A hybrid power station working solely by wind and sun, the Wind & Solar Tower (WST), had its global unveiling at this year’s Detroit motor show.
The tower is a featured attraction at the show which runs from September 13—15.
The automated 1:18 scale model demonstrates how clean, off-grid power can charge electric vehicles (EVs) in a way that is cleaner and more efficient than anything now available. A full-size tower operated seamlessly and flawlessly for five years, even surviving two hurricanes, said Jim Bardia, inventor of the device.
The tower combines two infinitely renewable power sources — wind and sun. The commercial-scale towers are for charging when motorists are away from home and also provide the comfort of lessening range anxiety. As they require no connection to the grid, towers can be placed almost anywhere for public access
“The Detroit Auto Show is one of the most influential annual automotive events in the world and a showcase for emerging technologies such as the Wind & Solar Tower,” said Bardia. “With its vertical axis wind turbine, frictionless levitation hub and self-cleaning/self cooling solar panel, the tower generates prodigious electrical output on a small footprint, making it a compelling addition to EV charging choices.”
Unlike other charging systems, the tower can function independently of the grid or be supplemented by the grid.
“The US electric grid needs strengthening because it is being asked to deliver far more energy than before,” said Bardia. “But we can’t spend billions of dollars to build additional power plants that will increase pollution by burning more fossil fuels. Using more wind, solar and hydroelectric power is the key to survival of our grid and the continuation of the comfortable lives we’ve come to enjoy.”
He quoted a study by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory which determined that the electricity used during an average 30-minute full charge of an EV at a level-3 DC fast charger is the same amount of electricity needed to power 50 homes.
“With federal rules calling for a high level of EV sales, it’s obvious we don’t, or won’t, have the power to charge the electrics. Without significant infrastructure changes, utilities will burn more fuel to power today’s electric plants or build more dirty plants to try to come close to generating the amount of electricity needed. Both of these are expensive, dirty and backward solutions.”
These two modes of generating emission-free electricity combine for 252kW and can charge an EV at level-4 with 380kW at 1,000v, demonstrating that “clean” charging does not have to compromise performance. Up to a megawatt of battery storage can be integrated. The owner of a tower doesn’t pay for electricity, thus eliminating a major cost of conventional units.
The tower employs a vertical axis wind turbine that catches wind from all directions. Topping the airfoil blades is a rotating circular solar panel that is self-cleaning, thus eliminating dust, soil and bird droppings to maximise solar energy reaching the cells.
The Wind & Solar Tower generates electricity from both the sun and a vertical axis windmill, and will help supply EVs with the enormous amount of power they need.
The aptly named Wind & Solar Tower EV charging station is set to make its world debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. An automated 1:18 scale model of the tower be on display at the Plug and Play Startup Arena from September 13-15.
“The Detroit Auto Show is one of the most influential annual automotive events in the world and a showcase for emerging technologies like The Wind & Solar Tower,” said the inventor of the tower, Jim Bardia. “With its vertical axis wind turbine, ‘frictionless’ levitation hub, and self-cleaning/self cooling solar panel, The Tower generates prodigious electrical output on a small footprint, making it a compelling addition to EV-charging choices.”
The Wind & Solar Tower collects electricity from both the wind and the sun to generate enough power to charge EVs. Capable of working without any connections to the wider power grid, Bardia suggests that they will be a vital step in the move toward the mass adoption of electric vehicles.
“The U.S. electric grid needs strengthening because it is being asked to deliver far more energy than ever before,” Bardia said. “But we can’t be spending billions of dollars to build additional power plants that will increase pollution by burning more fossil fuels.”
The company cites a study by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that suggest that the average 30-minute Level 3 DC fast charging session uses as much electricity as 50 homes. With accelerating demand for the new-energy vehicles, it concludes that a station that can generate its own electricity could help meet demand.
It says that since Wind & Solar Towers don’t need to be connected to the grid, they are ideal for remote locations, and can be installed anywhere space is sufficient. Meanwhile, the vertical axis windmill can catch the wind wherever it’s coming from.
