Aeromine is making wind power more accessible with their new 10-foot bladeless turbines that fit perfectly on top of a roof rather than out in a field. This new technology, designed to work alongside rooftop solar panels, has solved two of the biggest issues plaguing rooftop wind power: noisy blades and negative impacts on wildlife.
Aeromine’s turbines have no spinning blades, so the turbines are not only quiet, they are harmless to birds, bats, and other animals. In addition, they are less expensive than solar panels and can produce 50% more energy. One unit essentially equals 16 solar panels.
The University of Houston spin-off startup is perfecting how these wind turbines fit on commercial buildings, with hopes for smaller applications in the future. Aeromine is working on the product for use in warehouse and distribution centers, office buildings, multi-family residential complexes, and big box retailers.
The units are inexpensive to build and require little assembly and a simple installation. Each nearly-cylindrical turbine sits on the edge of the building, allowing 20 to 40 turbines to sit along each side, leaving the rest of the roof available for solar power collection. The company is currently refining it in test runs on several buildings in Detroit and Wyandotte, MI.
“A commercial building amplifies the wind speed,” said David Asarnow, CEO of Aeromine. “As the wind hits the airfoils, it creates a negative pressure that sucks the wind that’s hitting the building through an internal propeller on the bottom of the unit, which creates the energy production which connects directly to the building.”
That natural energy — wind, unlike solar, happens 24 hours a day — means one Aeromine unit can provide the same amount of power as more than a dozen solar panels can, even on moderately windy days.
It also means that if a building has battery units designed to store natural wind power, it can power itself fully without any fossil fuels.
The new turbines are one piece of the puzzle as the U.S. transitions to net-zero emissions. For Aeromine, it’s about stretching the boundaries of renewable energy and challenging others to keep pushing for smaller carbon footprints. When used alongside batteries and solar, the company’s technology can make any building more sustainable — and in terms of energy cost alone, it delivers 150% more energy per dollar spent.
“I like to think of this as kind of disruptive and complimentary to the solar business,” Asarnow added. “Our production can be stronger. At the same time, when you pair the two, you really have a path for on-site energy independence.”
