VATIS UPDATE Article

The Aeroleaf is a micro wind turbine developed by NewWind, France, to capture urban winds, accumulate watts and produce kilowatts. The choice of a vertical axis generator brings the benefits of silence and a compact design shaped like a leaf. The Aeroleaf is sensitive to all types of wind, turbulent or laminar, which allows a self-starting process at very low wind speed. The advantage of the Aeroleaf is its ability to reach significant power from small winds.

In addition, for each wind speed there is a corresponding optimum Aeroleaf rotation speed that provides the maximum power generation. To leverage on each available Watt, NewWind developed an electronic card with a micro-processor that keeps each Aeroleaf autonomous and drives the Aeroleaf rotation to its optimum speed for its own wind exposure.

Finally, a centrifugal brake helps to protect the components from excessive wear and tear at high wind speed, thus allowing a life span of 15 years. Jérôme Michaud-Larivière has been working towards an innovative solution inspired by nature with a goal to generate electricity to be directly used by the nearby connected infrastructures or services. On-site production and consumption, combined with an esthetical and natural design will allow for the development of better cities.

Energy harvesting in the urban environment is crucial as most of the worldwide population is living in cities. Focusing on the wind energy that poetically moves leaves in the parks, Jérôme Michaud-Larivière is interested in understanding the turbulences and potential of urban winds. A difficult and unstable energy that is both abondant and readily accessible to all. By its peaceful and elegant tree-shape, the WindTree revolutionises the concept of the wind turbine by hiding all the technology within the leaves and tree structure.