The station is capable of charging vehicles at rates of up to 380 kW and 1,000 volts. A full-size test tower has been operating for five years, in which time it has survived two hurricanes.
“Only renewable energy can provide EV charges without stressing the grid and dirtying the air,” Bardia concludes. “Fortunately, ‘clean’ charging is a choice. Sooner or later, emission-free charging will become standard – and the sooner that happens, the better for our grid and our health.”
In the race to transition to all-electric powertrains, the question of where the electricity will come from is often pushed aside, leading to fears that the supposedly clean EVs of the future will in fact rely on carbon-producing fossil fuel power stations when it comes time to plug in at a charging station. To that end, new and innovative renewable energy solutions are needed to ensure the EV transition has a positive impact on emissions. Now, a new hybrid power generation system that utilizes both wind and solar energy will make its debut at the 2023 Detroit Auto Show.
Framed as the world’s only hybrid power station, the Wind and Solar Tower incorporates a vertical axis wind turbine capable of utilizing wind from any direction, which is paired with a rotating, circular solar panel. This combo is capable of providing energy in a variety of weather conditions, and is not required to be connected to the broader energy grid, making it a good choice for remote areas. In addition, the solar cells are self-cleaning, upping the efficiency that much more. The new system can be integrated with an EV charging station.
A 1:18 scale model of the Wind and Solar Tower will be on display at the 2023 North American International Auto Show (better known as the Detroit Auto Show) in conjunction with the Plug and Play Startup Arena at Automobili-D. According to the company that developed the Wind and Solar Tower, a full-sized tower was built and operated for five years, supposedly surviving two hurricanes during that time. The combination of solar and wind power generation can provide 252 kilowatts, serving as a charging station with Level 4 capabilities at 380 kilowatts and 1,000 volts. The charging station can also include up to a megawatt of battery storage.
“With present federal rules calling for a high level of EV sales, it’s obvious we simply don’t, or won’t, have the power to charge the electrics,” said the inventor of The Tower, Jim Bardia. “Without significant infrastructure changes, utilities will burn more fuel to power today’s electric plants or build more dirty plants to try to come close to generating the amount of electricity needed. Both of these are expensive, dirty and backward solutions.”
By Craig Cole, evpulse.com
The aptly named and cleverly designed Wind and Solar Tower combines the benefits of wind turbines with those of solar panels to create one relatively compact system that puts out big power.
As part of the federal government’s “Rulemaking” process, CWC responded to a Request for Comments from the Treasury Department regarding our recommendations for incentiving Electric vehicles (EV) and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV).
The Wind & Solar Tower™ uses the slogan "Below Grid Parity™" to emphasize that being "green" no longer carries a cost penalty over being "dirty." WSTs can produce substantial amounts of electricity with no fuel cost, bringing the expense of making power down to the point where WST power is below parity with costs of conventional generation.
The Wind & Solar Tower™, the world’s only electricity-generating charger powered by a combination of wind and sun, is far more than an efficient and novel way to charge electric vehicles quickly. In remote locations, it can bring reliable, clean electric power to rural, off-grid villages – not only providing electricity where needed – but also saving lives.
EV charging isn’t as green as you’d think. More than 60% of our electric grid is powered by burning dirty fossil fuels. Using that dirty grid to charge electric vehicles (EV) only adds pollution and greenhouse gasses to the air we breathe.
Change Wind Corporation introduced the Wind & Solar Tower (WST) to provide pollution-free level-4 DC charging for electric vehicles. According to a statement, the tower provides level-4 DC ultra-cast charging, 328 miles of range in about 15 minutes, and 653,000 miles of pollution-free driving per year.
