October 20, 2008

The Jellyfish Wind Appliance is a new class of wind turbine that is affordable, quiet, reliable and safe, and that anyone can install.

While wind power is one of the more cost effective sources of renewable energy available, few of the systems available today are either practical or affordable - turn-key systems cost thousands of dollars and are difficult to install. As a result, they lack scale, there's no killer energy app out there - until now.

By developing an affordable wind appliance that is quiet, reliable, safe and that anyone can install, Clarian hopes to enable renewable energy generation of unprecedented scale - similar to the way the PC revolutionized the computing industry. Imagine a Jellyfish Wind Appliance for every household!

  Plug-In Wind Power

What if you could plug renewable wind energy into the wall just like a blender or a toaster? Instead of using power, a wind appliance that generates it!

  Jellyfish Wind Appliance Prototype

  Design

The Jellyfish Wind Appliance is a small 36-inch tall vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) with a solid-state controller and a variable-speed induction generator that plugs directly into an existing wall socket and automatically generates power whenever the wind blows. The Jellyfish can be mounted on rooftops, wind towers or even existing street light poles - which are already pre-wired to the grid and have the tower already in place! And, it can generate up to 40 kWh per month in moderate winds enough to light an average home using energy efficient light bulbs. With a target price under $400 the Jellyfish would be an affordable option for many households and developing communities looking to harness wind power for the first time. Working in tandem with the existing power grid, the Jellyfish enables large-scale distributed-generation, delivering power exactly where its needed and reducing the demand for costly transmission infrastructure.

Using a proven rotor design that automatically adjusts to wind gusts, the Jellyfish ensures quiet, safe, reliable operation and runs no matter which way the wind is blowing. The elegant helical design combines form and function, allowing it to fit easily into existing urban environments. And because the Jellyfish combines the same principles and proven technology used throughout the wind power industry – only on a smaller scale, it can be plugged directly into the existing power grid without special wiring or expensive inverters - you literally just plug it into the wall, anywhere there's power. With only one moving part and no brushes to wear out, its virtually maintenance free, relying on the same proven design found in everyday household appliances and industrial motors. Plus, the anti-islanding features inherent in the design of the Jellyfish protects local utility workers in the event of a power outage - if the grid shuts down, the Jellyfish immediately stops generating power, without the need for any special wiring or controls.

  Smart-Grid Enabled

With onboard Wi-Fi/WiMAX the Jellyfish is also smart-grid enabled. Today, wind and solar-powered homes are operated as autonomous points within the local electrical grid. However, they are an overlooked, yet important electrical power resource. If instead, each were harnessed collectively and tied interactively with the local utility grid as a Point-to-Grid (P2G) power generator, or even regulator, considerable economic, environmental and system reliability benefits are possible. By itself, each of these power sources is indeed small in its impact on the power system. In the aggregate, however, the economic value of P2G power is significant, more than enough to offset the initial cost of installing the required control hardware and integrating these systems with the local utility grid. Equally important, the necessary regulatory and energy distribution infrastructure, and hardware components to enable a number of different types of P2G-based systems are already in place today. The convergence of existing distributed electric power and Wi-Fi/WiMAX technologies creates an emerging market opportunity for technology and service providers to enable and accelerate the introduction of various types of P2G-enabled power generation.

  Who Benefits

Given its affordability and ease of use, virtually anyone on the planet connected to a power grid, local community power distribution network or even an off-grid system, would benefit by installing an energy appliance - all thats needed is a wall socket to plug it into. Its the simplicity of this approach, especially in developing communities that rely on renewable sources for power and need to keep cost per kilowatt low. Plugging an affordable energy appliance into an existing electrical socket couldn't be easier - you pick one up at Costco, a department store or local supply depot and have it up and running that afternoon, almost as easy as putting up outdoor lights.

  Frequently Asked Questions

There a lot of wind generators on the market. How is the Jellyfish different from other wind generators?
In two words: simplicity and cost. The Jellyfish is designed to be simple to setup and install. You simply install it on your rooftop or a wind tower and plug it in - the Jellyfish can start generating power right away. And, the Jellyfish will be affordable. Unlike other systems that cost thousands of dollars to operate and install, the Jellyfish is initially targeted to cost around $400, with an eventual goal of around $199 at higher production volumes. With rebates, discounts or tax credits available from your local power utility, it would typically take around 7 years or less to recoup the cost of the Jellyfish.

Is the Jellyfish available for purchase and where can I buy one?
The Jellyfish is still in the development phase as we work on additional design refinements and ensure that it is compliant with all applicable safety and regulatory requirements. We look forward to providing more details about our progress in the near future.

