Dangerous Dynamic Fluid-Structure Interactions Give Rise To Ingenious Green Innovations

In 2004, Shawn Frayne, a member of a team from MIT visiting Petite Anse, Haiti, found the fishing village near the coast was not connected to an electrical grid, and the only lighting available was diesel-powered or kerosene-based. Frayne recognized that white LEDs powered by a small, very inexpensive wind generator might be better able to power LED lamps and radios in the homes and schools in the area. However, he hit a brick wall – turbine technology is too inefficient at these scales to be a viable option. (more…)