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Jellyfish Turbine

The Jellyfish wind turbine has the potential to bring clean energy to the masses!

Between mentioning the perfect flush device and their Green Tech section, Popular Science had a ton of great "green" devices in May's issue.  The Green Tech section contained an article called "Presidential Power" and had suggestions on what Obama can do to "green" the white house.   One of the devices mentioned was the Jellyfish Wind Appliance.

What makes this mini vertical-axis wind turbine so great is that it can plug directly into your power outlet to send it's power back onto the grid.  No added cost for inverters and electricians!  From their website:

And because the Jellyfish combines the same principles and proven technology used throughout the wind power industry – only on a smaller scale, it can be plugged directly into the existing power grid without special wiring or expensive inverters - you literally just plug it into the wall, anywhere there's power. With only one moving part and no brushes to wear out, its virtually maintenance free, relying on the same proven design found in everyday household appliances and industrial motors.

The problem with existing small wind power turbines is that they are large (taller than your house), fairly expensive (around $10,000), and require inverters and electricians.  Also, you would normally need to install an anemometer to measure wind speed to ensure you have enough wind to generate power before you do take the larger step of buying a wind turbine.

The developers of Jellyfish Wind Appliance are targeting a price of $400 for the device, which is not much more than one of the anemometers! The website states the wind turbine would generate approximately 40 kWh per month.  If you pay 10 cents/month for electricity you would generate $4 per month or almost $50 a year of clean power!  Couple that with the fact that it would probably be eligible for the federal tax deduction of 30% and that brings the payback under 7 years!  I say the "coolness" factor alone makes it worth it, but I've been called an "energy nerd" so don't put too much stock into what I say....

The Jellyfish is planning on hitting the market in 2010, so let's hope it can deliver!