How long would it take to recoup the cost of buying a Jellyfish?
Typically it would take around 7 years to recoup the cost of the Jellyfish, less if there are rebates, discounts or tax credits available from your local utility.

What about maintenance and upkeep?
With only one moving part and no brushes or contacts to wear out, the Jellyfish is virtually maintenance free. Using the same proven design found in everyday household appliances, the Jellyfish should only need a periodic inspection from time-to-time to ensure that it’s in proper working order.

Can the Jellyfish provide backup power in the event of a power outage?
The Jellyfish is not intended to provide backup power when there’s a power outage but can provide backup power in conjunction with a certified back-up power system since the safety features built into the Jellyfish prevents it from generating power during a complete power outage.

Can the Jellyfish be used to charge a battery banks for off-grid systems?
The Jellyfish is not intended to charge battery banks for off-grid systems, but can be used to charge batteries or generate power in conjunction with a dedicated off-grid system.

What about high winds and wind gusts? Are there any safety issues?
The Jellyfish's onboard control unit closely monitors wind speed and operation, and will automatically shut down the generator in high winds to prevent any damage to the turbine or your property.

What about noise?
The Jellyfish does not turn until the wind speed reaches at least 5 mph. On calm, quiet days, the wind turbine will likely not be audible. When the rotor is turning, the sound of the wind passing over the blades will barely be audible over ambient background noise or other noises caused by the wind – such as wind blowing through trees, around buildings, flag and utility poles, etc.

What about birds and wildlife? Could they be hurt or injured?
Because of its unique design, the Jellyfish spins at roughly half the speed of a typical wind turbine, greatly reducing the likelihood of injury to birds and wildlife. And while there is always risk of injury to birds and wildlife with any structure such power lines, utility poles, pane glass windows, communication towers, fences, lighthouses, tall buildings, etc., to put this perspective, the latest research has found that wind power related avian fatalities represent between 0.01% to 0.02% (i.e., 1 out of every 5,000 to 10,000) of all birds killed in the United States and the impact of wind power on bird and wildlife populations has been found to be negligible. And finally, there have been few, if any, reports to date of household-sized wind turbines injuring or killing birds or wildlife.

What about safety in the event of a power outage? How would utility workers be protected if the Jellyfish is still generating power during a power outage?
Safety of utility line workers is paramount and the Jellyfish will be UL certified and meet all safety and certification requirements required by local power utilities. The anti-islanding features inherent in the design of the Jellyfish protects local utility workers in the event of a power outage - if the power grid is shut down, the Jellyfish will immediately stop generating power. In fact, it's not possible for the Jellyfish to generate power without the power grid being up and active.

What about safety for home owners?
Safety of homeowners is paramount and the Jellyfish will be UL certified and meet all safety and certification requirements, as well as national and local electrical code requirements.

Is it OK to put unregulated power back onto the power grid? Won’t that cause difficulties for the local power utility?
The Jellyfish will be UL certified and meet all safety and certification requirements required by local power utilities. The unique design of the Jellyfish ensures that power supplied to your home and to the electrical power grid is phase-matched to the power supplied by your local power utility.

Wind speed is variable and changes all the time, how does such a simple system like the Jellyfish handle this?
The Jellyfish combines the same principles and proven technology used throughout the wind power industry – only on a smaller scale. In addition to an onboard control unit for managing and optimizing power output, the Jellyfish relies on a variable speed induction generator to generate electricity. The curious thing about this type of generator is that it was originally designed as an electric motor. In fact, one third of the world's electricity consumption is used by induction motors for driving machinery in factories, pumps, fans, compressors, elevators, and other applications where you need to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, and vice versa. Another reason for choosing this type of generator is that it is very reliable and is less expensive than other types of generators. It also happens to have some mechanical properties - in particular variable speed control and overload capability - which are especially useful in dealing with wind gusts and varying wind conditions.   

Why wind power, why not solar?
Solar and wind power are complimentary and both are great sources of renewable energy, and we look forward to developing innovative products for this market in the future. The primary difference between the two, at least in terms of cost, is related to payback – the payback period on solar energy based on current costs is around 15-20 years (primarily as a result of the cost of solar panels themselves), while the payback period on wind power is typically around 7 years or less.

  Tutorial and Guided Tour on Wind Power Technology

A helpful tutorial and guided tour on wind power technology can be found here:

  More Info...

For more information about our products and services, or to provide us with your feedback, contact:  

Internet: info@clariantechnologies.com