The final-year mechanical engineering students from Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering, Bangalore have come up with the innovative idea of using wind turbulence as vehicles pass by at high speed to generate electricity of up to 45 volts. Which can be used to power streetlights, caution lights and traffic lights in the city, which in turn can reduce dependence on power from conventional sources.
The system works on the concept of converting kinetic energy from wind into electrical power. The Vertical wind turbines are to be placed on the highway dividers – which can rotate even at low wind speeds (1.5m/s). Since, highways are designed for 40, 60 and 80 km/hr speed lanes, these turbines are placed on the dividers. Vehicles going at 80 km/hr are the major source of power for these turbines.
These vertical axis helical turbines are compact and fully fabricated in aluminum. They can constantly generate electricity of 25-45 volts, which is stored in batteries and used for various applications. But if the government can adopt this idea and build it on a larger scale, the city can be lit 24/7. The model could potentially help ease an energy crisis as it harnesses freely available wind energy and is renewable. These turbines can be installed on long high-speed expressways, like the Golden Quadrilateral. where a considerable amount of electricity can be generated for lighting up the highway lights.
The turbines is designed to be portable and detachable and can even be kept on terraces or balconies to generate and store power for domestic use.