Novel wind power solutions blow hot with SolidWorks

Says SolidWorks CEO Jeff Ray: "MicroWind and Magenn demonstrate the kind of thinking that will make wind power a practical, economically feasible electricity source on a large scale." And he adds: "[They] are confronting engineering and design obstacles that have prevented [wind power] from working on a large scale – even if that large scale is actually a lot of small turbines working together." MicroWind Technologies is the creation of entrepreneur Michael Easton, who designed residential scale wind turbines as part of a research project, then started the company to develop it commercially. "The simpler it is to make, the less likely it is to break," says Easton. "We used SolidWorks to design a simply constructed and aesthetically pleasing turbine that can fit into a residential or small business area." Meanwhile, Magenn approaches the issue of fickle winds from a different angle. Instead of waiting for wind to come to it, Magenn's MARS (Magenn Air Rotor System) turbine goes to the wind. It is a 50 x 120-foot lighter-than-air device that floats 600 to 1,000 feet above the ground to catch currents present almost everywhere. MARS rotates to generate up to 100kW per hour, then feeds it down a tether to a grid or battery array. "Traditional fixed turbines work in 15% of the world. We're the solution for the other 85%," says Mac Brown, Magenn's COO. "SolidWorks helps us experiment with different turbine configurations, compare their power outputs, and save thousands that we used to spend on outsourced simulation work."