Is this "the safest, most powerful wind turbine in the world"?

Well, this looks brilliant, almost too good to be true. A Salt Lake City company has developed what it calls "the safest, most powerful wind turbine in the world".

Called the PowerPod, and developed by Halcium, this is not some huge mega-turbine. The 1kW turbine is about the size of a beer barrel, and looks like a littlegreen R2D2. So, it is ideal for residential properties, public buildings, even a sailboat or camper van. The special blade system in the pod has the effect of effectively increasing wind speed by up to 40%, by funnelling it into a smaller exit before it hits the internal blade. It can more easily produce power from low windspeeds, and can use wind from any direction (useful if the wind is swirling).

It can produce up to three times the power of an equivalent traditional mounted wind turbine, and does not need to be placed on a tall, expensive pole. For this reason, it is safer too, and because the moving blades are entirely contained within the shell of the unit, it is safe to use around pets, wildlife, etc. It can be hooked up to a house or to the local grid in much the same way as solar panels, or it can seamlessly connect with an existing solar system.

The company believes that it should be a cheaper and more efficient green power solution than solar panels, particularly in areas that receive less than 300 days of sunshine a year, which is pretty much everywhere. It has produced some comparisons of the power produced by a 1kW PowerPod compared to a 1kW solar panel array in different parts of the world. In Toronto, where I live, for example, it estimates 9.9kWH  power, compared to 3.0kWH for a solar panel.

I want one! It would look very cool next to my solar panels. Production is still in its early stages, but the product is already receiving lots of buzz among potential financial backers.