Made possible by a charger powered by a combination of wind and sun, the WST generates 61.5 kW of pollution-free electricity per operating hour for EV charges or any other use. Because they do not need a grid connection, the towers can be installed in rural and remote locations far from a grid that would otherwise add pollution and greenhouse gasses to the air we breathe. The WST also uses no external water supply, needing only centrifugal force to clean its patented rotating solar panel with fresh morning dew.
Each WST is capable of charging six vehicles simultaneously at Level-4 DC ultra-fast charge rates of 6.333 kW per minute that add about 22 miles of range. To maximize charge rates and number of charges at ultra-high kilowatt and voltage levels, each WST is equipped with integral battery storage ranging up to one megawatt. The WST’s battery-based DC modular architecture accommodates plug-and-play upgrades that assure the WST’s longevity.
A start-up electric vehicle charging company has come up with a unique solution for charging vehicles using wind and solar power. Change Wind is developing the Wind and Solar Tower, a freestanding unit that incorporates both a wind turbine and solar panels along with battery storage to provide grid-free service for electric cars.
The towers, better presented to the world back in March, also offer a solution for charging electric vehicles in rural areas or along major highways to facilitate EV road trips. The company says the Wind and Solar Tower is capable of supporting so-called Level 4 DC charging with a flow rate of 380 kW at up to 1,000 volts. At that level, the system delivers 6.333 kW, roughly 22 miles of range, per minute. That works out to over 300 miles of range in 15 minutes.
While current cars don’t have the systems to accommodate that rate, the company says the new 800-volt architecture of the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 is a step towards being able to charge vehicles at higher and faster rates than current Level 3 technology.
Also, the higher voltage and kW flow would be ideally suited for charging large electric semi-trucks. In the meantime, Wind Change would also be able to offer more traditional Level 2 and 3 charging capability.
The Wind & Solar Tower provides Level-4 pollution-free charging
NEW YORK, May 3, 2022 – More than 60 percent of our electric grid is powered by burning dirty fossil fuels. Using that dirty grid to charge electric vehicles (EV) only adds pollution and greenhouse gasses and pollution to the air we breathe.
Improving air quality and helping improve our climate will require pollution-free EV charging methods. While EVs represent an improvement over vehicles that burn gasoline and diesel, better and cleaner charging is needed to lessen greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change.
Due to conversion losses in the electricity generating process, power plants burn almost 3 kilowatt (kw) hours of fuel to deliver 1 kilowatt of electricity to the grid, resulting in a tremendous waste of energy and an increase in pollution. In 2019, utility-scale power plants consumed 38 quadrillion BTUs of energy to provide 14 quadrillion kilowatts of electricity. That means that more than 60 percent of the fuel burned to make electricity is lost to thermal, mechanical and generator inefficiencybefore a single kilowatt enters the grid. Then, another 5 percent of that electricity is lost within the transmission and distribution grid.
Pollution-free Level-4 DC Charging: Goodbye Dirty Air and Grid Strain
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the Department of Energy reports that in 2020, the average American suffered through eight hours of electrical outages. Our grid comprises more than 9,200 generating units and depends on more than 600,000 miles of ~300,000-volt transmission lines that in many cases are 40 years old. There are also millions of miles of low-voltage power lines with distribution transformers, some of which are more than 50 years old. With these weaknesses, the grid is in continual peril of brownouts and blackouts. The only “clean” and sensible way to take pressure off the aging grid is to add distributed renewable generation.
Due to rolling blackouts, California experienced 25,281 electric power outages in 2019, a 23 percent increase from 20,598 in 2018. Those outages victimized 28.4 million electric vehicle customers, a 50 percent increase over the 19 million Californians affected in 2018.
To travel 100 miles, the average EV requires approximately 30 kilowatt hours of electricity. The average American home consumes roughly that amount in an entire day. If EV adoption and single-family home forecasts bear out, by 2030, EVs will consume as much electricity as 35 percent of single-family homes in the U.S. Based on the annual average of 13,474 miles driven by passenger cars and 12,435 by last-mile delivery trucks, EVs will consume more than 137 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratorycalculates the grid load of a single grid- connected DC fast charge as equal to the electrical consumption of 50 homes during the charging period. Multiplying that load by 18.7 million EV passenger cars and 10.4 million last-mile delivery EV trucks creates a problem in supplying the vast amount of electricity required for charging those vehicles. The overarching challenge becomes how to satisfy this instantaneous power demand, or surge.
