FloDesign gets $200K from MIT competition for better wind turbines

Wind power turbines have looked pretty much the same for decades, and the basic design concept has stuck for centuries. That’s something FloDesign wants to change, with a turbine design that takes its cues from jet engine design.

Like some other recent, different designs, FloDesign says its upgraded turbine outperforms the commonly accepted type, generating two to three times more power and causing less noise and avian death.

Exciting as that sounds, some problems may remain, not least the greater amount of materials a jet-inspired turbine would seem likely to need. However, FloDesign has also made claims in that area, telling Massachusetts High Tech last month that it can “produce 50 percent more power than a three-blade turbine, at half the size and 30 percent less cost.” (Also see that article for pictures of the beast.)

The business plan contest FloDesign won, the MIT Clean Energy Entrepreneurship competition, is fairly prestigious, so we won’t make any bets against the company. It raked in a $200,000 prize pot. The Boston, Mass. company also previously took $500,000 in funding from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

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