Adrien
um.
So you get to blow on your cellphone all day? Or put it outside in the wind all day to charge it?
I think it's cool they can make these things, but I don't see how they can be particularly useful. The cross-section area of the turbine is so small it simply doesn't have much access to any wind energy.
The Skud
What an amazing miniturisation idea! I had an idea - make a lot of little tiles designed to electrically link together into larger sections and cover the wind-facing side(s) of a house! At worst they could power the exterior lighting needs by each little tile or larger section feeding a LED bulb or two. At best, with a low energy eco-house, they could help keep the whole thing running!
Bobbert
I think this is an excellent development if modified to the right application. At lot of a car's energy is lost through air drag. Maybe you can use that drag for a bit extra electrical power. You will never get a complete aerodynamic car but you might increase the efficiency.
Mel Tisdale
@ Bobbert
I think you might be on to something. You might like to develop it into a perpetual motion machine, it has all the necessary features.
Lewis M. Dickens III
Why is it that wind engine idiots cannot get beyond 3 blades?
Clearly one of the worst configurations for maximum extraction of wind power.
Bill
F.Gogoni
April first?
CliffG
It saddens me to see bright researchers frittering their lives away on such meaningless "problems." We have an energy problem but it's unrelated to cell phone charging. I am sure there will be new and useful applications for MEMS technologies. While these cute little windmills are a nice demonstration of what can be done, I suggest Professor Chiao find a more compelling use.
Magnetron
I like this idea but what if it rains or is dusty outside?
Maybe place it next to an aircon outlet to charge your phone? A lot of companies have banned phone/computer charging because of soaring electricity prices. Could be good for a well ventilated office.
sk8dad
Perhaps marginally feasible if an array of these are used. I did a quick calculation using P=A*1/2*pV^3.
A = approximate area of iphone 5 ~ .0075m^2 p = air density at sea level ~ 1.225 kg/m^3 V = 15 mph ~ 6.7 m/s a reasonable wind, about the speed of the average city bike commuter. This is just as a starting point.
In a theoretical world, assuming you are 100% efficient and your micro wind turbine array has an effective area of the size of an iPhone5, you only get about 1.4 watts. But in the real world, I'd be impressed if you got 25% energy conversion efficiency out of it as alignment, obstructions, turbulance, and nearby surface can all drastically decrease efficiency. Add to hat, packing efficiency. Then there is the roughly 0.9 packing limit of circular shapes. Factor in support structures and wiring, I'd venture to guess that you have a 0.8 packing efficiency, So, say you can achieve 25% conversion efficiency and 0.8 packing efficiency, you end up with about 20%. In other words, you could generate only about 0.28 Watts. Divide by 5V, you get 56 mA of current to device being charged. For the example iPhone5, with it's 1440mAh battery, it would need over 25 hours to fully charge.
In other words, useless except during storms which no one in their right mind would leave their expensive smart phone out.
Gadgeteer
@ Lewis M. Dickens,
"Clearly" one of the worst configurations for maximum extraction of wind power? Are you the commenter who used to call himself "Island Architect" and always touted Bill Allison's 1970s vintage eight-bladed turbine as "clearly" superior, so superior that nobody has used the design in any way, shape or form even though the patents have expired? As a character in an old movie once said, "I do not think that word means what you think it means."
A better design would be a competitive advantage, and "clearly" no wind energy company would continue to use an inferior design if such a better one existed, unless you believe in tinfoil hat conspiracy theories.