A Polish startup has designed an award-winning “wind panel” that can generate power either as a compact free-standing structure or while serving a fence or other form of enclosure.
The device last week took second place and a prize of 300,000 zloty (€62,700) in a competition for clean energy solutions organised by ING Polska bank.
The wind panels can serve as a complement to solar panels, as they are capable of producing energy when the sun isn’t shining, such as at night and on cloudy days. They are also compatible with the infrastructure used for photovoltaics, as the device can use the same inverter, reducing investment costs as a result.
The company behind it, Panel Wiatrowy, claims that overall energy production from the device will be comparable to solar installations with the same capacity and that it will provide a return on investment within three to seven years, followed by a high level of return in the long run, as the device is expected to last for at least 50 years.
If used as a fence to enclose an area of 1,000 m2 – for example, a property or around the roof of a building – the panels could have a generation capacity of 40kW, while if placed along a one-kilometre stretch of motorway their capacity could reach 200kW, says the firm.
At a time when energy commodity prices are soaring, the transformation of Poland’s energy sector – which generates 70% of electricity from coal, the highest level in the EU – has become more urgent.
The country has seen a boom in solar installations in recent years, following the introduction of a subsidy system by the government. However, changes in regulations earlier this year have seen new investments plummet.
The wind sector has also been held back by restrictions on the building of onshore turbines introduced in 2016. However, this week the government proposed legislation to relax those rules.
Image credits: Panel Wiatrowy/Facebook
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
