Have your car generate it's own power (Wind Panel Generator)
Imagine a world where cars can create their own energy simply by harnessing the forces of nature surrounding them. This is achievable by capturing the wind power that is passing over the car as it cuts through the wind. I will do this by creating wind panels (They would resemble hood scoops from the outside) that are built in or bolted on to any electric or hybrid cars. The inside of the wind panels would consist of small turbines that rotate with the power of the wind (the faster you go the more power you generate).Imagine a world where cars can create their own energy simply by harnessing the forces of nature around them. This is achievable by capturing the wind power that is passing over the car as it cuts through the wind. I will do this by creating wind panels (They would resemble hood scoops from the outside) that are built in or bolted on to any hybrid cars. The inside of the wind panels would consist of small turbines that rotate with the power of the wind (the faster you go the more power you generate). These turbines are attached through axles to small A/C generator's that rotate and create a current that will charge the batteries of the hybrid car. So as long as you are moving you are generating your own power. This idea can be adapted to diesel trucks or electric trains that move across country and are constantly cutting through the air at high speeds. This can change the way vehicles are made, how we power them and most importantly the cost to operate them!
I've thought about the possibility of this for years. Fantastic idea and I would be thrilled to see this idea take shape.
@ Andrew, Josh: Think about it like this. A suburban encounters an “X” amount drag while getting you from point A to B. So the “X” amount of drag is a constant factor. So a car with wind panels or a car without wind panels would still always have to overcome drag. Would you agree? Then from an engineering standpoint, all you need to do is design a car that has built in wind turbines and encounters an equal amount of drag as a car does that does not have wind panels. Then what becomes the difference between the two cars if they both get you from point “A” to point “B” and they both have the same amount of drag? I would say the difference is that one car is using that constant “X” factor and recycling it back into energy and increasing its operational distance just how the regenerative breaking system is increasing the MPG. These wind turbines work with the fact that a car always has to overcome an “X” amount of drag. So if you developed a car that was basically a driving wind turbine instead of a driving brick (like the cars are today) you would still have a vehicle that gets you from point A to point B while also recycling some of the energy used to overcome the drag in the first place. I know this idea sounds far out there but I feel that it is possible. I am not yet a certified engineer, but I am a mechanical engineering student and my passion is in developing and implementing new green technologies that will elevate man out of this destructive era of fossil fuels. We as engineers are on the forefront of this global change and we need to collaborate and work together for the good of all mankind.
@Andrew F: While there is always drag present, you have to consider the location. Like Andrew A said, this might work if you put it in the front of a semi or train. However, on the sides/top of a trailer like you suggested, the boundary layer is quite small and therefore the pressure is quite low (effectively laminar). Adding a 'surface defect' such as a turbine inlet would increase drag.
Now, the front has more significant drag, but you have to engineer against the alternatives. Making use of that pressure differential would likely mean cutting airflow to the radiator. If you think about it, the front end of a truck would likely be much smaller (well, more pointy at least) if it didn't require that surface area for cooling the fluid in the radiator. Introducing a turbine there would only reduce flow to the radiator, which would require further enlarging the front end (therefore increasing drag and likely negating gains from the generating system in the first place). The generating system would also add weight, cost, and further cooling requirements to boot.
While I agree that this is an area that we could still improve in considerably, think of why regenerative braking works so well. It is replacing an existing function (deceleration) and sometimes even using components that are already present (at least in a plug-in). Traditional braking systems require energy to be exhausted only as heat (frictional rotors on a car, flap drag on a plane). I'd suggest paying a LOT of attention in your differential equations and control systems classes and then giving a shout out to the SAE aero team. They have an electric plane project, and adding a regenerating feature may allow them to keep the battery weight down (or at least reduce regular charging requirements). Planes already have props and turbines (and a fresh market), just add control systems expertise (a very difficult area for many, including myself) and reap the rewards.
A world where cars create their own energy would be a huge change from ours, of course. I've always wondered how we can make things more enviromentally-friendly. I think I do my best when I play on a Yamaha P95 digital piano as it does not harm the environment. It doesn't generate its own power, though. I guess that would be the next step
I have not read all the comments. I have thought about this for an aircraft, but feel it better suited to a ground vehicle. The major issue that I saw, which causes me to not look into this further, is that as you move a wind turbine will cause drag on your vehicle. The question becomes, do you get enough energy out of the turbine to account for the excess drag added?
Perhaps this could be solved by putting the turbine through the front of the car instead of on the sides and guiding the air through and out the back. Further study on the applicable forces is warranted.
Source- Degree in Aerospace Engineering
@Andrew A: Bingo. Conservation of energy says that you can only get out what you put in. The turbines would simply create extra drag, which would require extra energy input. We are probably better off trying to reduce drag through improved aerodynamics (see the hideous shape of the new 'green' cars) and further implementing regenerative braking (this could be applied to tractor-trailers and trains, if it isn't already). Planes can also apply regenerative braking by reducing power and allowing the airflow to drive the motors/turbines (like this: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/07/hybrid-aviation/).
Source - Degree in Mechanical Engineering :)
Whether a wind panel generator is possible, or impossible, is besides the point. The point being is that while driving there is always wind resistance passing over the vehicle. That resistance can be harnessed into mechanical force, and then transformed into electrical energy. That is a fact. The question then becomes, how can I develop a system that will work with the natural aerodynamics of a vehicle and passively harness the wind power; and how can the wind panel generate more energy than it consumes?
Whether my prototype works or not; does not matter to me, what does is that I have an idea and I need to follow it through to the end. If in the end it does not succeed; at least I had the passion to go out there and transmute my idea into reality. That is what matters to me. May I ask you a question, what are you doing to help solve the problems facing humanity, and how are you to be so certain my idea will not work? Have you built exactly what I have in mind and proven it impossible? The world needs people like me, people who see the big picture and the inherit faults of society, and know how to fix them. I do not label anything impossible because I do not have the luxury of complete and absolute knowledge of the universe. Neither does anyone else. So you should not be so closed minded as to what is possible and what is not.
Andrew,
Just came across your wind panel generator proposal. I have always wondered why something like your idea hasn't already been done. Maybe it falls under the heading of 'if it were possible, it would have already been implemented'. However, it seems to me to still be worth examing. I have always wondered whether putting small wind turbines in the front grill would generate enough power to power an all-electric car plus keep the batteries charged. If this were the case, no fuel would be required at all and the car wouldn't even need to re-charge by connecting to the grid. If a large wind turbine can generate a lot of power, can a couple small wind turbines generate enough to power a car?
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