Rooftop mini turbines can pair with solar panels

A new type of wind turbine can pair well on roofs with solar panels, offering a double source of green energy generation for buildings.

The new turbine concept, by a startup called Aeromine, sits on the edges of roofs and has no visible blade. Instead, the devices draw in air between two airfoils. The flow of air turns a turbine inside the device.

The technology uses the aerodynamic effect of the wall below it to amplify the wind speed. Because the units sit on the edge of roofs, they leave plenty of room for PVs.

When the units are manufactured at scale, they’ll be cheaper than solar panels, producing 50% more energy at the same cost, the company says. A building could add batteries to store energy so that the combination of wind, solar, and batteries could make the building energy self-sufficient.

Aeromine sees its initial target market as commercial buildings such as warehouses with long flat roofs. The technology could also be used on apartment buildings. The company plans to launch the product by the end of next year.

Solar provided a record-high 7.3% of U.S. electrical generation in May, “driven in large part by growth in ‘estimated’ small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar PV whose output increased by 25.6% and accounted for nearly a third (31.9%) of total solar production,” according to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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