These stylish wind turbines generate safe and reliable energy in cities

The Dutch-American company Flower Turbines creates elegant tulip-shaped wind turbines that pose no danger to wildlife and whose noise is undetectable to humans.

Dr. Daniel Farb, the company’s CEO, addressed these issues with patented aerodynamic innovations. While most wind turbines start at 3 m/s, the Wind Tulip is already producing 25-30 watts at this speed. Moreover, traditional turbines cannot be placed close together at the risk of interfering with each other. On the other hand, Wind Tulips drive wind tunnels into each other – making their neighbours perform 20-50% better. 

Thanks to these innovations, these good-looking turbines are extremely efficient (up to 40%, against 7-10% for their conventional counterparts), especially under slow wind and in limited spaces. They are, therefore, particularly adapted to urban settings.

Why does it matter? Wind farms’ opponents often cite noise and biodiversity concerns along with aesthetic issues. As a result, city residents do not leverage wind energy, despite its huge potential, and rely on solar power as a local source of clean energy. However, the latter doesn’t perform well at night or during the winter. 

The Wind Tulips make wind energy available for everybody by allowing people to live and work next to them. Coupled with already existing solar energy sources, they could be the future of locally-produced urban clean energy.