- Grab your wallet and take out the smallest coin you have… Now imagine that you install dozens of micro windmills on them, millimeter sized.
- Researchers at the University of Texas (US) developed a wind turbine this size, yet capable of charging smartphones.
- The micro windmill, designed by professor Chiao and associate Rao, are so tiny that a single grain of rice could hold 10 of them. The researchers also developed gears, inductors, pop-up switches and grippers that are all as small as a fraction of the diameter of a human hair.
- The researchers envision putting hundreds of micro windmills in a sleeve for a cell phone. By waving it in the air or by holding it up to an open window on a windy day, the micro windmills generate electricity for the phone’s battery.
- “When the phone is out of battery power, all you need to do is to put on the sleeve, wave the phone in the air for a few minutes and you can use the phone again”, according to Chiao.
- The Taiwanese company Win-MEMS (Micro-Electrical-Mechanical-Systems) is exploring ways to commercialize the turbines. The university applied for a provisional patent.
- Chiao said the technology’s deployment could be extended to home energy. Thousands of turbines could be mounted on home or building walls to produce the energy needed for lighting, security, wireless communication and more.
- Watch this video to learn more about the amazingly small technology.
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Source: EcoWatch
Link: Innovative Wind Turbine Smaller Than a Penny Could Power Your Smartphone | EcoWatch.
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