Wind from the Sun

Wind from the Sun is a new technology for obtaining power from the sun and wind. This hybrid system turns the sun's light into heat, then uses that heat to create a wind within a horizontal large-diameter pipe. The wind inside the pipe is converted into electric power using a series of wind turbines.

1. The Collector: A large area of land is covered with a material with low reflectivity (dark in color). This material converts the sun's light into heat.

2. Heating the air: The collector increases in temperature in the sunlight, causing the air above the collector to also increase in temperature. The heated air increases in volume and decreases in pressure.

3. Hot Air Rises: The hot air over the collector also rises. Cooler air moves in from the land around the collector to replace the rising hot air. The collector continually heats the air. Thus, the air pressure over the collector remains lower than the air pressure over the surrounding land.

4. Air Channel: A very large diameter pipe (or "air channel") connects the area of low air pressure over the collector to an area of higher air pressure away from the heat of the collector. Air moves through the air channel from high pressure to low pressure, creating wind.

5. Wind Turbines: A series of very large, pressure-staged wind turbines within the air channel turn the wind into electricity with a high degree of efficiency. Each air channel can contain several turbines and a large collector may support more than one air channel.

This technology is very new, untested, and unproven. The aim of the Wind From The Sun project is to prove that the technology works and to determine how much power can be derived from such a system.