Boston Consulting Group predicted in 2019 that to meet increased demand, utilities will need to invest $1,700 to $5,800 per electric vehicle in grid upgrades through 2030. That grid infrastructure upgrade would require an investment of up to $178.7 billion by 2030.
The Wind & Solar Tower: Level-4 DC Ultra-Fast charging, 328 miles of range in only 15 minutes, and 653,000 miles of pollution-free driving per year
WSTs provide Level-4 DC Ultra-Fast charging just about anywhere
One solution that provides the needed clean energy, convenience and fast-charging is Change Wind Corporation’s patented Wind & Solar Tower (WST). It generates 61.5 kW of pollution-free electricity per operating hour for EV charges or any other use. This is made possible by the world’s only charger powered by a combination of wind and sun. Because WSTs do not need a grid connection, they can be installed in rural and remote locations far from a grid. To maximize charge rates and number of charges at ultra-high kilowatt and voltage levels, each WST is equipped with integral battery storage ranging up to one megawatt.
MIT scientists determined that dust and other particulates inhibit solar panel output by up to 30 percent in only a month. Commercial solar installations are estimated to consume 10 billion gallons of water for panel washing. That figure is equivalent to the drinking water consumption of 2 million people. Countering that expensive and wasteful water usage, the WST uses no external water supply, needing only centrifugal force to clean its patented rotating solar panel with fresh morning dew.
Each WST is capable of charging six vehicles simultaneously at Level-4 DC Ultra-Fast charge rates of 6.333 kW per minute that add about 22 miles of range. This metric is based on a conservative estimate of 3.46 miles per kW. Each WST produces more than 188,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually on site where it is used. This annual production total assumes only a 33-percent wind duty cycle and a 45-percent solar duty cycle. By not relying on the grid, that substantial output is immune to power line resistance losses, brownouts and blackouts.
To put that output into perspective, those ~188,000 kilowatt hours can charge 9,441 EVs with 20-kilowatt DC Ultra-Fast charges. And thanks to that capacity, it takes under 190 seconds — just over 3 minutes — to add 20 kW and approximately 70 miles of pollution-free driving range. As the world’s highest-output Level-4 DC Ultra-Fast charger, with peak charge rates of 380 kW at 1,000 volts, a 15-minute charge delivers 328 miles of range. And, for drivers short on time, a five-minute charge delivers 109.5 miles of range.
Because it uses only wind and sun power, each WST offsets the CO2 emissions from over 594,788 kilowatt hours of power plant electric production at .85 pounds of CO2 per kWh that translates to 252.784 tons of CO2 that each Tower prevents from entering our skies. The WST’s CO2-offset figure above is based on EIA data stating that more than 60 percent of the energy used for electricity generation is lost in conversion.
Burning a gallon of gasoline emits 19.37 pounds of CO2. An EV gets 3.46 miles per kW, so it follows that each WST provides 653,323 miles of 100 percent pollution-free electric-powered driving per year.
Although pollution-free and environmentally friendly, in no way does the WST compromise on power delivery. In fact, it can deliver peak charging rates of 1,314 miles of range per hour.
EVs are not dirty, but the electricity that charges them is filthy
The WST’s Level-4 DC Ultra-Fast 380 kW 1,000-volt charging delivers clean electricity at the fastest charging rates available today. The WST’s battery-based DC modular architecture accommodates plug-and-play upgrades that assure the WST’s longevity as a leading-edge EV charging system. Moreover, unlike drivers who use grid-dependent EV charging, EV drivers who utilize WST pollution-free charging can rejoice in the fact that they are not dirtying the air nor harming the environment.
